1 Stud, 4 Duds from Team Canada's heartbreaking Olympic loss to France
That was rather unexpected.
After Team Canada took down the "Group of Death" with a perfect 3-0 record, and France was demolished by Germany and needed a miracle (and perhaps some home cooking with the officials) to beat Japan and advance to the quarterfinals, it seemed certain Canada would dispatch the wobbling hosts and move on to the semifinals.
Instead, Canada's chance at a medal was crushed on Tuesday when France came out on fire and never looked back, holding off multiple Canadien rallies to pull off an 82-73 win and move on to a rematch with Germany.
Canada was down 23-10 after the first quarter, and 16 points at halftime. It's not that France played particularly well in any one single facet of the game; they had 17 turnovers, shot just 32 percent from 3-point range, and they got only 3 minutes from Rudy Gobert and saw Victor Wembanyama shoot 2-for-10 from the field.
What happened? Let's explore that answer through the lens of six players who can define how Canada entered the game as 8.5 point favorites and yet lost by nine points. Here are the players who stood out, for good and for ill, during Canada's heart-breaking loss.
Dud: Jamal Murray
We start with the most jarring part of Team Canada's time in the Olympics, and that's the complete and utter ineptitude of Jamal Murray. The NBA champion had absolutely nothing to give in France, struggling to gain separation against defenders he would normally cook, and with a wildly inaccurate jumper when he did decide to pull the trigger.
Murray shot 3-for-13 against France, by far his most shot attempts but without the accuracy such an aggressive approach should have depended on. He hit one open 3-pointer that got the team buzzing, but proceeded to heat check himself into a variety of clanks and misses.
The Denver Nuggets guard played hard, including pulling in five rebounds, but he was frequently cooked on defense and had three turnovers to just one assist. It was an abysmal showing for Murray, and in large part his inability to show up is why Canada is going home without a shot at a medal.