“Rudy, it’s a diesel. » Teammate of Rudy Gobert, 30, since their adolescence, the captain of the French men’s basketball team, Evan Fournier, knows his friend by heart. “It always takes him a very long time to get into his competitions. The first games, unfortunately, it’s a bit of a warm-upnoted the back of the New York Knicks during the first round of the Euro, where the tricolor pivot remained discreet. But I know that he will end up dominating the opposing rackets. »
As in the round of 16 against Turkey, Gobert proved crucial, Wednesday, September 14, during the qualification in pain of the Blues against Italy (93-85 after extra time) for the semi-finals of the continental competition, where they will find, on Friday, Poland, surprise winner (90-87) of Slovenia. With 19 points, 14 rebounds (recovery of the ball after a missed basket) incessant activity and decisive actions at the end of the game, the new pivot of the Minnesota Timberwolves has largely contributed to hoisting France into the last four.
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Diesel in the competition, Rudy Gobert is also during the match. It’s in the “money time”, the end of the match where the moments are worth dear, that it shines the most. Of the dunks (action of crushing the ball in the basket), rebounds, fouls and successful free throws: the French pivot released the full range at the end of the game and in overtime against Italy. Four days earlier, he scored the salutary basket allowing the Blues to equalize “miraculously” against Turkey, before putting his team on his broad shoulders in extra time.
An incessant work of undermining
After the quarter-finals, Vincent Collet explained why his leader, named co-captain this summer, has such an influence at the end of the game: “At the end of the game, the defenders are afraid to let go of their player and take the basket which could kill their team.. » A situation that favors “one against one”. “Rudy therefore finds himself with his vis-à-vis and since he is dominant…”
Rudy Gobert will probably never have the fluidity of Nikola Jokic in attack. Where the double MVP (“most valuable player”, best player) Serbian in the NBA (the North American league) has an almost inexhaustible offensive gear, the tricolor pivot can sometimes seem rough. But, in addition to the fact that France remains in contention at the Euro when Serbia left Berlin at the stage of the round of 16, the contribution of Gobert to the game of the Blues does not always appear in the lines of stats at the end of the meet.
Since his debut in the France team, the pivot has seen his average counterattack decrease (one per game this year). But rather than seeing it as a defensive relaxation, the tricolor staff sees an expansion of Gobert’s influence. Many opponents penetrating ball in hand suddenly change their minds at the idea of rubbing shoulders with the rough triple best defender of the year in the NBA, and backtrack, at the risk of losing the ball.
For the former pivot of the Blues Frédéric Weis, the incessant work of undermining the one who now occupies his position in the France team too often goes under the radar. “Rudy is always on the move, he runs the whole game, he is very present on the screens, offers himself when he is alone and stares at the opponents, notes the consultant BeIN Sports in The Team. In the end, his adversaries are worn out, and lose lucidity. »
One thing in mind: gold
Irregular since the start of the competition, the Blues sometimes have trouble finding their pivot. In the absence of Nicolas Batum and Nando De Colo, two executives from the team responsible for creation, the France team version 2022 is struggling somewhat in this sector. “Rudy Gobert is at the end of the chain, normally. We create for him, and he doesn’t need to create the game.”, explained Frédéric Weis before the competition. For him, the more fluid the game of the Blues, the better Gobert will be, as illustrated by the connection found with the leader Thomas Heurtel, decisive for two games. “Everything is connected to the way we playconfirms Gobert. When we take good shots, even if we miss them, I’m in a better position to take rebounds. »
At the time of approaching the semi-finals in Berlin, the control tower of the Blues is the last All-Star of the NBA – the participants in the gala match rewarding the best players – still in contention at the Euro. Slovenian Luka Doncic joined Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) on vacation on Wednesday. But there is little chance that Gobert will worry about it. “We are two games away from the gold medal”, insisted the French pivot after the success against Italy. A metal he has never known in the France team – including among young people – while he collects the podiums there. “Personally, I’m tired of bronze and silver medals, so we’re only aiming for gold”, he asserted before the Euro. Amount in pressure, the “Diesel” still has some in the engine.