Much of the discussion about Team USA Basketball heading into the FIBA World Cup surrounded the squad’s complete lack of star power. And matters only seem to be getting worse for the U.S. team.
USA Basketball held its camp in Los Angeles on Wednesday, and the practice included a scrimmage against a random group of fringe NBA, G League and overseas players. What was probably supposed to be a confidence-boosting scrimmage aimed at building chemistry ended up being an embarrassing defeat for the national team.
That’s right. A team led by guys like Scottie Hopson, Chris Chiozza and Justin Anderson took it to Team USA in the 10-minute scrimmage and won by 19 points (36-17). Seriously, look at this roster. Jeff Van Gundy pulled off some coaching magic.
Team USA had seen its share of stars either declining invites or dropping out of camp, but you’d still think a team of Kemba Walker, Donovan Mitchell and Harrison Barnes would be able to hold off mediocre-at-best competition.
Scrappy performance, indeed.
According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, Team USA lost two games on the day to the select squad.
They play Spain in an exhibition on Friday, so we won’t have to wait long to see where Team USA really stands. But early reports are not looking favorable.
