Shoutout To Team USA For Ending Our National Nightmare And Finally Winning A Fake Basketball Game
Stephen Gosling. Getty Images.
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Uh oh, you see that? Dare I even ask the question? Is Team USA……back? I'm not even sure what would have happened if Team USA dropped their 3rd straight exhibition game, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were actually banned from participating in the real Olympics. And before you go on to say Argentina stinks, they are currently 4th in the FIBA World Rankings. Granted Team USA is #1 and they couldn't beat anyone to save their lives so far in Vegas so do with that information what you will. I do find it funny that immediately after Pop got all riled up at that reporter saying Team USA never really blows out anyone good that they ya know….immediately blow out someone good all while Jayson Tatum sat with knee soreness (yeah I'm freaking out a little we don't have to talk about it).
It's no secret that Team USA looked like hot garbage in their first two exhibition games. No sense of urgency, the ball movement was about as nonexistent as their defense, they were horrendous down the stretch in high pressure situations, just an all around disaster. A logical brain tells you to remain calm, that they are simply experimenting with lineups and different things, but at the same time how could you not be a little annoyed that the best players in the world kept embarrassing themselves for the world to see.
But now that they've actually won one of these fake games, maybe we can all exhale a little bit. As bad as they looked to start, the talent is still there. You saw it in those highlights. The one thing they NEED to do is stop crying about the officiating
What are we doing? This is not the first time these guys have played by FIBA rules. Shit, Tatum JUST did it with Team USA in the FIBA World Championship. I could argue that how FIBA calls games is actually better in some aspects than the NBA. They don't fall for that jumping into a defender bullshit on prayer threes. You can actually touch someone defensively. I'm sorry but I find that pretty soft, even with it coming from a player on my favorite team. This is an issue Tatum definitely has to work on, even when the season starts back up again. The rest of the world doesn't play soft NBA basketball, so instead of complaining, figure it out because that shit is not going to chance once the Olympics roll around.
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But hey, a win in a fake basketball game is a win in a fake basketball game. If Team USA wants to get their losses out of the way early while playing in games that don't matter so that they are ready to roll for when the games do count, fine by me. I'm mostly just relieved we didn't have another night of being embarrassed. It was getting a little out of hand there for a second.