Rudy Gobert, France head coach at odds over Olympic benching

Feb 24, 2020; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) warms up before the game against the Phoenix Suns at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

Rudy Gobert does not appear to be on the same page as France head coach Vincent Collet right now.

The Minnesota Timberwolves star Gobert was notably pulled from France’s starting lineup for Tuesday’s quarterfinal game against Canada at the Paris Olympics. France was mostly unimpressive during group play, going 2-1 with a blowout loss to Germany and a near-upset loss to heavy underdog Japan. As a result, both Gobert and teammate Evan Fournier came off the bench on Tuesday against Canada as Collet shook up the snow globe.

In the end, Gobert only played three minutes off the bench as France instead chose to go five-out with Victor Wembanyama holding it down at center. The gambit worked as France beat a talented Canadian team 82-73 to advance to the semifinal round against Germany.

After the game, Gobert told reporters that his limited minutes were because he just had surgery on his left ring finger the night before.

French big man Rudy Gobert, who played less than four minutes tonight, just told a few of us reporters that he had surgery on his left ring finger yesterday and was thankful he was able to play at all in this win over Canada. @JeffZillgitt @davidaldridgedc

— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) August 6, 2024

Collet did not quite agree with that characterization of the situation and subsequently told reporters that Gobert had NOT gotten surgery. Instead, Gobert underwent treatment and an MRI on the finger, Collet said. Collet also indicated that the Gobert benching was entirely matchup-based.

France coach Vincent Collet: Rudy Gobert's finger was examined, including an MRI, but "it was not a surgery."
On benching Gobert: "Small ball. I wanted Wemby to start at position 5. Yabusele at position 4."
Fournier benched because Collet wanted a "defensive starting 5."

— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) August 6, 2024

It is unclear if Gobert was just trying to save face after his benching or if there was some kind of miscommunication between him and Collet. But the basketball strategy makes sense since Gobert, despite his defensive impact, has not been very effective next to his fellow seven-footer Wembanyama (especially on a France team with weak guard play and thus limited opportunities to get their bigs efficient looks).

France will now get a rematch with Germany in the semifinal round on Thursday. At this point, Gobert seems unlikely to return to the starting lineup for that one, especially since he got embarrassed during the first meeting between the two teams last week.