Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly didn’t play much at all. But he’s on track to win a medal in this tournament!
The France men’s national basketball team defeated Canada, 71-62 in Paris on Tuesday night in 2024 Olympic quarterfinals.
Les Bleus, probably feeling a bit pissed about their 3×3 championship game loss against the Netherlands last night, took it out on the Canucks early, and often. They were consistently leading by double digits throughout the first half and led by as many as 19 points early in the second half. Though Canada was able to make a run and cut the deficit to 5 at one point, this game’s outcome was never in doubt.
Now, which French players came and showed out? It wasn’t their NBA players. Guerschon Yabusele led with 22 points and Isaia Cordinier added 20 more. Victor Wembanyama added 7 points, but had an off night shooting.
Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly played sparingly in this game. As Les Bleus continue on their Olympic journey, don’t expect to see him play very much.
For Team Canada, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led with 27 points and RJ Barrett added 16 more. Though Canada was 3-0 in Group A, they will nothing to show for it with this early loss, despite their amount of NBA talent.
Now that Les Bleus have passed their biggest test in the Olympics so far, they now have an opportunity to medal for the second straight time. But first, they will have to play Germany for the third time this summer (a friendly, a group stage game, and now this contest). You can see them play each other on Thursday in Paris. Game time is yet to be determined.