France Olympic Men's Basketball Team 2012: Updated News, Roster and Analysis

France has finalized their 12-man roster for the 2012 London Olympics. It is a team that is primed to compete and figures to be playing for a medal.

The roster is solid overall, particularly with one of two questionable participants being cleared to play. However, they will certainly miss one of their stars that won't be healthy for the Olympics.

France qualified for the games by virtue of their silver medal in FIBA EuroBasket 2011. They went 9-2, dropping the gold-medal game to Spain, 98-85.

We'll discuss the roster, their challengers and predict how France will show in the 2012 Olympic Games in the following slides. 

Final Roster

France will be without their starting center, as Joakim Noah will miss the tournament. The team has a very good set of starters, but was already thin on depth.

Noah will be replaced by Ronny Turiaf, a journey that has bounced around the NBA and is currently on the Miami Heat roster.

The good news for France is Tony Parker's eye injury will not keep him from competing. He's perhaps the best point guard in the tournament and losing him would have likely had dire consequences for the French squad.

Pos.	Player	Most Recent Team
G/F	Nicolas Batum	Portland Trail Blazers
G	Yannick Bokolo	Gravelines Dunkerque
G	Fabien Causeur	Caja Laboral Baskonia
G	Nando De Colo	Valencia BC
F	Boris Diaw	San Antonio Spurs
SF	Mickael Gelabale	Asvel Villeurbanne
SF	Charles Kahudi	Le Mans Sarthe
PG	Tony Parker	San Antonio Spurs
PF	Florent Pietrus	Valencia BC
PF/C	Kevin Séraphin	Washington Wizards
PF/C	Ali Traore	Lokomotiv Kuban
PF/C	Ronny Turiaf	Miami Heat

Key Players

While there are several NBA stars on the French roster, there are a few players whose work will make a big difference in the team walking away with wins or really big wins.

Tony Parker

The hopes of France securing a medal likely start and end with Parker. He can score in bunches and spread the ball to his teammates. He led EuroBasket 2011 with 22.1 points per game and added a respectable 4.3 assists per game.

If France is going to get by Spain (or possibly Team USA) in Pool A, they'll need Parker to have a few huge games.

Team coach Vincent Collet is obviously happy to have his star. He stated in a AP article that "it is great news and a relief for the whole France team. I spoke with Tony on the phone and he sounded very happy—and also relieved—about this development. It was a difficult and alarming situation for everyone."

Opposing benches should now be alarmed, as Parker will be driven and can still take over a game.

Nicolas Batum

Batum is a hot commodity right now. He has signed an offer sheet with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Portland Trail Blazers are weighing whether they will match the contract.

Batum is likely looking forward to just playing some basketball and not worrying about the business side of his profession. He has shown well in international play, including posting a 14.2 PPG average in the Olympic qualifying tournament. He works well with Parker and should be able to pick up some of the scoring slack from the loss of Noah.

Ronny Turiaf and/or Kevin Seraphin

It will be interesting to see how France plans to use Turiaf. He is a decent scorer and rebounds well, and is also a threat to block shots. He missed EuroBasket 2011 with a hand injury.

He told fiba.com just how important it was for him to make the Olympic roster. “I’ve been dreaming about playing in the Olympics since my childhood. It would be fantastic for my teammates and myself to participate in this competition.”

It could be Kevin Seraphin that steps in to fill the void left by Noah, but the two will likely share duties. The U.S. team won't place a huge emphasis on the center position, but Spain will pose matchup issues with Marc and Pau Gasol along with Serge Ibaka.

Seraphin isn't worried, though. Following a 74-54 exhibition win over Italy he stated "it was important for us to show who we are from the beginning. We are still a fierce team, that's our strength, we keep on fighting whatever happens."

Main Challengers

All of them, or so it seems. Pool A is stacked with talented teams, which has a decided talent bump over Pool B.

There are two major hurdles for Team France. They'll face one in pool play and will hope to face the other that resides in Pool B.

United States

Team USA is simply the class of the tournament. They have a roster full of NBA all-stars and will be difficult to match up against. 

The one potential weakness for the U.S. is their front court. They only have one center on the roster and could be susceptible to a team that can pound the ball in the paint. That may not be France's strength, though. 

France opens the Olympics facing the American squad so they will get an early idea of where they stand.

Spain

France lost to Spain twice at FIBA EuroBasket 2011. They were both dropped into the same group in the second round, with Spain winning their first contest 96-69. 

The importance of Parker and Noah to this team can be seen from this game, as coach Collet opted to not play his two stars.

"Noah got a hit in the calf and he wanted to play, but the doctor said no," Collet said in an AP story. "Tony has played more than 30 minutes in each of the previous games and he needed a rest."

Serge Ibaka was a major issue for the French squad, blocking five shots in their matchup. They will also throw Pau and Marc Gasol at the French frontcourt, along with other NBA greats, such as Serge Ibaka, Rudy Fernández and José Calderón.

France figures to face Spain in the semifinals of the medal round, with the winner going for gold. 

Prediction

France will be in the medal picture in the tournament.

Their pool will likely be dominated by the U.S., but France is the favorite to take the second seed. This is important, as the second seed wouldn't see the American team again until the gold-medal game.

The three-seed would likely face the U.S. in the semifinals.

Argentina will throw Manu Ginóbili and Andrés Nocioni at the French in pool play, but it won't likely be enough. France has a better starting five overall and enough depth to hold off Argentina.

Projected standings for Pool A:

Pool A	W-L
USA	5-0
France	4-1
Argentina	3-2
Lithuania	2-3
Nigeria	1-4
Tunisia	0-5

If France comes in second behind the U.S. in Pool A, they would be on track to face Spain in the semifinals. Spain has already shown they could handle France in the European qualifying tournament, but past performance doesn't guarantee future success.

This is Parker's first, and likely only, Olympics appearance and he's driven to play well. These two teams were very close with Parker in the lineup and Turiaf will step up and fill in well for Noah.

Look for France to become battle-hardened in their tough pool play and be ready for Spain. While it would be an upset, I see France advancing to the title game after missing the Olympics in 2008.

This would leave France taking silver, which would be a huge accomplishment. The bronze would still be a great showing if they can't get past Spain and a medal they would take with pride.