PARIS (France) - Germany have been the talk of the basketball world for almost three years now, taking another major step by reaching the Semi-Finals of the Olympics for the first time. The question now in Paris is can hosts France bring the world champions back down to earth a bit or will Germany's rise go even higher?
In the final game in Group B just six days before the Semi-Finals showdown, Germany blew out France 85-71 - leading by as many as 24 points - to add more doubts to a host team questioning itself after needing a near miracle to even beat Japan in overtime.
After a poor performance at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 and a disappointing preparation to the Paris Olympics, France finally rediscovered a bit of their mojo in the Quarter-Finals.
Spurred on by a fantastic crowd in Bercy Arena with an impressive 82-73 win over a strong Canada team that had serious medal aspirations.
Head coach Vincent Collet will need to make sure his team plays closer to the one against Canada than they did versus Germany. For France's neighbors have been charging their way towards the top of global basketball since taking third place at the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 and then winning the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 title.
Germany have not really been challenged at the Paris Olympics, beating Japan by 20 points, taking down Brazil by 13 and then the first matchup with France. Dennis Schroder and co. played a poor first quarter against Greece in the Quarter-Finals but took the final three periods by a score of 65-42 for what ended up being a comfortable 76-63 victory.
Going back to EuroBasket 2022, the World Cup 2023, and the Paris 2024 Olympics, Germany now has 13 wins in a row in major FIBA events.
Key matchup
Nicolas Batum versus Franz Wagner
Nicolas Batum may not have scored in France's win over Canada - missing his only three-point attempt - but he played a major role with his relentless defense. The 35-year-old hustled at the defensive end for 33 minutes trying to slow down Canada's young and energetic guards and wings. All the while, Batum played a part on the offensive end as well, grabbing two of his five rebounds from the offensive glass while dishing out three assists.
Coach Collet hopes Batum got a good rest and recovery from the game as the veteran will be needed once again. Franz Wagner has caused Germany's opponents nightmares throughout the Olympics, averaging 20.8 points despite shooting just 20.0 percent on three-pointers, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.8 steals. Batum and France had no answer for Wagner in the first matchup, when he torched the hosts for 26 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
Batum could also play defense on Germany's other MVP, Dennis Schroder, like he did against Shai from Canada.
X-factors
The Bercy Arena crowd
France really fed off the crowd at the Bercy Arena against Canada - an impact which will only be that much more intense given the importance of the Semi-Final showdown. The attendance at the Paris Games is challenging the all-time record for Olympic men's and women's tournaments from Atlanta 1996.
At the same time, Germany are led by a captain Dennis Schroder who thrives when the crowd roots strongly against him. Schroder also has teammates like the Wagner brothers, Franz and Moritz, who really feed off the energy too and would love nothing more than to hear a totally silenced and stunned Bercy Arena crowd.
Stats don't lie
France hold an advantage around the basket with their bigs at both ends. Buoyed by two of the top three shot-blockers in the competition - Rudy Gobert with 2.0 blocks per game and Victor Wembanyama with 1.8 blocks per game - France are tied for first in blocks with USA at 5.8 swats per game. Germany do not have that kind of rim protection with 2.3 blocks per game.
Germany do not really crash the offensive glass, averaging 9.3 offensive rebounds per game - the second-fewest of any team. France grab 10.5 offensive rebounds a contest, resulting in 14.3 second chance points to Germany's 8.8 points after offensive rebounds.
But one thing that Germany have shown to be elite at in the Olympics is ball-handling. Led by Schroder, Germany have committed only 10.0 turnovers per game - the fewest in the tournament while France have lost 14.8 turnovers a contest.
Past matchups
These teams don't have to think back too long for their last matchups - with the Group B matchup taking place just six days prior to the game. In fact, Germany and France also faced off twice in the Olympics preparation with France winning in Germany 90-66 on July 6 and Germany getting the win 70-65 in France two days later.
The group game in Lille improved Germany's all-time record against France in FIBA games to 9-13 though they beaten the French in four of the last five encounters.
FIBA