BERLIN — Basketball royalty Sue Bird and Pau Gasol humoured media members mere minutes before the first semifinal game between France and Germany tipped off. For the later game, Bird and Gasol’s nations in the USA and Spain would face off. To kick things off, it was a night that might not be remembered on any statsheet or website, with a final score of 86-64 in favour of France, but the atmosphere will be held in all 12,650 attendees hearts forever.
Germany has hosted gracefully, and they still have another game tomorrow. At the 2022 World Cup, host nation Australia took away bronze, riding off the emotion of the crowd, and 30 points from Lauren Jackson (who is now the second-most recent player to hit that mark for the Opals). History could well repeat itself, a massive win for a nation who has hit the ground running since making the EuroBasket in 2023 after a 12-year hiatus.
They’re not just winning, they’re making winning the expectation. The adage of showing they belong now serves to discredit them, as they’re playing for a medal on the last day of games. Although, that has been the case for host nations since 2002, when China hosted and finished sixth.
As per FIBA’s final power ranking ahead of the World Cup on Sept. 1, they had Germany in seventh. The expectation to make a quarterfinal was there, but to make it to the semi’s with each of the four group’s being won by a powerhouse is an incredible accomplishment.
For France, the third quarter was set to be their biggest challenge thus far in the tournament. Germany were playing well and impacting multiple facets of the game, unlike Korea. It was also the first time that France didn’t have the numbers advantage in the crowd, with matchups against Hungary, Nigeria, China and the aforementioned Korea. Sure, Hungary’s decibel per fan ratio might have been higher, but the French chorus would have outsized them by at least 1,000.
So finally, France were up against it, even with a 45-38 advantage on the scoreboard. Gabby Williams was strengthening her MVP case in the first half, and production from Valeriane Ayayi and Janelle Salaun powered Les Bleues through the first half. Defensively, everyone on France took their responsibility in individual containment and playmaking very seriously. Bringing this all together provided the fulcrum of which France built this win off.
Ayayi spoke with The IX Sports about her performance after the game:
“I feel like we know where we want to go. So you have to put everything you have. It’s just super easy to play with these girls because anytime I’m open I get the ball and then I can [make] the decision for me or for the others. And this is also part of my role in the leadership is to be able to create the game for the girls but it’s just super easy. And with this team, the energy that we are putting because playing against this crowd is tough. So the energy has to come from inside and I think we did it well.”
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She made her imprint felt throughout the game, providing 10 efficient points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals. A lot of that came in the first half, but in the third quarter the team as a whole had a flurry.
Germany were threatening in parts of the second half, getting the scoreboard to an eight point differential late in the third quarter. Sofi Dumont of The Ballers Magazine asked Marine Johannes about this after the game:
“When we’re staying together it’s something good for us. We’ve been talking about that, actually, all tournament. We knew that they were going to make a run, they’re playing really aggressive, they’re playing tough. But us staying together, playing together, it’s always something that helps us from the start of the World Cup. So staying together and pushing was really huge.”
Through this, France had a lot of players stand tall, but none taller than captain Williams. In hindsight, it was clear she wasn’t going to let her country’s hopes of gold end against Germany from the moment this game started, with a steal and a made three pointer in the first 24 seconds of the game. After the game Williams spoke with assembled media in the mixed zone:
“I’m super proud [of this team]. Just proud of everyone’s effort and energy. Their engagement, the way we stood together. There were moments that could have led to bigger runs but we just focused on us.”
And then spoke with Cesare Milanti from FIBA about the environment they had played in front of:
“We didn’t see it as a hostile [environment]. We were excited to play in this environment. These are games and environments that you dream of as a kid, so we welcomed it.”
Dominique Malonga spoke on Williams’ game and impact on herself and the team with Emmet Ryan of BallinEurope:
“It’s just great to have her as an example. I think her consistency of just hard work and aggressiveness for the [whole] game. It was a tough night for me and just having her talking to me and pouring into me having her energy helped a lot. To have this next play mentality. And so just having her by my side, it’s amazing, she’s helping me grow so much.”
This was France’s most impressive win, despite it being their smallest margin of victory, at 22. They were required, by a quality opposition, to win this game all the way until the final buzzer. Well, until the final 2:37, after a fading triple for Marine Johannes ended Germany’s hopes slightly early. All of their other games were tied up by the halfway mark. Even against Korea, where they held a six point margin at the half, the writing was on the wall after France won the second quarter 19-6.
French head coach Jean Aime Toupane mentioned in his opening statement in the post game press conference that he found the game against Germany to be “tricky.” When prompted on this, he elaborated with The IX Sports:
“When you get to the quarterfinals, semifinals, finals, all the teams are very good. Good coaches, good players. We know playing here in Germany against the German team isn’t going to be easy. So with the physicality, we were expecting to keep the bar high. Today, you guys can see how we started the game, really difficult. But the resilience we have helps us stay focused on what we’re expecting to do.”
There’s a lot for German players, coaches and fans to be proud about, and a bronze medal still up for grabs. At the point of their loss against France, their two losses were against teams whose hopes of winning gold were still alive. After the game, Cesare Milanti of FIBA asked Leonie Fiebich about the quick turnaround for their bronze medal match:
“Yeah I mean it’s nothing new right. It’s our third back to back this tournament which is insane. Honestly, it’s crazy, that kind of tournament in a World Cup to have three back to back’s, but we know what to do. We had a really tough game in the first game, we turned around and we played really well the next game. So that’s our plan and everything’s positive from now on.”
“Amen,” chimed in head coach Olaf Lange.
