France's bold change leads to shocking upset in Paris Olympics

The time for experimentation had passed. Head coach Vincent Collet started Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert on the floor together through five exhibition games and three group-play games with mixed results. They were 4-4 over that stretch and in their toughest matchups, the most obvious issue with the lineup reared its ugly head time after time; there wasn't enough shooting on the floor.

San Antonio Spurs fans are very familiar with this issue and were likely yelling at their flat screens, hoping Collet would make a change, but it's not that easy. Rudy Gobert is a veteran on that team and is as respected as they come. Putting a four-time defensive player of the year with that type of cache on the bench is not a simple decision and with the versatility Wemby possesses, it's reasonable to at least see if they could share the floor. However, that question has been answered.

Benching Gobert was the right decision

Wembanyama didn't have his best shooting game (7pts) against Canada, but his impact was felt from the very beginning, and the space he was afforded helped. The defensive benefit provided by employing a twin-towers-style philosophy didn't outweigh the compromised position it put France's offense in. As NBA writer Andy Bailey pointed out, when you put more speed and shooting on the floor, everything works better.

You can supplement the defensive presence of Gobert with increased activity from the rest of your guys when Wemby is on the floor. He's that good and they did just that. Just about everyone on the team benefited from the extra elbow room, including Isaia Cordinier, who took full advantage of his opportunity, dropping 20 points on 60% shooting. They looked like a totally different offense and no matter what Gobert says about why the change was made, they can't go back.