With the quarterfinals bracket of the basketball competition in the Paris Olympics already set, fans have finally seen which matchups are worth anticipating. Many appear to be looking forward to the battle between France and Canada, especially because Victor Wembanyama will headline the show.
For sure, though, Canada will attempt to spoil the San Antonio Spurs star's quest to win gold for the home nation. The team is apparently unleashing Dillon Brooks on Wembanyama, and the Houston Rockets swingman is motivated by the possibility of being able to brag to his "boys" that he stopped the "best player in the world."
"I can tell my boys (back home and in the NBA) that I was on the best player in the world, and I stopped him," Brooks said .
Brooks' plans to prevent Wemby from being a hero
France has yet to win a gold medal in the Olympics, with its best showing being silver medal finishes in 1948, 2000, and 2020. Hopes are high for Les Bleus because of the arrival of "The Alien," who averaged 17.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.7 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game in the group phase.
"Dillon the Villain" will look to cut the 7-foot-4 phenom down to size. The good news for the Rockets forward is that he probably had sufficient experience guarding Wemby in the 2023-24 NBA regular season.
Interestingly, the reigning Rookie of the Year struggled a bit against Houston, putting up just 14.8 points per game. He failed to shoot better than 46.7% from the field in any of those four meetings, three of which were losses.
Of course, Brooks probably had plenty of help from his Rockets teammates. He is likely hoping that his Canadian crew will offer the same defensive support, especially because the stakes in the Olympic quarterfinals are much higher than his NBA regular season face-offs with Wembanyama.
Polar opposite foes
Another intriguing plotline about the upcoming quarterfinal bout is that it will be a showdown between teams that could not be more opposite from one another.
While the French squad has a scary twin-tower combination of Wemby and Rudy Gobert, Team Canada has one of the scariest combinations of backcourt and swingmen in the tournament. Its offense has primarily come from the shot-creating and playmaking skills of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett, Jamal Murray, Andrew Nembhard, and Brooks.
It remains to be seen which side comes out on top. However, if Dillon wants to carry out his lofty goal of toppling Team USA in the Paris Games , he will need to bring out his A game against France in the knockout stage.
Related: "I'm glad he was there" - Dillon Brooks explains why he blew a kiss to Dwyane Wade vs. Greece
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