The Bleuets largely dominated Serbia in Friday’s quarterfinals (98-59) after Wednesday’s huge Round of 16 win over Madagascar (119-56). In the semi-finals, they will face defending champions USA this Saturday.
Aggressive in defense, always on the racket, very accurate in shooting, the French dominated the Serbians from the first quarter (27-17). They then widened the gap in the second (29-10) and third quarters (27-12) before surrendering the game in the last (15-20).
The best player in the tournament so far (averaging 15.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists), Zachary Perrin was brilliant again, and in the first half he already compiled 16 points on 8/8 shots, 8 rebounds. 3 assists, 2 steals, for a 31 rating in 14 minutes.
Melvin Ajinca, who won the Young Player of the Year award in Pro B this season with Saint-Quentin, was the top scorer on the blue side with 23 points (and 4 rebounds). Zaccharie Risacher, announced in the top 5 of the 2024 NBA draft, was very smart offensively (9 points) but stood out defensively with 5 interceptions.
On Saturday, expect a completely different match against the Americans, who have won four of the last five editions since 2013. The last meeting between France and the US will be in 2021. At that time, the Blueberries, with some Victor Wembayama in their ranks, lost in the short term (83-81).
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