Euroleague Players Know How to Score
Following the conclusion of the Olympic quarterfinals in Paris, one result stands out: France’s victory over Canada. Canada, a team widely considered a favorite for a medal, was eliminated by France.
But what makes France’s victory remarkable isn't just the win itself; it’s the players who stood out. Yabusele, Cordinier, Lessort, and Ntilikina—four Euroleague players—scored 60 of France’s 82 points, proving that Euroleague players can compete at the highest level in FIBA competitions.
While we don’t know the exact game plan Collet had, it's clear that he hit the mark. This led us to analyze the lineups used in the France-Canada game, with all data sourced from InStat analysis platform.
After examining the lineups with the best plus/minus, a pattern emerged. Three players were crucial in the quarterfinal: Batum, Yabusele, and Cordinier. This trio played nearly half the game together, achieving a Net Rating of 0.36 points per possession.
How did the lineups featuring Batum, Yabusele, and Cordinier perform during the group stage?
Surprisingly, these three players only played 31 possessions together in the group stage, with a Net Rating of 0. If we include the preparation games, this trio played a total of 37 possessions with a plus/minus of -4. This low number of possessions makes it hard to draw conclusions.
To put this in context, let’s look at the trios that played the most possessions during the group stage:
In all the most frequently used trios, Wembanyama appears. But notably, only the second most-used trio has a positive Net Rating. The conclusion is clear: something needed to change, as the game plan around Wembanyama wasn't working.
The coaching staff had rarely used the Batum, Yabusele, and Cordinier trio (it was far from the Top 5 in terms of possessions) neither in preparation games nor in the group stage. It's surprising that the staff trusted a trio that had barely been tested.
Was there any reason for the staff to trust this trio so much?
We analyzed the pairs of players and their performance during the group stage. Here are the player pairs ranked by descending Net Rating (minimum 40 possessions played):
In France’s four most efficient player pairs, one name recurs: Cordinier. Among these pairs, the most frequently used one was Cordinier and Batum, with 66 possessions—a substantial volume.
Conclusions
By adding Yabusele to the efficient Cordinier-Batum pair (a pair with considerable volume and efficiency), France found the trio that propelled them to the Olympic semifinals.
Although this trio had played very little together in the group stage, Collet’s game management led to them playing significant minutes in this game, helping France advance to the semifinals.
It’s noteworthy that Cordinier appears in France’s four most efficient pairs during the group stage, yet he was only 8th in minutes played. Cordinier has been Collet’s ace in the hole.
Now the question remains: Can Cordinier and the analyzed trio maintain their efficiency in the semifinal against Germany? Or is it time for Wembanyama to showcase his best performance?
What is clear is that, based on France's game against Canada, Germany will need different plans. The playing style of the Batum, Yabusele, and Cordinier trio is very different from the game created around Wembanyama.
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Interesting, I'm curious to see how they'll play vs Germany