Rudy Gobert may be France’s best defensive player in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but the Stifle Tower took a backseat late in the semifinals game between the French and the Luka Doncic-led Slovenia to Nicolas Batum who came up with arguably the most important stop in France basketball history. Batum basically morphed into the Game 7 2016 NBA Finals version of LeBron James to erase a shot that would have likely given Slovenia the lead — and the victory.
REJECTED at the buzzer!
France beats Slovenia with a Nic Batum block at the horn to clinch a spot in the #TokyoOlympics gold medal game. pic.twitter.com/g1rJHmb9V7
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) August 5, 2021
Batum was not going to let Klemen Prepelic steal the limelight from France with an easy layup there. Prepelic must be feeling a bit heroic after nailing a 3-point off a Doncic pass with just a little over 30 seconds remaining on the game clock that cut France’s lead down to one. Doncic would lure Gobert out of the paint in the next possession via a switch, which was what Slovenia exactly wanted, before tossing the ball to Prepelic, who, seeing Gobert out of his post, saw an opportunity to attack the basket.
Prepelic’s decision to take it hard to the basket was the right one, but the execution was mightily foiled by Batum, who swatted the ball away, essentially preserving the win for France. Batum finished with just three points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field but tied Gobert with a game-high four blocks.
With the win, France earned an Olympics rematch against Team USA, which earlier knocked out Australia in the other semis match to advance to the Gold Medal stage.
France defeated Team USA in the group stage, 83-76.
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