Canada goes up against France in the quarterfinals of Olympic men’s basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Canada comes into this matchup having won Group A, which was dubbed the “Group of Death.” The Canadians got past Greece, Australia and Spain to finish 3-0 in the group stage. Meanwhile, France went 2-1 during the group stage. France trailed by as many as 24 points in the loss to Germany and needed some late-game magic to get by Japan in the game prior.
Canada is back in the Olympic quarterfinals for the first time since the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney. That’s where the program suffered a five-point loss to France. Now, 24 years later Canada has a chance for redemption.
This matchup will feature some of the games brightest stars in Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and France’s Victor Wembanyama.
France will be tough to deal with as Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert man the middle. However, Canada is overall the more talented side.
Canada will have the game’s best player in Gilgeous-Alexander. He will have plenty of weapons around him in RJ Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Luguentz Dort, Andrew Nembhard and Jamal Murray is due for a big game.
During group play, Barrett led Canada with 21.0 points per game, while Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 19.0 points to go along with 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. These two have been the pillars of Canada’s success up until this point along with Brooks’ impressive two-way play.
The winner of this matchup will take on the winner of Greece-Germany in the semifinals.
France (2-1) vs. Canada (3-0)
12:00 p.m. EST, August 6, 2024
Bercy Arena
TV: TSN or CBC
Projected France Starting Lineup:
PG: Matthew Strazel
SG: Evan Fournier
SF: Nicolas Batum
PF: Victor Wembanyama
C: Rudy Gobert
Key reserves: Isaïa Cordinier, Bilal Coulibaly, Frank Ntilikina
Projected Canada Starting Lineup:
PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
SG: RJ Barrett
SF: Dillion Brooks
PF: Luguentz Dort
C: Dwight Powell
Key reserves: Jamal Murray, Kelly Olynyk, Andrew Nembhard
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