The fear after Team USA dropped multiple exhibition games is now a reality–they lost their first game in the Olympics since 2004. Team USA was defeated, 76-83, by Team France. The US came out strong by outscoring France in both the 1st and 2nd quarters to take an 8-point halftime lead. However, much like in their exhibition games, they came out of the half flat. France outscored them in both the 3rd and 4th quarters, including a 14-point differential in the 3rd quarter.
Team France was led by Boston Celtics guard Evan Fournier (28 points on 50% shooting) and Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (14 points on 83% shooting, 9 rebounds). Team USA’s leading scorer was NBA Champion and Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday (18 points, 7 rebounds), and Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo had a solid contribution (12 point-10 rebound double-double).
It’s pretty shocking to see Team USA struggling this badly with so many All-NBA and All-Star players on the roster. People are blaming several people, but I think the biggest issue is that the players are not playing like a TEAM. That isn’t particularly surprising when you look at the number of players on the team who are used to being the top scoring option in the NBA: Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers), Zach Lavine (Chicago Bulls), Kevin Durant (Brooklyn Nets), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns). Granted, that’s happened a lot on Team USA in the past. The difference is the scorers on this roster aren’t known for playing much defense. The inability to play as a team certainly has to fall (at least a little bit) on the coaching staff. Lloyd Pierce was an odd choice to be one of the coaches, but Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr have had enough success as head coaches in the NBA to know what it takes to win. It’s not just about having superstars–it’s about playing cohesively, so everyone does their part. Take it from a Trail Blazers fan like me: having a player score as many points as he wants does no good if the team doesn’t play defense. Also, it might help if Popovich would play Keldon Johnson less. I know they are both with the San Antonio Spurs, and Keldon may end up being a great player someday, but he’s not that good right now (he had a team-worst -11 rating in this game). How about giving NBA Champion and Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton more minutes instead?
Next up for Team USA: another group matchup against Iran on Wednesday, July 28 at 12:40 am ET (which means Tuesday night for any other time zone in the US). You can see the rest of their schedule and how to watch it here.
*All stats from FIBA.basketball
TheHaysWay 