France vs. Spain: Can France Contend with Spain's Powerful Big Men?

After dropping its first game of Olympic play to Team USA in London, the France national basketball team caught fire, winning its next four games en route to a second-place finish in Group A.

Awaiting France in the medal round is Group B disappointment Spain, a team that came into London the No. 2 team in the world but dropped games to Russia and Brazil in the preliminaries on its way to a third place finish.

Despite France's hot play and Spain's struggles, the Spaniards still walk into the medal round as 6.5 point (via Bovada.lv) favorites.

The biggest reason for that is Spain's massive advantage in the painted area.

Brothers Marc and Pau Gasol, both NBA All-Stars, lead the way for the Spanish big men while NBA blocks champion Serge Ibaka continues growing with every minute on the international stage.

With France starting just fringe NBAers Boris Diaw and Ronny Turiaf, it's not hard to see why many are picking Spain to advance.

But the French could negate the impact of the Spanish big men with a few easy steps. Here's a look at how France could contend with Spain's powerful big men:

Force Serge Ibaka to the Outside

When backup center Serge Ibaka is in the game for Spain, priority No. 1 for France is keeping him out of the paint on both ends of the floor.

Ibaka's outside jumper is light years ahead of where it was when the Oklahoma City Thunder took him in the 2008 NBA Draft, but it's still a huge weakness for the 22-year-old.

If France can keep him out of the paint and away from the offensive glass, it should help negate much of Ibaka's impact offensively.

The best way to help in that facet starts for the French on the offensive end. If they can force a switch so Boris Diaw is guarding Ibaka offensively while Ronny Turiaf handles either Gasol brother, that forces Ibaka to the outside on both ends of the floor.

While he'll certainly be able to alter some shots from behind and will knock down a couple of open jumpers, it will help negate at least some of Ibaka's enormous impact coming off the bench.

Double-Team Marc Gasol

To put it bluntly, there isn't an igloo's chance in hell that Ronny Turiaf can adequately guard Spanish center Marc Gasol in the paint.

For France to have any chance of not being eviscerated by the seven-footer, they'll need to collapse on entry passes and get the ball out of the younger Gasol's hands as quickly as possible.

But double-teaming Marc Gasol could lead to a cavalcade of open looks for Spain's outside shooters if not done properly.

The French defenders need to properly rotate with the double team to give the collapsing defender enough time to find his man without giving Spain a good look.

Lazy rotations equal easy buckets for Spain. Strong rotations keep France in the game.

Let Pau Gasol Get His

There is no way that France can concentrate on stopping all three of the Spanish forces in the middle. They’re going to have to choose one to set free and get his points while trying to make up for it on the offensive end.

That guy is Pau Gasol.

The 31-year-old Los Angeles Lakers power forward has been nothing short of brilliant so far in these London Games, averaging 21.2 points per game while leading Spain in rebounds.

Short of putting four guys on Gasol every time he runs down the floor, the Spanish star is going to get his 20-8 without breaking a sweat.

If France can negate Gasol’s effect by staying as offensively efficient as they were in the preliminary round, and do the aforementioned things to stop the other Spanish big men, the Frenchmen could pull off another huge upset.