Player of the Day | France's Nando de Colo

TOKYO (Japan) - Nando de Colo has always been one of France's most influential players and that was certainly true on Thursday as he marshaled Les Bleus forward and helped them beat Slovenia to reach the Final of the Olympics.

De Colo, silky smooth with his passing, dribbling and scoring, had a team-high + 26 efficiency in a 90-89 victory that has set them up with a Gold Medal Game showdown against the USA.

The 34-year-old had 25 points,  five assists, seven rebounds and a few bruises after putting his body on the line while going after the ball in tough situations.

De Colo has played like a champion at the Tokyo Games

De Colo is our Player of the Day.

The 1.96m (6ft 5in) point guard hit three-of-five shots from beyond the arc and seemed to be everywhere on the court - be it helping out defending, going after a loose ball or grabbing an offensive rebound.

When a team like France has some of the sport's finest talents with Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier and Nicolas Batum on the roster, it can be hard to stand out but he did and now his country will play for the Olympic title for the first time since the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when the USA beat Les Bleus, 85-75.

"AN INCREDIBLE GAME, ONE OF THE BEST I'VE PLAYED WITH THE NATIONAL TEAM. WE STUCK TO THE GAME PLAN FOR 40 MINUTES AND IN THE END OUR TEAM SPIRIT REALLY MADE THE DIFFERENCE."- De Colo

De Colo will be hoping he's as good in the Final as he was today - or at least as solid as he was in the Group Phase meeting with the USA - that France won, 83-76, on July 25. In that first game against the American side, De Colo held his own and finished with 13 points, five assists, five rebounds and two steals.

Kevin Durant was also a strong candidate for a second Player of the Day honor after leading the USA comeback against Australia in the first Semi-Final while scoring 23 points, grabbing nine rebounds and excelling on defense, too.

Slovenia's Luka Doncic, whose triple-double effort of 16 points, 10 rebounds and 18 assists - a rarity in international play - was also terrific, but the French survived because of their outstanding veteran play.

De Colo is the master of the no-look pass

Fournier provided plenty of points, Gobert was dominant on the interior and Batum had a game-saving block. And of course, De Colo gave everything he had in his 32 minutes on the court.

"An incredible game, one of the best I've played with the national team," De Colo said. "We stuck to the game plan for 40 minutes and in the end, our team spirit really made the difference." 

FIBA