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Good morning! Don’t underestimate any opponents today.
Concerns: Not Team USA’s best day
We’re sure the discourse around Saturday’s two USA Basketball showings will be totally normal. Onward we go!
First: The men’s team survived a very surprising scare from … South Sudan? A LeBron James layup with 8 seconds left was the difference between a 1-point win and one of the most shocking losses in the team’s history.
- South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, is making its Olympic debut and has zero current NBA players. Reminder: The Americans are four-time defending Olympic champions.
- Coach Steve Kerr took responsibility for allowing Team USA to let its guard down after a travel day and against an opponent who — on paper — was such a massive underdog.
Tomorrow, the USA men’s team will close out exhibition play against a more daunting opponent: Germany, which won the FIBA World Cup last summer.
Later, the women’s team wasn’t able to salvage a W, falling 117-109 to Team WNBA in the league’s All-Star Game.
This game more than lived up to the potential we discussed Friday — a breath of fresh air, frankly, in the…
