Basketball World Cup 2023, Group H on Tuesday, 29.08.2023
The way the Lebanese national basketball team defends in the semis, you won’t win a pot of gold in this FIBA World Cup-2023, that much has to be said, unfortunately. But the French have also disappointed all along the line!
Nevertheless, in my Lebanon France tip for the last preliminary round game in Group H, I expect the 2019 bronze medalists to at least bow out with a resounding victory on Tuesday.
France’s opening game against Canada has surprised many at this 2023 FIBA World Cup. However, I have to say that I wasn’t exactly blindsided.
After all, the Maple Leafs are blessed with an immense amount of NBA talent and could go far in Asia, even to the finals.
But it’s also clear that Les Bleus suffered an unprecedented 65-95 defeat, something they’re not used to. With the certainty of having lost as clearly as they haven’t in 60 years, they went into the decisive group game against Latvia just a short time later.
What sets France apart is not so much the abundance of NBA stars in their ranks, as they have only three of them.
But with shooting guard Evan Fournier (New York Knicks), possibly the second best defensive center in the NBA, Rudy Gobert, and captain Nicolas Batum (Clippers), the key positions within the starting five are well filled.
The squad is rounded out here and there by many capable players from Europe who are capable of much more despite the rough start against a title contender like Canada.
Unfortunately, however, we won’t be able to experience this in this year’s hunt for World Cup gold.
Because after a colossal collapse in the final period, FRA now also lost narrowly against Latvia with 86:88, which is why the only thing left for them is the bitter walk into the so-called classification round.
The upcoming opponent of the French, on the other hand, is – and I say this very reluctantly – simply not competitive enough to make it on this stage.
Lebanon was embarrassed to the bone in the two games against Latvia and Canada with 70:109 and 73:128 respectively, while the games at this FIBA World Cup are much shorter than in the NBA in terms of length.
The national squad called up by head coach Jad EL Hajj clearly has problems asserting itself at the basket.
Furthermore, with the exception of Jonathan Arledge (FC Porto) and Yousef Hayat (Limoges CSP), there is no Lebanese playing outside of the domestic league, so there is simply no familiarity with the pace prevalent at this World Cup.
What hurt Lebanon so badly in the game against Canada was their simply inadequate ability at this level to keep the opposition from getting into a promising throwing opportunity.
This can be seen simply by the fact that the Canadians had a ridiculously high field-goal percentage of over 70% – even over 75% until just before the end.
This can not only be attributed to their own accuracy, but also to the many uncovered opportunities they had during the game, which the opponent was not able to stop.
Nimble as well as ball-secure attackers are thus poison for the “Cedar Trees”, who were really put through the wringer by Canadian Gilgeous-Alexander Shai last Sunday.
For the French, the task of creating disorder for the underdogs will fall to Nicolas Batum, who brings the necessary qualities and experience to make my Lebanon France prediction a reality with ease.
In fact, I have placed a HC win bet on FRA with over 32 points difference using the Bwin app.
The French will be going full throttle until the end to at least come away from this disappointing World Cup with a sense of achievement going into the classification round.
Conclusion: With a superior lineup at key positions and a long history of international basketball, it seems likely that France will prevail over Lebanon at the FIBA Basketball World Cup.
The Arabs are simply not used to this pace, and given France’s strong lineup, it could be a challenging task for them to even come out gracefully in this duel.
The gap in experience and player quality could ultimately tip the scales in France’s favor. That’s what I’m speculating on in my prediction, anyway!
My Lebanon France prediction: FRA with HC -31.5.
