Against the Canadians, a miracle happened for the French team.

Now one step away from the Olympic final, the magic will have to work again against Germany.

Vincent Collet also thinks he knows the recipe for victory, or at least the things not to do.

While almost no one believed in them before the match, the Blues achieved a feat against the Canadians.

In addition to opening the doors to the Olympic semi-final, this victory (82-73) gives new momentum to this French team.

But be careful not to get too carried away, because another huge obstacle stands before them.

The mission for Vincent Collet’s men will be to knock down the German wall.

This will obviously not be an easy task, especially since the world champions had already given them a basketball lesson by winning (85-71) in the last group match.

But it is a completely different tournament that is being played now and the French coach is aware of it.

Will his players keep the same state of mind as in the previous round? For the latter, the question goes even further than that.

Vincent Collet opens up before the clash against Germany
I don’t see how we can go to the Olympic final without an exceptional defense.

Our two defensive targets (Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner) scored 52 points (in group play, editor’s note).

If the same thing happens, we won’t win.

I don’t see how we can go to the Olympic final without an exceptional defense. You might think that Germany is far superior to us.

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Before the match against Canada, Evan Fournier had also said that Vincent Collet had made “a good-natured speech” to motivate the group, to which the tactician reacted:

I didn’t talk about basketball before the match.

I went back to my opening speech at the training camp.

About the opportunity it represented in a career, in a life.

Before tactics, it was our heart that was primarily responsible for our victory.

During the group stage, the Tricolores showed a rather unreassuring face.

After two hard-fought victories against Brazil and Japan, they clearly didn’t exist against the Mannschaft.

As the coach pointed out, Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner had hurt them a lot by both scoring 26 points.

Eyes will surely still be on these two for the reunion.

Since the start of the competition and even before that, the French coach has insisted on the defensive aspect of his tactics.

During the match against Canada, he seemed to have found the right systems and rotations that allowed the squad to show its solidity.

Victor Wembanyama’s team will have to achieve a similar performance in the semi-finals if they want to continue to dream of a gold medal in front of their home crowd.

On the eve of the semi-final against Germany, the tension is at its peak on both sides.

And for Vincent Collet, a qualification for his men will necessarily require an exceptional defensive base from his players.