“We started with a lot of will and determination, that’s what he decided,” said French coach Vincent Collet. The score difference of 41 points is the highest in the history of medal fighting in the current European Championship format. In 1993, Croatia beat the Greeks by 40 points in the match for the bronze medal, as did USSR Team Poland in the 1967 semifinals.
The Poles knocked out defending champions Slovenia with star Luka Dončič on Wednesday but fell short against France. In the first half, he scored just 18 points against Tokyo’s Olympic silver, which was the lowest in the EC semi-finals since 1946, when the Czechoslovak national team kept the Hungarians at bay by 12 points.
After the break, the Polish players did a little better, but against a defense led by three-time NBA MVP Rudy Gobert, none of them managed to score even 10 points. The top scorers of the losing team were Michal Michalak and AJ Slaughter with nine points.
The top scorer of the winners was Guerschon Yabusele, who gave 22 points. The French are in the final of the European Championship for the first time since 2013, when they have won their only title so far. They also played for gold in 1949 and 2011.
“We worked hard to get here. When we started training, the goal was to win gold, and now we’re one game away from that,” said Gobert, who had six rebounds and three blocks in the game.
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In the second semi-final, both teams changed their lead several times. The Germans entered the last quarter with a six-point lead, but the Spaniards won it 31:20. On Sunday, they can claim their fourth title in the last six leagues. The teams of coach Sergio Scariola returned with an excellent collective performance, the best scorer of the team was Lorenzo Brown with 29 points.
The Germans will face Poland for the bronze medal. “The tournament is not over yet. Our goal was to win a medal and we still have that chance,” said Schröder, who does not yet have an NBA contract for next season.
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