The United States national team He has lost both games in preparation for the Olympics and that of course has all the alarms going off around the team led by Gregg Popovich.
First, it was the Nigerian team that surprised them by defeating them with a final score of 90-87, in a game where Gabe Vincent of the Miami Heat was the great figure when he finished with 6 triples for a total of 21 points.
Since Saturday, Nigeria’s men’s basketball team has defeated:
◾️ No. 1 ranked USA 90-87
◾️ No. 4 ranked Argentina 94-71@NigeriaBasket ?? ? pic.twitter.com/hE7aqkXqhZ– SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 13, 2021
“I think that with only four days practicing we showed interesting things, things that I even liked. In a way I’m glad we lost, but it won’t mean anything if we don’t learn from it. The most important thing is to enrich ourselves with what happened and turn the page.” Popovich stated after the game.
The problem is that after that duel they lost to the Australian team with a final score of 91-83. San Antonio Spurs player Patty Mills was the Australians’ leading scorer, registering 22 points and 4 assists.
Gregg Popovich gets into exchange with reporter after Team USA’s loss to Australia. pic.twitter.com/5XEp114qIh
– SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 13, 2021
From July 1992 to July 2021 Team USA had two losses in friendly matches and in a span of three days they lost that same number of matches. That’s why the weather is pretty tense around the team, but now is not the time to panic.
It is true that one would expect a team with stars of the caliber of Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, Jayson Tatum and Draymond Green (to name just a few) will dominate their rivals, but this squad just met a few days ago and needs more time to work on the chemistry. With the high level that international basketball currently has, it is no longer enough with just talent.
Professionals started playing for Team USA in 1992:
July 21, 1992-July 9, 2021: 10,581 days, 2 exhibition losses
July 10-July 12, 2021: 3 days, 2 exhibition losses pic.twitter.com/nS7iGQ3KRl
– ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 13, 2021
I am completely sure that the moment Popovich finds the ideal rotations and operation, this team will be a true indestructible machine. It will not be a walk, much less your way to the gold medal in the Olympic Games, but it will be very difficult to stop all these figures from the best league in the world.
These defeats will serve to shake the US players out of their slumber a bit and help them arrive in Tokyo hungrier for glory.
Do not despair or think that this team will be a failure, you will see that in a few weeks the waters will take their place again and we will see Durant and company in the place of honor.