It stinks that they didn't win with a roster of NBA players. It also stinks that this team had 4 celtics on it and couldn't win. NO tatum again hurt. Kemba had a bad game as well and I didn't see if Brown did anything.
The olympics will be different because the Stars will play in that game. I was hoping they'd win and maybe we'd see 1 Celtic on the Olympic roster. I doubt that happens now.
Well, let's be fair - France is a pretty loaded roster as well. The are able to put out a 5-man lineup of
PG Nando De Colo (4-time All-Euroleague, Euroleague MVP)
Wing Fournier (NBA vet)
Wing Nkitilina (NBA vet)
Wing Batum (NBA vet)
C Rudy Gobert (NBA DPOY)
That's a 5-man lineup that would beast in the NBA. Very complementary players there. De Colo is 6' 5" and the real deal. Very talented ball-handler and shooter. Gobert is at least as good as anybody on Team USA's roster. The other guys are all legit NBA vets. And these guys all play well together.
The point is, Team USA just lost to a team that is really, really talented.
And a lot of it just came down to cold shooting. Folks might focus on Kemba shooting only 2 of 6 with 0 assists in the 4th period, but the real killer was Mitchell (0/3), Middleton (1/3) and Jaylen (0/1) combining to go only 1 of 7 in that 4th period. Not to mention the many times when Team USA players simply shied off of taking shots.