France appears to have revived its Olympic basketball campaign by benching Rudy Gobert, and social media is having a field day with it.
Gobert played just five minutes in France’s semifinal win over Germany on Thursday. That comes on the heels of him getting just four minutes of action in France’s upset win over Canada in the quarterfinals. With Gobert essentially out of the rotation, France instead turned to the likes of Guerschon Yabusele and Isaia Cordinier in order to play faster and space the floor better.
Regardless of the reason, Gobert’s critics had a field day.
Rudy Gobert helping France reach the Gold Medal Game pic.twitter.com/VNlm2Z6QK4
— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) August 8, 2024
“Gobert will check in for rebounding purposes”
The Olympics are amazing
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 8, 2024
Rudy Gobert vs Germany pic.twitter.com/9OHv94fB3x
— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) August 8, 2024
Rudy Gobert getting carried to the Gold Medal game pic.twitter.com/4lHZv0LTMB
— Overtime (@overtime) August 8, 2024
Previously, Gobert had claimed he was being limited due to an injury. His coach denied that, however.
Gobert is a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year. His ability to lock down the paint is unquestionable. However, he is a poor fit for a France team that can lean on Victor Wembanyama to do a lot of the same things, but with added offensive firepower. Gobert is not a shooting threat, and his post defense is not desperately needed against France’s recent opponents. That might change against either the USA or Serbia in the final, but it would not be a huge shock for France to just keep doing what has been working.
