BUH-SA!

Unbelievable what’s going on with your favorite golden basketball giant at the Olympics! The United States stumbles embarrassingly during the preparations for the tournament. The NBA stars led by Brooklyn star Kevin Durant lost in Las Vegas 87:90 against Nigeria (!) and then 83:91 against Australia (!).

Embarrassed!

My straight bankruptcy? Never before, since the USA since 1992 – we all remember the legendary dream team back then with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird & Company – had the NBA stars for the national team.

American basketball players are historically bad!

Tonight there was finally the first victory. 108-80 against Argentina. Reduce frustration! But the charm of the Dream Team’s successors, which due to many rejections (including LeBron James) doesn’t have many big names, but is of course peppered with top NBA stars, has suffered a lot in the past few days.

what are the reasons?

Change from NBA rules to FIBA!

Other teams deal better with that. Americans are used to physical play in attack. The World Federation does not allow this – but the ball can be caught after free throws if they are still dancing on the ring. You can’t do that in the NBA, for example. In addition, the triple line and the free throw line are different.

Many stars (including Celtic star Jason Tatum) appear to be completely shocked by the referee’s decisions. Often they can be seen angry and stunned by the rulers.

Non-aggressive defense!

With the exception of Draymond Green (Golden State Warriors), none of the Defenders really made it. Coach Gregg Popovich explains that the players still need some rest after the long season. Therefore, it allows players to defend with less pressure. And so far this was in the pants until the Argentina game…

Posture too lax!

Many stars give the impression that they want to do “Olympia-Gold” on one rump. The American media accuse them of arrogance and arrogance.

Some are looking for her shape!

Only four players (Lillard, Bale, Adebayo, Keldon Johnson, who refill the roster until all-stars appear) of the 10 players who played for Team USA against Australia have made 50 percent or more of their off-court throws.

Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns), Puppy Holidays and Chris Middleton (both Milwaukee Bucks) are still missing from the squad because they play in the NBA Finals. You must travel to Japan on a private plane. The problem: You have a long season with tough finals in your bones – then you have to integrate into Team USA by playing.

Your nerves are on edge!

After the Australia match, Popovic panicked at the official press conference and messed with a journalist who asked critical questions. This is anything but perfect! It shows that even a coach is far from his best…

Nigeria has also played with seven current players in the NBA – but in the best league in the world, they are all just followers or pressed to the bench. At the 2012 Olympics in London, the United States beat Nigeria by 83 points, and in 2016 won a friendly match with 43 points.

At the 2019 Basketball World Cup, the Americans finished seventh under coach Popovic, who has racked up 9 wins and five defeats since taking office! There were defeats against France and Serbia.

Yes, there is still time until the Olympics (23 July to 8 August). Yes, it comes to medals first. Yes, the US can still catch up even then. But no, a squad of NBA stars can’t stand such embarrassing Test matches! Argentina’s victory is not hidden from anything…

So it remains to be seen how Team USA will present themselves in Tokyo. The memory of the great 1992 dream team is already suffering a lot because of these American forces…

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Inside the United States! Nils Soling lives in the USA, and analyzes the topics that America talks about. All about football, basketball, ice hockey, baseball, soccer and martial arts. Follow USA Insider on Twitter: @NilsSuling