There was Nicolas Batum’s block in the semi-final of the Games last year against Slovenia. There will now be Gobert’s furious dunk 2 seconds from regulation time and Terry Tarpey’s interception three seconds from overtime. The surprise guest of the 12 players for the Euro is one of the heroes of the match. At the end of a terrible suspense and a big scare, France, one of the favorites of the competition, came to the end (87-86 ap), in a Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin in fusion and filled almost only of Turkish supporters, by Turkey during the round of 16 of the Euro.
The talent they have, they even abound in all positions, from the brilliant leader Thomas Heurtel (10 assists against Slovenia) to the powerful pivot Rudy Gobert via the artificer Evan Fournier or duty players Andrew Albicy and Terry Tarpey. But if the state of mind disappears, this team becomes almost banal, bland, and can become a prey of choice.
Contrary to their bad habits of recent weeks, the Blues are incisive from the first minutes. Rudy Gobert’s partners show great energy and quickly take the lead (7-0, 4th, 18-8, 8th). The absence of strategist Shane Larkin (injured in the right hand) also penalizes and destabilizes the creation of Turkey. Vincent Collet’s players recite their basketball (31-15, 14th). But the torpor of the Turks – very clumsy at the start of the match (2 out of 12 from 3 points) – could not last forever. Thanks to a rediscovered address (including 3 winning shots in a row), Turkey wakes up and revives the suspense just before returning to the locker room (35-42, 19th).
“We have to stay focused, we respect the game plan, we find easy baskets but we know that nothing is certain,” warns Vincent Poirier at the microphone of Canal + Sport360. The Real Madrid pivot is right. Upon returning from the locker room, the game changes face. The Blues stutter their game, no longer manage to impose their claw, multiply bad choices and loss of ball. Gobert’s exit (3 faults) leaves spaces for the Turks who take advantage of it. Carried by the incandescent public and the diabolical address of Bugrahan Tuncer at 3 points, Turkey inflicted a 19-0 on the Blues and took control of the match (49-57, 30th).
The last act is suffocating, undecided. Each lost ball is sanctioned. The Turks have the opportunity to kill the suspense with two free throws from Osman in the dying seconds. Finally a furious dunk from Gobert, recovering from a missed shot from Fournier 2 seconds from the buzzer, allows the Blues to snatch an extension (77-77). A money-time where Gobert, again, (20 points, 17 rebounds) maintains his until the interception of Tarpey.
A victory and a qualification for the quarter-finals which erases – partially – the bad memory of the last Euro, in 2017, where France had been eliminated prematurely in the 8th round against Germany. A saving slap which had provoked a questioning of Vincent Collet and his players. Since then they have won bronze at the World Cup in China 2019 and silver at the Tokyo Games last year. Will this free warning have the same consequences for the rest of the competition?
After passing the Turkish obstacle and winning their “first small final”, image Vincent Collet to evoke these cutthroat matches, France will face, on Wednesday, in the quarter-finals the winner of the match between Serbia and Italy which is played on Sunday. . The Blues will have to raise their level of play if they want to qualify for the last four.