Dumont, again, asked Fiebich for the positives from Germany’s run, which Fiebich had an honest response for:
“I think, especially last game against Belgium, we showed who we can be. Maybe we’re not ready to take on a team like France. Maybe we will be in a couple of years. But right now I think it’s a good learning experience for us [for] where we want to be in the future. Right now it hurts a little bit but, as I said, we’re trying to be very positive. Everyone needs to regain their confidence and we’re gonna go at it tomorrow.”
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Sheesh, and to do it all again with the U.S. and Spain.
Spain landed the first blow and had the U.S. in the palm of their hand at 9-1 after three minutes. The Americans took the scoreboard back at the end of the first quarter and it was game on. No team looked like they were going to run away with the game early on and it was a spectacle for U.S., Spain, France and Germany fans.
At halftime, a U.S. lead of 39-36 meant they won the last 17 minutes of the half by 11 points. This was on large part due to a free throw disparity, in which the US had a 27-4 advantage in attempts. To add insult to injury, this left Spain with 15 fouls and the US with seven.
Things stayed tense to start the second half, as Spain took the lead back early. It was tight throughout, but the arena never felt like the USA’s game against Italy.
So what is left to learn that hasn’t already been learned? The game is global, that’s known. The U.S. isn’t as far ahead anymore, that’s known. Perhaps the way in which these things manifested through the semifinals of this World Cup is the learning experience.
And maybe one other thing for everyone waiting for an Elena Buenavida update. She is in store for a long and storied career, but Iyana Martin will be the face of Spanish hoops for the next generation. It was evident that this Spain team’s offense was mainly contingent on Martin’s brilliance. After 17 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals, she spoke with The IX Sports after the game about how excited she was for her career to come after performing on a World Cup semifinal stage against the U.S.:
“We’re playing in a World Cup, for sure it’s incredible. Amazing feelings with this crowd with a lot of people supporting us for sure. I’m so happy that we could have the opportunity to be here. I think we earned it for sure. I’m so excited for tomorrow, too. Because I think we have options to win this bronze medal.”
On that bronze medal match, she then told Yann Fernandez of Who Got Next:
“I think we have to be humble because it’s not the same Germany as the first game. And we have to start the game 0-0 without thinking that we already beat them. So I think that we can do it. This team is gonna for sure, work for it. Defence, offence whatever we need to, to be in the last seconds to have options to win this medal. So I think we can do it.”
There’s no putting it together to speak of for the 20-year-old Martin, she has been the best guard at the World Cup. She has produced so consistently as Spain’s primary source of creation, well beyond her years. The two of them together will provide nightmares to the rest of the world. They will be a contender for the best backcourt in basketball, across all leagues.
For the Americans, it was an extremely professional way to close out a tight, high pressure game. In head coach Kara Lawson’s opening statement in the postgame press conference, she shared:
“It was just a battle, we knew it would be. I mean it’s a World Cup semifinal. Spain has a ton of quality all up and down their roster and I just thought late fourth quarter, defensively I think we held them to eight points in that fourth quarter. We were just really sharp with our scheme and with our coverages and with our effort to force them into a tough shot. When it was winning time, we were the superior team. We deserve to be moving on and to echo what Stewie said, we’re excited to be playing in a World Cup final tomorrow. It’s pretty awesome.”
When prompted about what exactly pleased her with this defensive effort in the fourth quarter, Lawson told The IX Sports:
“I thought our execution was sharp on the offensive end. We had certain things we wanted to attack and I thought we got to those in the fourth to score. I thought defensively it was the best we had played from guarding the ball, to guarding the ball screen to boxing out and limiting to one shot. Just every phase of defense we were precise and we were locked in and so when we get all that going together then we feel like we can create some separation. But our execution late, our shot making late, our understanding of mismatches late was all at a high level.”
When asked on if tomorrow’s game had any added motivation from ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, U.S. captain Breanna Stewart responded:
“I mean my message to the team is, you know, this is our standard here with Team USA. It’s about us. It’s literally about us. Everything that we do is going to dictate what happens in tomorrow’s game and making sure that that’s the main focus as we continue to look inward. Whether that’s lifting a teammate up or high fiving them or telling them to shoot the next shot. There’s going to be a ton of emotions in this game and it’s going to be the team that really, kind of, regulates that and handles that best that will have the advantage.”
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Another tough game for the U.S. might have them in good stead against France going for gold. And that sets the scene for the final match of the World Cup, which was likely everyone’s ballot heading in to the tournament. There have been a few components to this World Cup that were assumed going in and are the case going out, but there has also been a bit of movement between the lines.
No one would have had Germany with a legitimate chance to make the gold medal match ahead of the tournament. If the USA had a challenge, no one would have thought it would be against Italy. Beyond that, people might not have thought the Americans would have two challenges, with the second coming tonight. With the scores tied at 58 at the end of the third quarter of the U.S. v Spain bout, it was truly anyone’s game. Sue Bird spoke to Victoria Stinson from Hoops Across the Pond on the international influence in the WNBA:
“In my time, we all played overseas. If we weren’t on EuroLeague teams we were on EuroCup teams. You’re also playing in your domestic league so you were exposed to the international game a lot. There are differences, naturally. Now it’s a little different that a lot of international players are coming over to the WNBA and [now] they’re [the one’s] experiencing the WNBA style. I was really excited for this tournament, just as a fan, for that reason. This is kind of the first tournament that marks the pendulum swinging.”
It’s an interesting deliniation from Bird, and a perspective that will continue to develop. As for tonight, however, it’s a perfect punctuation mark on an incredible night of international basketball, both from traditionally dominant nations and an emerging one.
