First loss in 13 years, but was just an exhibition before 52,000+ in Australia. What has changed for the USA team? Will be interesting to see if they can win the tournament. Definitely up for grabs.
USA World Cup Team Loses to Australia
- Thread starter Badabingbadaboom
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I think the issues are pretty clear. This is a group of guys who have never played together as a collective, and they have very little time to coalesce. In addition, this is not a "greatest hits" of NBA talent - I think there are two guys on the roster with any All-Star game experience. That being said, they should still be the favorite. What they have assembled should still be the best team in relation to what the other nations have assembled. But some of the other nations do have some built-in advantages the USA doesn't, specifically collective experience and systems catered to international style. It disappoints me that so many guys turned down the opportunity to play, including second and even third-tier guys.
I'm a little worried were gonna lose actually. One big thing to consider, the international games are 40 minutes long, not 48. This matters because our best advantage is that every single player on the roster is an NBA player, no other country can say that. However, in a 40 minute game, you really only need to play 7 guys (see coach K the last 300 years.) We don't have a star that can carry us. Greece does with Giannis, Serbia does with Jokic. If we play either of those teams, USA will NOT have the best player.
Combine that with the lack of team unity and the fact that we will be everyone's Super Bowl, and yeah I can definitely see us losing.
Combine that with the lack of team unity and the fact that we will be everyone's Super Bowl, and yeah I can definitely see us losing.
