players, and the Olympics are not the World Cup - not to the Americans, at least. Imagine Cristiano Ronaldo sitting out a World Cup.īut priorities are different among the current crop of U.S. Stars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and James Harden, to name a few, stayed home. “A lot of these teams have been planning for five, 10 years,” Draymond Green said, “and the consistency, the continuity that they have in their offense, the familiarity that they have among each other, that’s the one thing that we can never substitute for.”įor all their talent, the Americans do not have all of their best players, or the ones most experienced in international competition, here in Japan. For comparison’s sake, seven players are back for France, and Vincent Collet, the French coach, has been at the team’s helm since 2009. Only two players who appeared on the United States’ 12-man roster at the world championships in 2019 are back for the Olympics: Khris Middleton and Jayson Tatum. players now come from 41 countries, the competitive landscape keeps morphing and power in the game keeps diffusing.īut, in some ways, that is what they still try to do. International basketball has never been less forgiving, and the United States, even as it remains heavily favored, has never been less assured of success.
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But harsh realities could engender harsh consequences this summer. These did not come off as excuses, just nods to reality. “This is my first day - literally my first day” Holiday said after the game with the glassy-eyed weariness of a college student navigating midterms. And he had just finished helping the Milwaukee Bucks win the N.B.A. that same day after a late flight from the United States. Friday morning before flying with the rest of Team USA to Madrid for the title game.“That’s probably one of the biggest adjustments,” guard Jrue Holiday said after the Americans’ 83-76 loss to France, “just because we do have to put the ball in the basket.”Ĭonsider, too, that Holiday, who led the team in points with 18, was one of three players who had arrived at the team’s hotel around 1 a.m. Gay said he underwent medical attention until 2 a.m. "I think had a little bit to do with ," Gay told the paper. Gay told USA Today Sports that he isn't sure whose elbow hit him in the mouth, but he clearly still wasn't happy about it Saturday. Gay said he complained about the elbow in the handshake line with Lithuania's players after the semifinal game, which led to players on both sides shouting at one another and brought Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski into the middle of the fray as peacemaker.
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It is what it is, man."Īccording to USA Basketball officials, Gay's only confirmed injury is a chipped tooth. It's uncomfortable, and it still bleeds, so I've got to continuously gargle. "I've got a fracture in my jaw, a broken tooth and am going to probably need a root canal," Gay told USA Today Sports on Saturday. Gay suffered the injuries after getting elbowed in the third quarter of Team USA's 96-68 victoryover Lithuania in the semifinals on Thursday night in Barcelona. Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gaysaid he has a fracture in his jaw and a broken tooth, but he insists that won't keep him off the court as Team USA plays Serbia in the gold medal game of the FIBA Basketball World Cup on Sunday.