A first major test passed for the Blues. Three days after its victory against a weak Turkey in Rouen (96-46) to launch its preparation for the Olympics, the French team showed a solid face (66-90) against Germany in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne and its 18,000 spectators.
Wembanyama and leader
Led by Victor Wembanyama, who set his new record for points in blue (25 units), the essentials are assured for the Blues, who remained facing Germany on their defeat in 2022 in the group stage during the Euro (63-76). Vincent Collet had warned: this last match before the announcement of the 12 Olympians (the list will be fixed on Sunday and made official on Monday) should also allow the staff to make its final decisions.
Partnered from the start against Turkey, Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama were once again in the starting line-up and got the Blues off to a good start (0-8, 2nd) even though the Germans, very aggressive, quickly came back into the game (8-10, 6th). While they conceded too many offensive rebounds, Collet’s priority since the failure during the 2023 World Cup, the Blues’ inside game, notably via the good entry of Matthias Lessort (15 points in total), allowed the Blues to quickly take the lead (11-23, 10th).
Serious and diligent, like a complete Victor Wembanyama (10 pts, 4 rebounds and 2 assists in the first half), the French relied on their defense, forcing the bronze medalists of the last Euro to a glaring lack of skill (5/20 shooting and 0/12 on three-pointers in the first quarter, 38% shooting in total). The end of the first half was marked by an altercation between Dennis Schröder and Evan Fournier who, after 8 minutes of play, 5 points and 2 rebounds, was sent off after grabbing the German’s neck and returned to the locker room before the break (28-48, 20th).
Schröder alone
While captain Nicolas Batum spoke of a “poker of lies” regarding this Franco-German double face-off (a second preparatory match is planned in Montpellier on Monday) before their meeting in the group stage of the Olympic Games, France kept its lead and controlled the second half, despite a game that was sometimes more muddled than at the start of the match (34-60, 25th then 45-68, 30th).
NBA Rookie of the Year Wembanyama continued to show off his offensive range (25 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 19 minutes) to set his points record for France. Dennis Schröder (23 points) and Oscar Da Silva (15 points) tried to keep the German ship afloat while 10 of the 14 French players scored (62% shooting). Even though he quickly committed three fouls in the first quarter, Rudy Gobert came close to a double-double (13 points and 7 rebounds). Wembanyama punctuated his German show by sinking two consecutive three-pointers (54-77, 34th) to keep France at a 20-point gap.
