France Dodges Japan’s Bullet

It would have been one of those matches that would have gone down in Olympic history, but David had ten seconds left to knock Goliath off his feet at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille. And Yuki Kawamuraa kind of Japanese Asterix who has infiltrated a Gallic village, Strazel was left with a foul that allowed France which was on the brink of an abyss with a score of 84-80, with the score tied with ten seconds left. The game went into overtime (84-84). Kawamura, who with his 1.72 was on the verge of overtaking Uembanyama (2.24) and finished with 29 points, ran out of gas. So Japan did not score until the last minute of overtime. And although he left everything in the pursuit, it did not give him more. The Hollywood ending went to hell.

The match was exciting and was fuelled by the fiery atmosphere at the Pierre Mauroy, which treats every match for current Olympic silver medallists France like a final. Everything suggested a peaceful marriage between Wembanyama and company. But Japan took the game with an important show of pride. Hachimura was in charge for most of the game, but was ejected with 8:31 remaining for two unsportsmanlike actions. The first is entirely unnecessary. The Lakers’ disqualification seemed to mark the end of Japan’s war efforts. But far from raising the white flag, the Japanese have grown in the face of adversity. And Kawamura, a player for Yokohama B-Corsairs, held off the hot minutes of Yabusele and Strazel. France was spinning. Japan was growing, and Watanabe flew in, like in the comics, to put up a poster of Gobert. It was Japan’s time. But Strazel seems to in one final unexpected twist of the scenario, dodge a japanese bullet as a last resort. Wembanyama delivered the verdict in extra time to seal France’s virtual passage to the quarter-finals.

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