
Another player, LaVine, had been placed COVID-19 protocols in the tune-up for Tokyo. Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal, a scoring machine, tested positive for COVID-19 and couldn’t make it to Tokyo. I think that’s a little bit of hubris, as if you think the Americans are supposed to just roll out the ball and win.”Īmerica’s preparations for Tokyo have been beset by problems. I don’t know why that would be a surprise. With a great coaching staff and NBA players and other talented players playing in Europe who’ve been together for a long time. “That sort of disses the French team so to speak, as if we were supposed to beat them by 30 or something. “I don’t understand the word surprised,” Popovich said after the game. All night, it was hard to discern an appreciable talent difference between the two teams. The players on France’s bench were up off all their feet all night cheering the U.S. In some ways, this loss isn’t surprising France’s roster is chock-full of NBA players like Gobert and Fournier and Nicolas Batum, and they’ve played together for on the French national team for years. fought back in the fourth, only to let another lead slip away. At the end of the third quarter, in which France outscored Team USA 25-11 to erase a half-time deficit, Thomas Heurtel hit a last second three pointer that gave a 62-56 advantage and seemed to demoralize the Americans. France made their foul shots the rest of the way.įrance’s Rudy Gobert, the reigning NBA defensive player of the year, clogged the middle and shuffled for some easy dunks. Durant, Zach LaVine and Jrue Holiday all missed open three-pointers. With France trailing 74-73 with under a minute left, Fournier sent a deep three from the right wing, to take a 76-74 lead then Team USA couldn’t buy a bucket. Team USA blew a 7-point lead with just over 3 minutes remaining.
#Play word mojo gold on yahoo games free#
The question tonight, which is fair: despite being the country that still produces the best basketball players in the world, has the American Olympic basketball team hit another low point?Įvan Fournier, who played for the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics last season and is a free agent, led France with 28 points hitting deep three-pointers and slithering to the hoop with ease. The result led to a complete overhaul of the Olympics selection process-and a trio of gold medals in Beijing, London and Rio. That team-for which current Team USA coach Gregg Popovich was assistant coach-finished in third place after losing to Argentina in the semifinals.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22728659/Gavin_Sheets_HolySheets_Social.jpg)
Team USA men’s national basketball team on Sunday lost in the Olympics for the first time since the disastrous 2004 Games, when Puerto Rico crushed the Americans in the opening game Lithuania also beat the U.S. But falling to France, 83-76, in the Tokyo Olympics opener?Īmerican basketball fans are free to freak out. Those losses by Team USA men’s basketball team-featuring superstars like Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard and Jason Tatum-you could somewhat shrug off. Stunning defeats to Nigeria and Australia in exhibition games before the Olympics are one thing.
