After Rudy Gobert decided to withdraw from France’s National Team play this year, the general thought was that Joffrey Lauvergne was bound to see his role increased. He has previously overachieved in a bench role and this year seemed to offer plenty of opportunities for him to provide a steadying presence in the frontcourt alongside veterans Boris Diaw and Kevin Seraphin. Unfortunately, the first game didn’t quite go as planned as France lost in overtime to the Finnish hosts.
Throughout the game, Lauvergne struggled against Finland’s length and ball movement and was mainly stuck on the bench during crunch time.