France is out! No. 1 pick + No. 7 pick, what is the level of the European Championship?

Unexpectedly, the French men's basketball team was also eliminated. In the top 16 of the European Championships, the French men's basketball team lost to Georgia 70-80.

Let me first talk about it. Although France was the runner-up of the Olympics last year, the French men's basketball team in the European Championship is not the strongest French men's basketball team, and many stars including Vinban Yama and Gobert did not play.

Even so, France is still regarded as one of the favorites to compete for the championship. In the five group matches that ended, the French men's basketball team had 4 wins and 1 loss, with a net victory of +70, and qualifying in the group first; in the top 16 strength list, the French men's basketball team ranked 5th, while Georgia ranked 13th.

However, from the competition process, France is completely different from the one with the advantage.

For most of the game, the French men's basketball team was at a disadvantage. Three minutes left in the fourth quarter, they once tied 68-68; however, in the last 3 minutes, the French team only scored 2 points in total, and Georgia scored a 12-2 wave, locked a seat in the quarterfinals.

As we said, although France lacks Vinbanyama and Gobert, they still have many stars.

For example, Yabusele, who just joined the Knicks in the offseason, had previously played against Poland in the group stage. Yabusele scored 36 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks in a single game, and only used 20 shots.

For example, French defender Francisco, who scored 32 points in the group stage against Slovenia (although the last goal caused controversy), was also the first French player to score 30+ in the European Championship since Parker in 2013.

But in this knockout match, the two "30+ gentlemen" of the French men's basketball team performed abnormally:

- Francesco made 3 of 13 shots in the game and scored only 14 points

- Yabussele made 4 of 10 shots in the game and scored only 10 points

What I want to say is that there is another focus of the French men's basketball team - Rissache.

Rissache is the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft in 2024, but in this European Championship, he can't even start. He averaged 17.8 minutes per game in 6 games, scoring only 9.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists, with a shooting percentage of 47.7%/41.4%/57.1%.

In this knockout match, Rissache also performed abnormally. He made 2 of 8 shots, 1 of 6 three-pointers, scored only 7 points and 6 rebounds, and made 4 fouls. The elimination was definitely not Lissache's problem. After all, these French defenders are really too good to pass the ball, but it is impossible for an NBA No. 1 pick to play at this level, not to mention disappointment.

It is worth mentioning that the French men's basketball team also has a second-tier show in the same class as Rissache - Alexander Salle.

Due to injury, Sal only played the first two games in this European Championship and did not return in the knockout stage. His performance: averaged 9.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game, and his shooting percentage was 72.7%.

and, Saar's Wizards teammate and No. 7 pick in the first round of 2023, Coolibali is also in the French men's basketball team, but his performance is also very disappointing. He averaged only 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in 6 games, with a shooting percentage of 41.2%, and a three-point shooting percentage of 21.4%.

In the game against Georgia, Kulibali was completely lost. He played 20 minutes in the game, made 0 of 3 shots, scored 0 points, 3 rebounds, 0 assists and 4 fouls, with a plus-minus value of -10.

The French men's basketball team has produced many high-quality young people in the past two years. However, to be honest, only Wenban Yama has shown the level corresponding to his ranking. Several other high-ranking players, such as Coolibali, Rissach and Saar, have not performed ideally. The three performed in the NBA last season:

-Cullibali, averaging 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists per game, 42.1%/28.1%/74.6% in three events, and 51.5% in real shooting. I can't even understand

-Sal, averaging 13.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, and 39.4%/3 in three events. 0.8%/67.9%, real shooting percentage is 48.2%, and the efficiency is terrible

- Rissache, averaging 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, three shooting percentage is 45.8%/35.5%/71.1%, real shooting percentage is 55.8%, and the future is in explosion trend. In fact, the French men's basketball team was upset in the group stage before. At that time, they lost to Israel 69-82, but later they beat Poland and Iceland in a row. In addition, there are many stars in the team, so it is generally believed that playing Georgia should not be a big problem. Unexpectedly, they not only lost, but also lost 10 points, which is really surprising.

As for the young people in France, they can only say that they still have a lot of ways to go, not only in the international arena, but also in the NBA, especially Rissach and Saar. Last year's No. 1 pick and second place, even if it is a historically-level draft pick, at least one has to be played, right?