France, USA battle for basketball supremacy in Olympic rematch

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The highly-anticipated rematch between France and USA is finally going down.

After the well-oiled Americans fell to the Les Bleus in their opening game of the Tokyo Olympics men’s basketball, the Gregg Popovich ran team is seeking redemption in a gold-medal showdown.

Since tasting defeat at the hands of the French national team, USA was never the same as they crushed each and every opponent that stood their way including a convincing 97-78 semifinals score against a stacked Australian national team.

NBA talents such as Patty Mills, Dante Exum, Joe Ingles, Matisse Thybulle, and Matthew Dellavedova weren’t able to withstand the firepower USA had led by main gunner Kevin Durant.

Meanwhile, France is coming off a hard-fought win against Luka Doncic and Slovenia after Nicolas Batum’s game-winning block sealed the win and bailed them out for a 90-89 semifinals victory.

Proving his worth as the team’s main anchor in the paint was NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and is one of the most consistent players in France’s roster.

Backstopping Gobert and Batum are Evan Fournier and Nando De Colo who became their primary snipers and one of the most efficient backcourt duos in the Olympics.

Through France’s journey to the finals, they have displayed great chemistry and composure going against the top teams and are a legitimate threat to dethroning the mighty USA team.

One thing is for sure. We are up for a treat in the Olympic basketball finals.

Will US strike back against the team that tainted their record or will Les Bleus continue to roll and deliver their first-ever Olympic basketball gold medal?