Paris 2024 men’s basketball: The time is now for France, with a chance to make history against the mighty Team USA

Team France picked a perfect time to undergo a transformation and that change has resulted in a second consecutive gold medal game appearance.

Coach Vincent Collet took a page from his Team USA counterpart and carried no regard for previous roles or playing time. He essentially benched Rudy Gobert, who had been suffering from a hand injury, and opted for the rugged Mathias Lessort in the paint.

And while Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier have had their moments, Isaia Cordinier and Guerschon Yabusele have been two of the best French players on the floor. Yabusele, the burly forward and former Boston Celtics first-round pick, is second to Victor Wembanyama in scoring at 12.8 points per game. Cordinier is averaging 10.6 and making 50 per cent of his three-point attempts.

Team France dial up the passion

But Wembanyama and Fournier admitted there were some issues with chemistry in Group B play. France was not impressive in that stretch, despite the decided home-court advantage in Lille. It held off Brazil 78-66 before being taken to overtime by Japan, needing an improbable four-point play at the end of regulation.

France was a suspect 2-0 going into the Germany game and it was exposed, costing the French a top seed and setting up a matchup with undefeated Canada in the quarter-final. That’s when something seemed different. France played with more passion, punched Canada first and held on to a thrilling win.

Against Germany, France fell behind 28-18 before holding the Germans to five points in the final eight minutes of the second period and taking control. Collet did not play any favorites with his lineups. He played the most productive players and they produced. Yabusele, Cordinier and Lessort joined Wembanyama and Batum or Fournier as France’s best lineup.

“Some inside stuff that happened between us,” Fournier said about the group-play struggles. “We talked it over. This team’s got so much heart, we’ve been through so much.”

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.