By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Two years ago in the FIBA World Cup, Team USA suffered a a major upset in the hands of France with a defeat in the quarterfinals. Now, they will be starting the Olympic Games with a rematch of that game.
“We’ve been preparing for France for two years. We don’t just start to prepare for them in the day before,” USA coach Gregg Popovich said. “I think about it every day.”
This defeat was a historic blow for the USA team. It was their first loss in major international competition in 13 years, a result that eliminated them from medal contention for the first time since the 2002 World Championship. Popovich and his players ended up playing just for the best possible classification spot and completed the tournament with a all-time low seventh-place finish.
Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier and Nando De Colo were the main perpetrators for France in that game. This trio, along with Nicolas Batum will be once again leading the efforts of Le Bleus who are in search of their first Olympic medal since 2000.