Team USA had an undeniably iconic run in the Paris Olympics en route to winning gold. In their final matchup against France, they were taken down to the wire. However, there was one mistake which the French team made that favored the Americans.
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NBA legend and Hall-of-Famer Oscar Robertson joined the ‘All the Smoke’ Podcast and discussed this with hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. He shed light on his opinion on Team USA’s Olympic run and highlighted the fatal flaw in France’s game plan. He said,
“The only way USA was going to beat France was France had to go into a zone. That made Curry, KD, and Booker great. They couldn’t beat those three guys with a zone.”
France was outclassed in terms of athletes compared to Team USA. Therefore, they elected to play zone to compensate for the disparity in their one-on-one defense. However, the USA’s shooters had a field day and began to make France pay for their decision.
Booker connected on two threes, Durant converted three of his own, while Curry took over with an absurd flurry of eight three-pointers. Despite France’s cautionary steps to avoid man-to-man defense, Robertson pointed out that Team USA had struggled for the most part when France put forth that defensive coverage.
“They went into a zone and Curry starts knocking them down. Up until that point when they were playing man-to-man, he wasn’t that effective,” Robertson said. Although their efforts resulted in a loss, France displayed a valiant performance. In the biggest game in its program’s history, it set the tone for many years to come.
France proved they are a force to reckon with
Team USA was a heavy favorite to convincingly defeat France. However, the Frenchmen kept themselves close for most of the game, until Curry connected on four three-pointers in the final few minutes.
However, France struggled in exhibition games leading up to the Olympics. Then they barely squeezed past the preliminary stages.
Their upsets against Canada and Germany were culture-defining victories. Although their loss to the USA wasn’t what they envisioned. The players understand it’s a building block for the future. France star Victor Wembanyama, ushered a warning following the loss to USA.
“I’m learning, and I’m worried for the opponents in a couple years,” Wemby said.
The 7’4 forward showed major strides in his first Olympic campaign and he is set to only get better. France will also receive reinforcements in the likes of Alex Sarr and Zaccharie Risacher, who will be seasoned NBA players by the time the 2028 Olympics come around.
