Canada thrash France in FIBA World Cup opener as RJ Barrett’s trash talk backfires
Canada opened the Basketball World Cup with a press release win over France on Friday, whereas co-hosts the Philippines fell wanting a memorable victory in entrance of their raucous followers.
There have been additionally wins for Italy, Australia, Montenegro, Latvia, the Dominican Republic, Lithuania and Germany because the match tipped off within the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
Canada got here into the match with a squad full of NBA expertise, however they confronted a stiff take a look at in opposition to France, who received silver on the Tokyo Olympics two years in the past.
In the occasion the Canadians blew their opponents away, stepping on the fuel within the second half to run away with a 95-65 victory.
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Canada outscored the French 25-8 within the third quarter and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander completed as the sport’s high scorer with 27 factors, regardless of failing to get on the scoresheet within the first quarter.
“It’s always good to be rewarded when you’ve been working so hard, so I give these guys all the credit in the world,” head coach Jordi Fernandez stated.
“The most important game of your life is your next game, and if we think differently, we’re wrong.”
Canada misplaced key guard Jamal Murray on the eve of the match, when he withdrew saying his physique wanted extra time to get better after successful the NBA title with the Denver Nuggets final season.
“We have a lot of guys on this team that are hungry, talented, and ultimately just want to win,” stated Gilgeous-Alexander.
“When you have those three things, you can do anything.”
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Evan Fournier scored 21 factors for France, who now tackle Latvia on Sunday with their match hanging within the steadiness.
Fournier stated his workforce “got our ass kicked”.
“As a team, they forced us to do things that we don’t want to do,” stated the New York Knicks small ahead.
“At first we were able to score every now and then, our defence was solid, but as the game went on they kept applying pressure and it just got the best of us.”
Canada’s RJ Barrett confessed he had been “talking trash” his New York Knicks teammate Fournier “every day” forward of the competition.
In the sport, Barrett managed simply 5 factors on 1-of-10 capturing, however contributed six rebounds and 5 assists
Elsewhere in Group H, match debutants Latvia beat Lebanon 109-70.
