U.S. men's basketball loses to France in 83-76 Olympics upset This
Team USA has lost to France in the first match up for the men's basketball team in Tokyo, breaking their 25-game winning streak at the Olympics.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/u-s-men-s-basketball-loses-france-83-76-olympics-n1274956
...is it!
There've been times in my life
I've been wonderin' why
Still, somehow I believed we'd always survive
Now, I'm not so sure
You're waiting here, one good reason to try
But, what more can I say? What's left to provide?
Are you gonna wait for a sign, your miracle?
Stand up and fight
This is it!
Team USA is in the danger zone. The game has evolved to where they can't just roll out the ball and think that they're alright. Assuming they just have to show up is what a fool would believe.
Though they're not Sittin' In a great position after that loss, How About Now in the High Adventure of The Unimaginable Life for this USA Olympic Men’s Basketball team, we All Join In to take a Leap of Faith that they can Keep the Fire alive and set Full Sail towards a medal?
Clarence, your reply was priceless
I understand basketball is way more international now than the early 90s, but there is no excuse for a team as talented as that to lose.
I think that’s the biggest issue though. This team is all talent and doesn’t fit together or play well together at all
Amen. This game is a great game-about a lot more than simple physical talent.
I think what we're learning is this team isn't all that talented compared to their competition. They're better on paper but they aren't overwhelmingly better than the guys on the other teams AND they don't seem to be particularly well designed to actually, you know, play competitive basketball.
I said this in another thread when they were chugging through the mediocre pre-tournament games that it's a team that is pretty good, with a bunch of pretty good players, but not an elite collection of talent. Durant is very much an offense-first guy at this point, guys like Holliday, Booker, and Middleton are coming off a grueling Finals and are likely getting their feet underneath them, and they have little legitimate length to speak of on the defensive end. So if Tatum and Lillard have bad shooting days they don't have a deep bench of effective offensive players to rely on, and thus you have games like today where they score 11 points in a quarter.
I wasn't really excited about this roster when they announced it and then they lost guys and didn't really have great replacements. I'm not expecting this team to win gold, and I'm not sure they'll even medal right now.
Pops not doing his reputation a whole lot of lasting good.
France? Are they good?
Evan Fournier a career okay to decent rotation player was the most productive player on either team. France also has Rudy Gobert who is a multiple time DPOY.
US leading scorer someone who just finished winning a championship a few days ago. Also, why, just why is Javale Magee on this team?
This wouldn't have happened if Team USA chose Duncan Robinson as the token white guy replacement.
I seriously don't know why they didn't call him up. In today's game you can't have too much outside shooting.
France is one of the better teams. It’s an upset, but not a shock like losing to Puerto Rico in 2004 was.
It was a bad way to lose though. The US was ahead most of the way and then settled for heroball threes down the stretch, which did not fall. Meanwhile, Fournier caught fire.
I'm watching it right now, and although there was a lot of ball movement in the first, in the 2nd it was mostly one or two passes (if that) and then a shot mostly from long range/ isolation drive to the basket. There's not a lot of plays being run, which is disappointing. Athletic ability alone isn't going to cut it. France punished them inside with their bigs in the 2nd on developed sets/plays/rebounds/defense. I didn't know they lost until I came on here a several minutes ago. I'm honestly not surprised from what I saw. It's halftime on this replay and I'll be turning it off now lol.
Surprised? Not really.
obligatory:
Will never not be funny.
this is for sure 100% draymond greens fault
Needs a swift kick to the balls.
He did only score 2 points lol
Another triple single?
And Popovich is 5 years past his “sell by” date.
Ill say this there is a huge % of people that only care if we lose. Im not sure why that is but it is surely strange. Im not sure there is any country in any sport that the interest levels triple only in a loss.
I wouldn’t go that far, but the US is in a tough spot expectations-wise. If we win it’s expected and if we lose it’s a horrible failure. They are basically the Alabama football of the Olympics.
They are way better/more talented than the competition than Alabama is to the rest of the NCAA. Puerto Rico loss was on par with the horror
Probably true, but I’m just talking about fan expectations. If you’re a Bama fan, at this point you can’t really be satisfied with anything short of a national title.
Haha yeah a real tough spot. Whoa is them. Poor Alabama.
Have you met an Alabama fan? Yeah the teams maybe the fans? Not so much.
Have you met an Alabama fan? Yeah the teams maybe the fans? Not so much.
this comment is downright hilarious on a michigan blog.
I'm sure most of the world is rooting against us since we have NBA players. Nothing like an under dog taking down the best talent in the world.
Looking through the roster, this isn't exactly the dream team. Talented players yes but I see only two sure fire HOF players.
Granted I don't follow the NBA that closely.
I’m in the same boat. I don’t know exactly who should make up the roster but I feel like it’s not the guys on the box score.
Sign of the times.
I wonder if the poster who told me Durant is elite at defense watched that game last night. 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 10 points on horrid shooting and he fouled out in only 22 minutes. As I stated before, he is vastly overrated on defense. He’s an elite shooter and that’s about the extent of it. He’s not the kind of guy to carry a team. As has been shown throughout his career.
His defense, after an achillies injury? Yea, it isn't great. Prior to that, yes, I think he was a pretty good defender.
I would say above average before injury and possibly average after. His biggest strength is his length. He’s usually for half a foot on people he’s defending between his height and arm length.
or That?
Is it really an upset anymore when they lose?
The Americans are 138-6 in Olympic men's basketball competition.
Yes, it's still an upset when they lose.
This team should get better as the tournament progresses. The question is, will it be in time?
This doesn't seem like one of the better Olympic basketball teams the U.S. has fielded. Hopefully though they'll turn it around.
Team USA’s failings this year have 100% been on roster construction imo. We thought we could just get the best guys and throw them out there but that is clearly not the case. We don’t need a whole team of shot creating wings and guards who try to get fouled and can’t play through contact. We need guys who will defend, fill their role, and play team ball. The more I think about it, Duncan Robinson would’ve been a great fit for this team
I think Durant really hurts them. He's the best player, but can he coexist with another ball dominant player? Is he too big to coexist with a star big and too perimeter oriented to mesh with star guards? I think it only worked with GSW because of the culture they have.
I believe they're 3-3 overall at this point. So an upset not so much at this pt.
The other games were exhibitions. This was their first real Olympic game. Also their first with a full roster.
OK, who didn't see this coming?
fukn losers