Going into the Olympic games in Rio, no analysts expected any teams to realistically have much of a shot to compete with the United States. The U.S.’ current squad may be a far cry from the Dream Team, but they still boast enough talent to give the rest of the field nightmares.
Olympic basketball scores 2016: France lost, 87-66, and they might not be as good as we thought
Our three main takeaways from the first day of men’s basketball at the Olympics.
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Harrison Faigen has been covering the NBA (primarily the Lakers) since 2013, and is currently the Associate Director of Pro Basketball coverage for SB Nation.
Still, the French national team was at least expected to be one of the squads that could make things at least a little bit interesting. That couldn’t have looked further from the truth in their 87-66 drubbing at the hands of Australia on Saturday.
France only shot 42.1 percent against Australia, with none of their trio of Tony Parker (6-14), Boris Diaw (4-11), and Rudy Gobert (1-3) managing to crack 50 percent shooting in an ugly performance. Nicolas Batum (five points on 2-3 shooting) did, but shared in France’s turnover issues on the day, coughing up a team-leading four of the team’s 17 turnovers.
Batum was also expected to give France a long, versatile wing who in tandem with Gobert could at least help impede a United States team that can get into the paint at will. They couldn’t do so against Australia, who punished them both around the basket and with their guard play.
Australia shot 50 percent from the field against France, with a relatively unbothered-looking Andrew Bogut leading the way with 18 points on 9-10 shooting. France’s length also projected to give them a rebounding advantage against many teams, but they were outboarded 37-32, giving up six offensive rebounds to Aron Baynes (14 points on 5-14 shooting) alone.
From the perimeter, Patty Mills went off for a team-leading 21 points on 7-15 shooting. Mills was able to knock down four of his nine three-pointers as France struggled to run him off the line. Mills is no slouch, but such a defensive performance doesn’t exactly inspire confidence the French can stop Kyrie Irving or Kyle Lowry.
The Boomers deserve some credit, to be sure. With Ben Simmons and a (hopefully) recovered Dante Exum in the fold alongside Matthew Dellavedova, Mills, and Baynes, Australia projects as a potentially feisty team over the next couple of years. They might even be able to give the U.S. a go.
Australia was hardly expected to compete with them this year, though. France was the only team in Group A anyone thought could potentially make group play interesting, and while it’s dangerous to overreact to one game, it was hard to not walk away from Saturday’s outcome with the feeling that the U.S.’ widely-assumed romp to gold may be easier than anyone really expected.
Two other things we learned:
The United States is exactly as dominant as we thought, and Kyrie Irving’s phenomenal summer continued:
France may not have lived up to expectations, but the United States did. The red, white, and blue decisively destroyed China on both ends in a 119-62 win. Kevin Durant led the way with the easiest 25 points on 10-14 shooting ever witnessed, while China racked up turnovers due to the United States’ stifling defense.
Durant’s night will (and should) get the headlines, but there was a metaphor in this game somewhere for Kyrie Irving’s summer. Irving scored 12 points, making four of his five threes along the way, to go with five assists in the United States’ win. However, just like how the fact that he and the Cleveland Cavaliers just won the freaking title was overshadowed by Golden State’s major free agency acquisition, Irving’s game will be go relatively unnoticed behind Durant’s.
That shouldn’t be the case. Irving ran the offense well, kept Team USA thriving in transition, and even played some defense to boot. Freed from having to save his energy for the other end of the floor, Irving was able to dig in against China’s over-matched guards. The result of his and the rest of the team’s efforts? An astounding 24 turnovers for China.
While not all of that was due to Irving, his helping spearhead such an effective defense is something he should get credit for (even if Durant was once again the biggest news, other than our final takeaway).
The United States literally plays “Rock, Paper, Scissors” to make game management decisions:
Why yes, astute cameraman, that is DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler playing “Rock, Paper, Scissors” to determine who gets to shoot the team’s technical free throw against China. Jimmy Butler thus becomes the only member of Team USA to take an L so far in the Rio Olympics. Well, other than Draymond Green, that is.
This begs the question: What else does Team USA decide based off the outcome of “Rock, Paper, Scissors?” Is this how the team determines starting lineups? Spots on the team bus? Which player takes the blame for “accidentally” navigating the team into a brothel? After Saturday, we have to assume the possibilities are endless.
Final Scores:
Australia 87, France 66
Serbia 86, Venezuela 62
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