Thursday, September 17th, 2009...2:15 pm
EuroBasket: France 66, Spain 86
It’s been a while. Let’s see if I remember how to do this.
Despite the announcer’s bombastic 1st quarter prognostication that we had “all the makings of a classic,” this afternoon’s contest between Spain and France proved to be nothing of the sort. Spain pulled away by 10 at the end of the first and would maintain a comfortable lead for the remainder of the game. In short, Spain turned France into a jump shooting team by successfully implementing their zone and sagging man defensive schemes. But then again, we all know games, even blowouts, are never as simple as that.
The game started off slowly, with both teams being somewhat turnover prone in the opening minutes. But while Spain was able to gain some composure, France continued to turn the ball over frequently for the entire first half. Spain’s head coach Sergio Scariolo let Rudy Fernandez, Ricky Rubio, and Juan Navarro off the leash, allowing them to pester Parker and the rest of the French backcourt early and often.
The Spanish guards’ aggressive (in Rubio’s case over-aggressive) defensive style allowed some dribble penetration by Parker et al. but upon reaching the paint they were met by the game’s most critical factor: the savvy, stout defensive play of the Spanish big men.
The Gasol brothers, Jorge Garbajosa, and Felipe Reyes did an excellent job forcing either awkward layups or reckless kick-outs to the perimeter. Combine this with the ability of Spain’s backcourt to recover from their gambles and fill the inside-outside passing lanes, and you’ve got a French team with 11 turnovers at the half.
For most of the first half, France did a good job forcing Spain to shoot from distance and disrupting the initial shot attempt if they were able to move the ball inside. But Fernandez and Rubio combined to shoot 6 of 10 from beyond the arc, and Ronny Turiaf and Florent Pietrus had a difficult time keeping the Gasol brothers off the offensive glass. Late in the 2nd quarter the Spanish had amassed 15 second chance points; the French none.
The pace of play was one of the game’s most surprising elements. With the presence of Pau Gasol, who, with a 28 point, 9 rebound, 3 block performance, was easily the game’s most dominating player, I expected the Spanish to slow the game down. In theory, a wide-open floor benefited the quickness of Parker, Batum and De Colo. But the Spanish were more than happy to play at any speed, and finished the first half with 9 fast break points, compared to France’s 2. (The announcer claimed France had none but I marked down Batum’s two-handed dunk as a fast break bucket.)
The second half only allowed time for the dynamics of the first half to solidify themselves further. Spain continued to force France into taking far too many 3-pointers, and Pau Gasol only gained steam on the offensive end of the floor. Aside from a brief run in the mid-4th during which France cut the lead to 11, the game’s outcome never seemed in doubt.
Aside from at point guard, France was outclassed at every position, which meant Tony Parker had to play well. Given that imperative, I’m gonna go ahead and describe his 1-8, 6 point, 3 assist performance as underwhelming. It’s not entirely his fault: Les Bleus do not have enough reliable scorers to force help defenders to stay home, and I think the defensive performance put on by the Spanish frontcourt would have made it difficult for nearly any guard to score at the rim frequently.
But after drawing contact in the paint and failing to get the call a few times in a row, it was clear Parker decided to take his foot off the pedal. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: During a no-call late in the 2nd quarter, Parker seemed to have bruised his right thigh, which he then favored for the next few minutes before heading to the bench. I’m always appreciative when players show a competitive fire, but given the physical game the referees were allowing, I’m glad Parker decided to conserve his energy (and his health).
Nando De Colo gave a decent but overall unremarkable effort, finishing with 7 points. Given that De Colo may be les Bleus best outside shooter, and Spain forced France to take so many perimeter jumpers, it would have been a huge help had he managed to shoot better than 0-3 from 3-point range. But he continued to show promise as a passer, making one particularly attractive wrap-around pass to Turiaf in the lane, who finished with an emphatic dunk.
France’s next game is on Saturday, where they will face the loser of tomorrow’s game between Turkey and Greece.
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14 Comments
September 17th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Parker healthy is a win in my books.
September 17th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
so where was Ian in all this?
September 17th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
09.20.21.50,
Sitting on the bench, earning a hard fought DNP-CD.
September 17th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I would have liked to see how Ian stood up to either of the Gasol’s.
September 17th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Given his lack of rythm (injury) and experience, as well as his foul-prone history (back when he was in France), it’s safe to say that the Gasol Bros would have killed him.
Then again, offensively, Pau is an all-world beast in the post: tall, long, fast, agile with tremendous skills.Beneath Duncan, and right there with Al Jefferson and Yao. Plus you have to guard him out to the FIBA 3pt-line.
