Tag: Team USA basketball

It turns out the USA Men’s Basketball Team is still pretty far ahead of the rest of the world

Nobody is touching the US when it comes to basketball. And it’s not close.

As we entered into the Olympics, there were plenty of concerns about Team USA’s Men’s Basketball team.

Yes, they were riding in off of a 25 game winning streak. But they were also missing a bunch of their stars. There was no LeBron James. There was no James Harden. There was no Steph Curry. There was no Dwyane Wade. No Carmelo Anthony.

All of the big stars we were used to seeing just weren’t there anymore with the exception of Kevin Durant. This team felt like Kevin Durant and a bunch of guys despite the squad having stars like Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum and more.

It just didn’t…feel the same. And then the unthinkable happened — they lost to Nigeria in their first exhibition game. Then they lost again to Australia after that. Then, once Olympic play actually started, they lost to France.

Everyone started to pile on. This team wasn’t built right. There were too many stars who weren’t doing the little things. The rest of the world was catching up.

Gregg Popovich said it himself to reporters in Tokyo, per the AP.

“The gap is smaller and smaller every year as far as talent is concerned,” U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said.

And you know what? He’s right. The talent around the rest of the world has gotten a lot better. Teams are catching up.

You’ve got teams in France, Spain and Australia with tons of NBA talent like Nic Batum, Joe Ingles, Patty Mills, Ricky Rubio and more. You’ve also got Slovenia with Luka Doncic, who can be the best player int he world on any given night.

Ben Simmons didn’t play this year. Neither did Giannis Antetokounmpo. Canada is only getting better. The rest of the world has improved and will continue to do so.

But Team USA’s run here makes it clear: As good as the rest of the world is getting, the United States is still comfortably better than their best.

Kevin Durant said it best himself in his Instagram Live session. It’s still not close.

“They had some power rankings out. They had us fourth. Behind Slovenia. Talking about they catching up to us, like, are you serious? This skill is unmatched. You dig?” 

He’s right. It is unmatched. And, despite a shaky start to the Games, they proved it.

Team USA’s margin of victory over the rest of the field through their five games of Olympic play was 20 points after their 87-82 win over France. It just wasn’t close. Kevin Durant was the best player on the floor in every game and that’s really all they needed to happen.

This isn’t to say that the path they took was easy. That isn’t true at all. They certainly had their struggles and they’ve alluded to them throughout the process. But they still dominated. And they won gold. At the end of the day, that’s all that really matters.

So is the rest of the world better? Absolutely. But Team USA is still the best. And it’s not close.

Watch our sneaker unboxing video, Special Delivery 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwLJfJOrK-4

USA vs. France live stream, TV channel, start time, odds, how to watch the gold medal game

The U.S. men’s basketball team will face France in the gold medal game of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Friday night.

The U.S. men’s basketball team will face France in the gold medal game of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Friday night.

Team USA will be looking for some revenge after France handed them their only loss of the Olympics and will need a win against the French to take home the gold medal for the fourth straight time. Meanwhile, France has some bigs down low that will definitely create some opportunities against the Americans while they look to beat the United States twice in tonight’s game.

This should be a great matchup, here is everything you need to know including the TV channel, start time, and live-streaming information.

2020 Tokyo Olympics Gold Medal Game

USA vs. France

  • When: Friday, August 6
  • Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
  • TV Channel: NBC
  • Live Stream: fuboTV (watch for free)

Olympic Basketball Odds and Betting Lines

NBA odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds last updated Friday at 4:35 p.m. ET.

USA (-13.5) vs. France 

O/U: 175.5

Want some action on the Olympics? Place your legal sports bets on this game or others in CO, IN, NJ, and WV at BetMGM.

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Fans couldn’t stop watching the basketball-playing robot from halftime of USA-France game

Team USA could have used it.

Team USA men’s basketball suffered its first Olympic loss since 2004 on Sunday, falling, 83-76 to France. As if that wasn’t a bad enough start to the Olympic campaign, the team got outclassed by a robot at halftime.

When both teams were in the locker rooms at half, a robot wearing a basketball uniform took the floor at Saitama Super Arena.

And while it was a bit odd to have halftime entertainment for an event without fans, it was worth it to see this robot put on a basketball-shooting display. The robot hit a three before going to midcourt and draining a shot from there.

The Top 30 players at the Olympic basketball tournament

HoopsHype ranks the Top 25 basketball players at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, based on perceived FIBA value.

We go from the NBA Finals almost immediately to Olympic basketball in basically no time at all.

There are quite a few star-level absences from global lineups this year (there will only be seven All-Stars and just three players who made All-NBA this year participating), but there’s still quite a good amount of talent competing in the Games for basketball this summer, perhaps even more than many were expecting due to the quick turnaround from the NBA season to the Olympics.

So we decided to rank the Top 30 players competing at the Tokyo Olympic basketball tournament.

Before we get started, we wanted to make clear that we factored in perceived FIBA value a bit into the ranking, which will explain why some guys who are role players in the NBA but stars in international competitions are ranked where they are.

Let’s get into it.

Trae Young had a hilarious comment while unveiling his USA-themed sneakers after Olympic snub

He was ready to go.

During the Atlanta Hawks’ deep run in the NBA playoffs all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, we got to see Trae Young’s signature Adidas sneaker — appropriately named the Trae Young 1 — in action for the first time.

And the shoes really did look nice in the variety of colorways.

But as the Hawks’ season came to an end, there was some hope in Young’s mind that his breakout postseason play would be enough to earn serious consideration for the Team USA squad heading to Tokyo for the Olympic Games. Young — along with Zion Williamson and Ja Morant — would get snubbed even as USAB looked to fill spots vacated by Bradley Beal and Kevin Love.

Adidas was ready, though, just in case Young got that call.

On Thursday, Young shared a look at the Team USA colorway for his Trae Young 1 sneaker that won’t get to see game action. He also had to crack a self-deprecating joke after the Team USA snub.

“Workout shoes?”

Well played, Trae.

You also have to feel for the design team at Adidas that probably spent weeks — if not longer — working on that colorway only to be like, “Uh, well, should we just send Trae a pair anyway?” That must have been awkward for someone.

The shoe would have looked great in Tokyo.

https://youtu.be/pgHz7vbqMWw

Where each Team USA men’s basketball player attended high school

USA Today High School Sports takes a look at where each 2021 Summer Olympics Team USA basketball player spent their high school career.

The roster for the United States men’s basketball team for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics has tentatively been set.

Bradley Beal and Kevin Love were originally supposed to take their shot at earning a gold medal, but were forced to drop off the roster for COVID-19 and personal reasons, respectively. That forced Team USA to replace the two after struggling in exhibitions with losses to Australia and Nigeria.

Here is a look at the roster as it stands right now with a USA Today High School Sports twist — details on each player’s prep career.