TOKYO (Japan) - It didn't seem like this was going to be a special summer for France. First, there were a couple of pre-Olympic warmup game defeats to Spain and then another to Japan. Yet here we are, and Les Bleus now have an excellent shot of reaching the podium.

That's because on Tuesday, Les Bleus followed up a perfect Group Phase campaign in which they beat the United States, the Czech Republic and Iran with an 84-75 Quarter-Final triumph over Italy.

Once again, their veterans led the way and one in particular, Nicolas Batum, was so effective that he is our Player of the Day.

Batum put his multi-faceted game on display against the Azzurri. He scored, he crashed the boards, he fed teammates for baskets. Batum also excelled on the defensive end, which is where he has always helped his teams by coming up with steals and blocking shots.

When it was over his 15 points, 14 boards, three assists, three steals and two swats helped him accumulate a game-high +29 efficiency.

It was vintage Batum, hailed for being a smart, solid defender whose size and length help him defend multiple positions. Often, though, his offense comes to the fore, which it did at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2014 in Spain when he led the French to third place and was named to the All-Star Five.

Batum, who is the captain of France, the national team that he has been a linchpin in for more than a decade, has lived and breathed a lot of international basketball yet that didn't stop him from getting some butterflies before the clash with Italy.

"That was the most nervous I had got since I started playing for the national team in the past 13 years," he said.
"I think the pressure I got personally this morning was the most because I could not lose that game. I have gotten medals in the World Cup (third place in both 2014 and 2019) and won the EuroBasket (2013), but personally, I miss the Olympics."

Batum has been a true warrior for France over the years and never more than on Tuesday against Italy

Next comes a considerable test, the biggest of the summer in fact, in a Semi-Final against Slovenia.

The Olympic upstarts won the last FIBA EuroBasket in 2017 with Luka Doncic on the team and have been the hottest side all summer.

For now, it's time to savor his performance in the Quarter-Final, a game that he'd lost at the Olympics in London and Rio de Janeiro. Come Thursday, Captain Nic and his Les Bleus crew have another crack at playing for precious metals of the Olympic variety. 

FIBA