By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Who said that being third doesn’t matter? Ask France and Lithuania, which both have the chance to end this FIBA World Cup on a high note. The third place game is more than important for those two teams, a rematch of last season’s Eurobasket final and the first chance for France to get a World Cup medal, at least bronze, like Lithuania did in 2010.
Madrid: Lithuania – France (18.00)
Despite the quite similar numbers of the two opponents so far in the tournament, France has the players to exploit the main issue of Lithuania. The point guard position is the weakest in the roster of coach Kazlauskas and the trio of Heurtel, Fournier and Diot can made a difference. Add also to this the passing ability of Boris Diaw and you can understand why the French can create much more than the Lithuanians and control the tempo more easily.
However, don’t count out Lietuva. The motive for Kazlauskas and his players is great, they want to prove after the semifinal against USA that they still are a good team and they had an extra day of rest. And that could prove the most crucial fact about the game. France has to regroup, just 18 hours after the semifinal loss to Serbia. It was a high tension game, that may have already exhausted the French. We will know the answer in a few hours.