By Only Players Staff
Updated 8/6/24 3:15am ET
Undefeated Canada faces the host country, as the French finished 1-2 in group play. The over/under is 163.5.
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Automated transcript is below. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
I got a feeling this is one of those games where within the first few minutes we’ll know exactly how it’s going to play out. Either France is going to finally show up in these Olympics in terms of men’s basketball or it’s going to be a one -sided game for Canada. And again, I think we’ll know right away. Let’s take a look at the matchup quarterfinals elimination round in Paris, France, the host country, an eight point dog against the Canadians. 163 and a half is your over under.
Now Canada, we know about them. They’re the second favorite, supposedly the biggest threat to the US. 11 NBA players led by STA, the MVP finalists. But France has been very underachieving. While Canada’s 3 -0 so far, France is 2 -1. They got blown out by Germany, nearly lost to Japan as an 18 -point favorite, needed a late rally in the final seconds and overtime just to survive. Didn’t even come close to covering,
So I think we see France’s best performance. I’m not willing to bet it. I just merely a lean, but I feel they’re going to channel the underdog atmosphere. Now, they were a dog to Germany, but they’re a bigger dog here against Canada and Canadians tend to play with their food. They nearly lost to Spain, had another game where they were up 12 late and only that lead was cut to two. So I think, I think France can really play hard. They have the huge advantage in the middle because Canada’s bigs are Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell.
Obviously you have Wembanyama and go bear. So I think France really steps up. They’re really lacking point guard play and that’s been killing them. But I think they have enough here. It’s just a lean. Now the prop market catches my eye. Jamal Murray’s been the biggest head scratcher. This guy’s all NBA caliber of a player, but he’s coming off the bench for Canada. He’s not even scoring, but it’s working. The Canadians again, undefeated. So I don’t think anything changes. I’ll go under Jamal Murray’s points prop.
Maybe he breaks out now that the stakes are higher in this elimination round, but there’s no reason to think it’s gonna happen unless there’s an angle I haven’t heard. So I think it’s more of the same for Canada. I think we might even see a low scoring game. So I’ll take Jamal Murray’s points prop under as an actual wager.