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00:00If the Americans reach Saturday's gold medal game, they better come ready for a ferocious,
00:05physical and at times dysfunctional French team that will be waiting for them, spurred
00:09on by a raucous crowd here at Bercy Arena.
00:12The French defeated Germany Thursday, 73-69, to advance to the Olympic finals.
00:18They did it in much the same manner as they beat a more talented Canadian team on Tuesday,
00:23by overwhelming their opponent and getting various players to step up in critical times.
00:28The United States plays Serbia Thursday evening, with the winner advancing to the gold medal
00:33game.
00:34NBA fans may expect the French team to be led by Rudi Gobert and Victor Wimbanema.
00:39It isn't.
00:40Gobert is a secondary player here, getting just 5-0-9 of playing time against Germany
00:45after 3-41 in the Canada game.
00:47Gobert said it was because of a finger surgery, but the French coach cast doubt on that.
00:53The team plays well without him.
00:55Wimby, meanwhile, plays more and causes havoc on the court due to his 7-foot-4 frame, but
01:01he hasn't shot the ball well.
01:03He had 11 points, but was 4-of-17 from the floor.
01:07The team did not run through him, although he did manage one of two free throws with
01:1110.2 seconds remaining, allowing France to wilt the game away with fouls.
01:15Instead, the hero was Gershon Ubusel, a 6-8, 271-pound Hulk who flamed out with the Boston
01:22Celtics and now plays for Real Madrid of the Spanish league.
01:26He had 17 points, 7 rebounds and played ruthlessly hard on both ends of the court.
01:31Or maybe it was his defensive end partner in crime, the 6-9, 256-pound Mathias Lessord
01:38of the Greek league who powered his way to 10 points and 4 boards.
01:42Or maybe it was Isaiah Cordonier out of the Italian league who caught fire for 16 points
01:47and 7 rebounds.
01:48Or maybe it is just a style of play that has knocked the Germans and Canadians off
01:52kilter.
01:53The defensive intensity is ridiculous.
01:56They blocked 5 shots and recorded 6 steals against Germany.
02:00The physicality pushes the limits of even FIBA.
02:03They came out the aggressors and they punched us in the mouth, Canada's shy Gilgis Alexander
02:08said after their loss to France on Tuesday.
02:11They played with more force.
02:13They were the aggressors at both ends of the court.
02:16The offense is erratic, both the passing and shooting, but it's hard to settle in
02:20against.
02:21The French find a way to make the game ugly and then win that way.
02:25That's the style.
02:26That's the system.
02:27It's working, spurred on by a chanting, dancing, flag-waving, drum-smacking home crowd.
02:34Considering the color scheme of the uniforms and the unwavering vocal support of the chants,
02:40this might as well be Allan Fieldhouse along the Seine.
02:43It's a cocktail that worked in an upset of Canada, then again to upset Germany in
02:48one of the better basketball games you'll ever see.
02:51There is one mega-upset possibility remaining.
02:54Team USA will have a lot of advantages in a potential gold medal matchup, but they better
02:59come ready for a rock fight.