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Rio de Janeiro • Unhappy with France's offense in an opening game of the Olympic basketball tournament, Boris Diaw personally altered his team's approach Monday night.
With five assists in the first half, Diaw started a sharing trend that carried France to an 88-60 victory over China.
"It's something that's contagious, usually," said Diaw, acquired by the Jazz from San Antonio in early July. "I try to bring that virus wherever I'm playing. By sharing the ball, everybody's doing the same."
In the land of Zika, that's probably not the best analogy. The strategy worked, though. After France was overwhelmed by Australia on Saturday, the team resembled the group that played together effectively in an Olympic qualifying tournament last month.
"It feels good," Diaw said, "but it's relative. It's against China, and we're going to play tougher teams."
France's next game is Wednesday vs. Serbia as Group A preliminary play continues. The team will meet Venezuela on Friday and face the USA on Sunday.
Playing only 21 minutes because of France's comfortable lead Monday, Diaw remained stuck on five assists for the game, while posting seven points, four rebounds and three blocked shots. Rudy Gobert, now his Jazz teammate, finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and five blocks in 20 minutes. Gobert added to each of those categories in the last few minutes after being reinserted into the game, even with his team way ahead.
That stint partially made up for the time he missed in the first half, when Gobert played six-plus minutes before going to the bench with two fouls. International rules include a five-foul limit, as in college basketball, so Gobert sat out much of the half. He returned impressively in the third quarter, blocking four shots in the first five minutes.
"I wanted to come back and be smarter defensively, try and not foul [but] be aggressive and just play basketball," he said.
He succeeded, as France maintained the lead that his teammates had built pretty much without him. Gobert's highlight of the first half was a layup with an assist from Diaw, who believes his interior passing skills will translate well in the Jazz's offense.
"It's going to be good — a new team, new challenge," said Diaw, 34. "I'll be happy to come [and] try to get this young team going somewhere, and I think we can."
Former NBA player Nando de Colo led France with 19 points and Tony Parker, Diaw's ex-teammate in San Antonio, added 14. China's Yi Jianlian, another former NBA player, scored all of his 19 points in the second half.
France led 19-14 after the first quarter, before pulling away to a 42-23 lead at halftime and staying in control. China had lost 119-62 to the USA in its tournament opener.
Twitter: @tribkurt Storylines
• France shoots 60 percent from the field in an 88-60 defeat of China in the Olympic basketball tournament, improving to 1-1 in Group A.
• China and Venezuela are 0-2, so France is in good position to advance to the quarterfinals, as long as it beats Venezuela.
• Former University of Utah player Kim Tillie of France records one assist and one rebound in 10 minutes.