Following weeks of thrilling basketball in Paris, fans will finally be treated to the highly anticipated Showdown between Team USA and France. After all, LeBron James and Co. going head-to-head against Victor Wembanyama was all everyone wanted to see. But amid the excitement, France’s head coach faces a huge dilemma about the role of Rudy Gobert in the finale. Ever since the knockouts began, Rudy has been demoted from his starter role and spent most of his time on the bench. And that has been working tremendously for the French squad.

Warriors’ legend Baron Davis was asked if Gobert should get more minutes against Team USA because of his experience of playing against them. He replied, “Well, out of respect, give him a chance. But if he ain’t cutting it, you gotta roll with what you got. You know what I mean, this is a gold medal game.” In the past two games against Canada and Germany, Vincent Collet put Gobert on for only 3 and 5 minutes, respectively. Even when he was playing, the Stifle Tower had little to no impact, going scoreless in both games.

But his absence did miracles for France as they eliminated the reigning World Champions and last year’s bronze medallists of the FIBA World Cup with this new strategy. With only one game remaining, Davis believes Gobert might have to take a backseat once again for the betterment of his team, “Rudy Gobert gotta figure out and humble himself and say ‘Yo, if I want a gold medal, I may have to sit this one out,’” he concluded on The Draymond Green Show.

While the Warriors legend advised Gobert to sit out the gold medal match, Draymond Green seemed to agree with him and kept repeating, “Yeah.”

Can Rudy Gobert prove his critics wrong on the biggest stage?

Although sitting the game out is one solution, Baron Davis also suggested another way for Gobert to help his team, “If I want a gold medal, when I do play, I gotta do something.” When Gobert was first benched against Canada, he claimed that it was because of a recent surgery that he underwent after injuring his ring finger during practice. However, Collet denied Gobert’s claim and revealed he was removed from the lineup due to mismatch issues.

While the big man has hardly gotten any playing time in the knockout stage, his ‘fit problem’ with the team has been evident since the tournament began. During the group stage, Gobert was an offensive liability, as he averaged only 6 points in three games. Although he did help defensively by using his length to rebound and block shots, it was not enough to make up for his lack of scoring ability. But if given a chance, he could turn things around in the finals against Team USA because he did exactly that during the Tokyo Olympics.

Yes, while the same two teams met in the finals of the previous Olympics, Gobert shocked everyone by leading his team in scoring 16 points. Moreover, he also had 8 rebounds to add to it. Although France lost the game by 5 points, Gobert proved that he can be productive if put in the right situation. If Collet decides to give Gobert another chance on Sunday, he might have only a few minutes to prove his worth. Do you think Rudy Gobert should return to France’s starting lineup against Team USA?

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger

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