Poll: Wizards fans love that Coulibaly’s on Team France

Also, Mystics fans, or our respondents believe that Team Canada has the best chance of winning the Gold Medal in 5×5 women’s basketball outside of Team USA.

Thank you for your responses to this week’s SB Nation Reacts survey, Washington Wizards and Mystics fans. Here are the results.

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Fans overwhelmingly approve of Bilal Coulibaly making the France men’s national basketball team

This week, we had about 200 responses, so thank you to our participants! Our topic this week was on the 2024 Olympics. First, we asked whether you approved of Bilal Coulibaly being named to the France men’s national basketball team for the 2024 Olympics in Paris, though group stage games are in Lille. Eighty-seven percent of respondents approved of the selection. In second place, 11 percent were indifferent. Only two percent disapproved.

I get that some fans would be indifferent. But why would fans disapprove? Here are some possible reasons.

Coulibaly may not get much playing time in Lille … and he’ll probably get less in Paris

This is Coulibaly’s first time playing for Les Bleus at the senior level and it’s for arguably the most important basketball competition in the world (the FIBA World Cup is often considered just as important, if not more).

Yes, Coulibaly has played significant minutes in friendlies, but I would expect him to play a little less once these games count. That said, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that Coulibaly has taken on a significant role at a young age.

At least some Wizards fans would rather see him in Summer League this week in Las Vegas

Some projected Olympians like Golden State Warriors swingman Andrew Wiggins and Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard were told by their NBA teams not to participate in the Olympics for Canada and the United States, respectively. Some fans would have wished that General Manager Will Dawkins would tell Coulibaly that the Wizards are more important than Les Bleus.

But I think that would backfire since the Wizards have multiple Frenchies on the roster including rookie center Alex Sarr. While Sarr isn’t on Les Bleus right now, you’d think that he would want to be there, possibly as soon as the next EuroBasket in Aug. 2025. And also, the Wizards don’t have the cache of the Warriors or Clippers, so I’ll leave it at that.

Fans believe France has the best chance to win the Olympic Gold Medal in 5×5 men’s basketball if the USA doesn’t

A clear majority, 61 percent believe that Les Bleus will win la médaille d’or in the 2024 Olympics if Team USA doesn’t in 5×5 men’s basketball. I compared your responses to DraftKings Sportsbook*’s odds, where Team Canada was picked with the best odds of winning the gold medal after the USA. France was right after, but the odds were pretty close nevertheless.

Mystics fans (and Wizards fans alike) believe Canada has the best odds of winning the Olympic gold medal in 5×5 women’s basketball

There was a clear hierarchy of whom you believe would win the Gold (if the USA doesn’t) for men’s basketball. For women’s basketball it wasn’t clear, and I don’t agree with your consensus either by the way.

First, your responses. The consensus Mystics and Wizards fan response was that if Team USA didn’t win the Olympic Gold Medal in 5×5 women’s basketball, Canada would, with 23 percent of the vote. Australia was not far behind with 20 percent. Belgium was third with 16 percent. And France, meaning Les Bleues, not Les Bleus, was after that with 12 percent.

DraftKings Sportsbook doesn’t agree with your collective responses

Now here is DraftKings Sportsbook’s odds on who the 5×5 women’s basketball gold medal winner is projected to be.

After Team USA, DraftKings Sportsbook projects China in second place. If China doesn’t win Gold, then FOUR teams: France, Belgium, Australia and Japan are all tied. Canada is actually 7th place here!

So why would our local fans here in the DMV pick Canada over the likes of Belgium, Australia, France, etc.?

• Canada has a Mystics player: Aaliyah Edwards will play and we are inclined to support her.
• Canada’s basketball players are much more likely to be trained in the American system than any other country: Edwards went to UConn for college. Most of the current Canadian team played college basketball in the USA as well. And the Canadians also have multiple current WNBA players, unlike most teams in the Olympics.

So why would China, rank second in DraftKings Sportsbook?

• The bookies set the lines — Duh, and they study the game too!
• China won the silver medal in the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup — The roster includes posts with WNBA experience like Han Xu and Li Yueru. Also, their best guard is former Mystics guard Li Meng. China also beat the Opals, Cats and Les Bleues in the FIBA Women’s World Cup. In fact, the Chinese beat everyone except Team USA, whom they lost to twice.

Which country I think will win Gold if the USA doesn’t in women’s basketball…

Personally, I think Belgium has the best chance of winning the Gold Medal after the USA. They are playing the Group Stage games practically next to West Flanders province in Belgium which is where a larger-than-proportionate number of players are from like Mystics guard Julie Vanloo and the best individual player in this Olympic tournament. Also, the Cats were undefeated in the 2023 Women’s EuroBasket to win the continental championship.

And finally, the Cats gave Team USA all they could handle without their best player being at her best in Antwerp last February. Quite frankly, the Cats choked the last few seconds (thanks to a non-call by the refs), but I just don’t see that happening again. Those two teams are playing each other on Aug. 1 with what should be a very pro-Cats crowd. This time, I can see the Belgians beating the Americans, at least in a group stage environment.

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That’s all I have for today. Enjoy your weekends!

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*DraftKings Sportsbook is an SB Nation/Vox Media partner. Please gamble responsibly.