Team France relying on fan support

After winning silver at Tokyo 2020, France was expected to compete for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, but lost its first two games, including a 30-point drubbing by Canada, and finished 17th. It was a disappointing effort. Collet made some roster changes leading up to Paris 2024 and it has proved effective.

“We really wanted to show that last year was an accident,” Fournier said. “We weren’t worth the tournament we had last year, and now we have our fans in front of us and we gave them everything we have.”

The motivation to get here was not only because it’s at home but because they felt humiliated by Germany in the group phase. They watched as the German players laughed and joked on the bench in the final minutes, realizing they had overwhelmed France. And France didn’t fight back.

The fight is back and France will need more than fan support and the comforts of home to win gold.

“For us, all of us staff, players, it’s a dream to be able to play the finals in Paris,” Collet said. “And that’s what we said before the (Germany) game. I asked the players, ‘Are you going to let the German team steal the finals from your hands?’ They were answering, ‘No, no way, no way, we die on the court, no way’. That’s why we did it.”

Gary Washburn is an Olympic Channel correspondent and National NBA Writer for the Boston Globe.