Marc Gasol as a different set of tools, but his weight and power would have been tough for Ian to handle.
The French bigs were taken to school, despite their valiant efforts. Pau Gasol is in another league.
September 17th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
I hate to admit it but at this point, with Gasol in his prime and Timmy beginning to show his age, (especially considering the knee problem) I have to say Gasol is more dangerous in the offensive post.
Granted he did all his work in this game against a small French front court-Turiaf while a decent defender is barely 6′10″ and watching Diaw try to guard Pau was laughable-but let’s face it, Gasol is a powerhouse big who plays even better in the biggest games.
I’m still excited about our chances this upcoming season, but the Lakers are going to be scary good. Too bad Splitter couldn’t make it over for this season.
September 17th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
mori1040….Pau Gasol had better stats last postseason. However, Tim didnt play at 100% last postseason.
Lets see what happens this year before we go there. I dont think its fair to say Pau is a better offensive player because Tim Duncan was hobbled last season.
Below are Tim Duncans sub-par (for him) postseason numbers from last season, along with Pau’s.
Duncan=32.8 Mpg 532 FG% 8.0 RPG 3.2 apg 1.2Bpg 19.8 PPG
Gasol =40.5 Mpg 580 FG% 10.8 RPG 2.5 apg 2.0Bpg 18.3 PPG
September 17th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
The post season for Duncan was too small a sample size. All you need to know is that on “half a leg” (as Duncan seemingly half-jokingly described it) he posted better regular season numbers than Gasol, who just came off his career year to date.
Gasol is actually beginning to become slightly overrated. Very good, highly skilled big man, starting to look like a perennial All-Star/All-NBA third team member, and probably a top 15 player at this point, but he’s still not close to a guy like Duncan. When Duncan was healthy last season, he was clearly the better player still.
As for Parker, this late in the tournament, I’d have rather seen Les Bleus just win the whole thing, but more than that I’d rather he just get off his feet. Training camp is now roughly 10 days away. If he is burnt out come playoff time, forget about competing for a championship this season.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Alamobro,
I agree with you. When healthy, Duncan is of course far and away the better player, and even on one leg, I found myself sitting in front of the TV with a grim sense of pride and admiration as Timmy continued to work in that game 5, draining shot after shot. When all his teammates had nothing left to give, Tim did what we’ve all come to expect of him: he went down fighting, leaving everything on the court and demonstrating that he is still unquestionably the leader of his team.
Gasol is more of role-player star (for lack of a better phrase) on the Lakers, making the great pass out of the double team, grabbing a key offensive rebound, making a quick rotation on D. Considering how much his game has developed in the past couple of years, especially the mental toughness he showed in the playoffs, I don’t think I can agree that Pau is overrated as Rye says. Sure, anyone is going to look better playing on a team with Kobe, but the fact of the matter remains, Lakers plus Pau Gasol=NBA champs, without him, I don’t see them making the western conference finals.
I’m excited for the coming season, but I, just as all of you I’m sure, are hoping that Tim’s knee holds up.
September 18th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Great analysis! I would only stress a little bit how well Rubio played, especially on the defensive end.
September 18th, 2009 at 5:19 am
I think Tony will have plenty of fuel left in his tank, come next April, May and June. Pop will keep Tony’s minutes way, WAY low in pre-season games, probably have him do a few less suicide sprints in practice and may give him a night off or two on back-to-backs.
The Spurs coaching staff are masters at managing the minutes of their stars and still getting the most out of them.
September 18th, 2009 at 6:11 am
Alfred,
It’s funny that you say that because, aside from shooting well, I didn’t think Rubio had a very good game, including on the defensive end.
He is an aggressive defender but, in my opinion, overaggressive. Where Fernandez was savvy enough to get the steal (he ended the game with 6), Rubio seemed more likely commit the foul or just get caught out of position. If down the line, when he comes to the NBA, he continues to initiate that much contact above the arc, he’ll get a lot more foul calls.
But I do think you are right to point out his defense as a part of his game that holds a lot of promise. The fact that he merely shows such tenacity is laudable and I imagine that he will grow into a good defender as he learns to focus his energy.
September 20th, 2009 at 11:16 am
Parker’s performance was a shocker to me I expected more from him but instead got outplayed by that little kid god so embarrassing man I honestly thought France was going to win with Parker’s usual 18 pointers but it wasn’t even a close game I also thought Batum was going to be better than Rudy here but nah they farted
September 20th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
This just in They won! their first Euro Gold. They currently hold the World Title too They’ve come full circle now with Silver at the Olympics not bad Wow!!!
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