(Photo by Paul Harding/Getty Images)
Team USA won its fifth and final exhibition game on Monday before it is scheduled to head to Paris for the start of the Summer Olympics, but it wasn’t easy.
It played Germany, a team that defeated it in last year’s FIBA World Cup and ended up winning the gold medal there, and while it got off to a good start on Monday, it had to huff and puff to get an 92-88 victory.
While many still expect Team USA to win the gold in Paris in a few weeks, former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Tim Legler is concerned because of its composition compared to the makeup of other teams competing in the Olympics.
“Some of these other international teams … [they] look like more what actual basketball looks like rather than a collection of all-stars.” @LegsESPN says he wouldn’t be surprised if Team USA lost a game in the Olympics pic.twitter.com/f645pDAW4J
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 22, 2024
The rest of the world has greatly caught up with the United States when it comes to basketball over the years, and it has been challenged to a certain extent on the way to its last several gold medals dating back to 2000.
It failed to medal at the World Cup last summer, but on the other hand, it didn’t have its best players on hand.
This time around, Team USA has a roster that, at least on paper, rivals its best iterations, including even the 1992 Dream Team that dominated the Olympics in Barcelona.
There is a chance that the team looks better once the real competition starts by virtue of greater focus, intensity and effort, especially since its players may not want to give max effort during seemingly meaningless exhibition contests.
Its first game in group play will take place versus Serbia, which boasts three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, on July 28.
The post Tim Legler Is Not Impressed So Far With Team USA appeared first on The Cold Wire.