Czech Republic vs France
July 28, 2021 8:00 am EDT
The Line: France -9.5
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Czech Republic and France meet Wednesday morning in the 2020 Olympics in a basketball meeting at the Saitama Super Arena. Czech Republic won its opener against Iran by six points. France looks to build on an impressive opening win over Team USA.
Czech Republic is riding a four-game winning streak and should be feeling itself a bit. In the winning effort, Czech Republic shot 44.6 percent from the field and 20 percent from three. Patrik Auda led Czech Republic with 16 points and six rebounds while Blake Schilb had 14 points and four rebounds. Jan Vesely was the third double-digit scorer and Ondrej Balvin grabbed eight rebounds. Defensively, Czech Republic allowed 50 percent shooting from the field and 31.6 percent shooting from three. Czech Republic can certainly play better on the defensive side and needs to play all four quarters, as it allowed Iran to make things interesting late. Still, Czech Republic has to like where it’s at in the moment.
France is coming off the biggest win of the tournament yet, and it’s even more impressive knowing the French were winless in exhibition play. In the winning effort, France shot 46.8 percent from the field and 29.6 percent from three. Evan Fournier led France with 28 points and one assist while Rudy Gobert had 14 points and nine rebounds. Nando De Colo was the third double-digit scorer and Moustapha Fall grabbed four rebounds. Defensively, France allowed 36.2 percent shooting from the field and 31.3 percent shooting from three. France was impressive defensively throughout and absolutely dominated the third quarter. It’s the type of victory that can give France the confidence needed to make a legit run. The only goal now is to avoid a letdown.
France won both meetings against Czech Republic, with the most recent match coming in 2019 World Cup qualifying. France also beat Czech Republic in 2018 World Cup qualifying.
Czech Republic deserves some respect after its opening victory, but we have to remember this is a team that’s not used to the big stage. It’s also worth noting that Iran isn’t a basketball powerhouse. France is one of the better defensive teams in the tournament, has legit NBA talent across the roster and has been here done that it terms of Olympic play. This is a game where Czech Republic is probably outclassed.
I’ll lay the chalk with France.
