Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Canada fall to France in Olympic quarterfinals
OKC Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Canada suffered an 82-73 loss to France on Tuesday in Olympic quarterfinals.
From underneath the towel that hid his emotions in Tuesday’s final moments, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander used his entire chest to exhale on Canada’s bench. With it, he released the weight of Canada’s hopes to medal, the pressures of scraping for Olympic glory after 24 years away from the stage.
Canada‘s chances of medaling in the 2024 Olympics ended with an 82-73 loss to France in Tuesday’s men’s basketball quarterfinals in Paris.
Gilgeous-Alexander had attempted to carry an ultimately unfit squad one final time.
His efforts were glaring, an attempt to lift a deflated Canadian squad. It was obvious in the second quarter.
Canada, with limited driving lanes, could only survive off Gilgeous-Alexander’s short pull-up jumpers and rare windows. He finished Tuesday with 27 points on 9-for-19 shooting, a continuation of his efforts to water any Canadian dry spells.
And for most of the night, Gilgeous-Alexander was Canada’s only answer. He earned necessary trips to the free-throw line, he drilled jumpers to offset France’s inside presence.
Yet when the game came within reach in its final minutes, Canada’s final shots came from other hands. Hands that couldn’t seal the deal.
“The start obviously put us in a hole,” Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters. “I think we won the rest of the game after the start. But when you start like that, it’s hard play against any team.”
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Canada offense face plants (France defense does its thing)
Gilgeous-Alexander, while clearly Canada’s best player through group play, hardly needed to dominate to this point. RJ Barrett had been enough. Dillon Brooks had been tolerable, at times even solid. Canada’s surrounding core had been adequate.
Everything the Canadians knew about their team went up in flames Tuesday.
With Victor Wembanyama manning the middle and France being the aggressors, Canada’s driving lanes dissipated. Possessions ended in wacky fashion, and nothing — turnovers tossed into the backcourt, lousy perimeter passes handed to France’s rotations, Dillon Brooks taking Dillon Brooks-esque shots — was off the table.
Its staff had likely held its breath on Jamal Murray breaking out in the Paris games, having gone 3-0 without stellar play from him. It probably didn’t predict that Murray would sink further on Tuesday.
Murray shot 3 for 13, finishing with seven points, one assist and three turnovers. His 24 minutes were tied for the most he’d played in the Paris games.
For every erratic Brooks shot, every Murray-and-Dwight Powell pick-and-roll, Gilgeous-Alexander was asked to come up with an answer. But from the start of Tuesday’s game, the ask was too steep.
“It’s really disappointing,” Thunder and Canada standout Luguentz Dort told Sportsnet. “We had goals to get all the way to the end. When it gets cut short, it’s tough and we have to live with it. We have to do whatever it takes to get back in four years.”
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France role players
One thousand, nine hundred and 17 days. That’s how long it’s been since Guerschon Yabusele last played in an NBA game.
And yet, he outworked a team of NBA players, scoring a team-high 22 points for France and punishing Canada’s hopes of medaling.
The French forward, dubbed “the Dancing Bear” by Olympics broadcaster Noah Eagle, was the foundation of a night-and day effort from France’s role players — the difference between them and the Canadians on Tuesday.
Drawing fouls, finishing with muscle near the rim, knocking down pivotal 3s, drilling free throw after free throw. Yabusele did everything possible to help France, which received just seven points on 2-for-10 shooting from Wembanyama, impose its low-post will offensively.
Yabusele didn’t do it alone. The Rock couldn’t have delivered an earlier elbow, with France catching Canada in the mouth for some early trips to the line. And while some calls might’ve been arguable, Yabusele and Mathias Lessort’s efforts to position themselves low weren’t.
Even in lineups without Wembanyama, the two kept Canada’s big man group on its toes.
The two combined to shoot 17 for 23 at the free-throw line.
Factor in Isaia Cordinier, who delivered the first blows with shotmaking and trash talking, and the three outworked Canada’s core themselves.
France entered Tuesday’s effort with five NBA players.
Nic Batum went scoreless. Rudy Gobert and Bilal Coulibaly combined to play five minutes.
Yabusele, Lessort and Cordinier? They combined for 55 points.
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2024 Paris Olympic men’s basketball knockout round bracket
All times are Central Standard Time
Quarterfinals: Tuesday, Aug. 6
Semifinals: Thursday, Aug. 8
- Game 1: Germany vs. France at 10:30 a.m. (USA Network, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com)
- Game 2: Serbia vs. USA at 2 p.m. (USA Network, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com)
Medal round: Saturday, Aug. 10
- Bronze medal game: Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 at 4 a.m. (USA Network, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com)
- Gold medal game: Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 at 2:30 p.m. (NBC, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com)