All-out war looms as FIBA Olympic qualifer down to Final 4

Games Saturday (MOA Arena)

6:30 p.m. – Canada vs New Zealand

9 p.m. – France vs Turkey

MANILA, Philippines – Then there will only be two.

Charlotte Hornets forward Nicolas Batum is expected to finally take the floor, making France the solid favorite versus Turkey while Canada and New Zealand clash in what could well be an intense, marquee duel in the semifinals of the FIBA Olympic qualifier at the MOA Arena Saturday night.

The Canadians and New Zealand’s Tall Blacks face off at 6:30 p.m. then France’s Les Bleus and Turkey’s Dev Adam square off at 9 p.m. to determine the two teams fighting it out for the Manila OQT crown and a ticket to the Rio Games next month.

Each team is likely to wage an all-out war in chase of their respective Olympic dreams.

Much focus, however, is on the Frenchmen with the keenly awaited stint of Batum, one of the two lead stars in the Manila OQT, the other being his Les Bleus teammate Tony Parker. Though sitting out the elims play, the 6-foot-8 eight-year NBA veteran has been drawing loud cheers from the Filipinos fans wherever he’s been.

France coach Vincent Collet said Batum will finally see action in the semis with his NBA clearance to be released Friday, a few days after signing a fresh five-year $120-million contract with the Hornets.

He averaged 14.9 points in the last NBA season and was among France’s top guns in the last two FIBA World Cups and in the 2012 Olympics. He was at his best in the last Olympics where he put in 15.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

Batum could well be an added scoring punch for Les Bleus who were paced by Nando De Colo (with 27 points) and Parker (21 points) in their 93-84 drubbing of Gilas Pilipinas and by Mickael Gelabale (11 points and five rebounds), Boris Diaw (10 markers and six boards) and Kim Tillie (10 points) in their come-from-behind 66-59 triumph over New Zealand.

Thomas Heurtel, Antoine Diot, Joffrey Lauvergne, Charles Kahudi, Florent Pietrus and Adrien Moerman have also churned out solid minutes for Les Bleus who routed Turkey, 76-53, in their Round of 16 duel in the last EuroBasket Championship.

The world fifth-ranked French team holds a big 13-3 advantage over No. 8 Turkey in their head-on duels. The last time the Turks pulled over the Frenchmen were at home in Istanbul during the World Championship in 2010.

Going with the Turks is their size, starring giant frontliners Omer Asik, Semih Erden and Oguz Savas. It would help if naturalized guard Ali Muhammed can be consistent.

The Chicago, Illinois native bled for one point in their 69-77 loss to Canada before finding his touch and erupting for 23 in their 68-62 decision over Senegal.

What could be a better matchup is the Canada-New Zealand tussle.

Both are looking well prepared for this tourney, each one showing fluidity and clockwork precision in their games.

Canada cut down the tall Turkey side to size, fashioning out a 77-69 win on Tuesday before returning to the floor and repulsing Senegal, 58-55.

New Zealand deflated Gilas Pilipinas and the home crowd in an 89-80 victory, then the Kiwis dominated the Frenchmen through the first three quarters before folding up at the finish.

The Canada-New Zealand tiff will feature exciting, blue-chip matchups including Canadian guards Cory Joseph, Tyler Ennis and Philip Scrubb versus Kiwi backcourt men Corey Webster, Tai Jack Webster and Ili Shea.

Isaac Fotu, Mika Vukona and Robert Loe, meanwhile, are likely to take on Canadian NBA center Tristan Thompson.

Canada and New Zealand have had two previous matches with the Canadians prevailing, 110-74, during the 1986 world meet and the Kiwis getting even, 71-61, in the 2010 world joust.