{"id":589884,"date":"2021-07-13T12:51:14","date_gmt":"2021-07-13T16:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=589884"},"modified":"2021-07-13T12:51:16","modified_gmt":"2021-07-13T16:51:16","slug":"team-usa-basketball-loses-second-straight-exhibition-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/team-usa-basketball-loses-second-straight-exhibition-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Team USA Basketball Loses Second Straight Exhibition Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fteam-usa-basketball-loses-second-straight-exhibition-game%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=589884&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1328465004.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>If the USA Olympic Basketball team thought they were going to sleepwalk their way to a gold medal, the first two exhibition games have been a sobering reminder that the Olympics will be a tough test.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On Saturday, Team USA suffered a shocking defeat to Nigeria, losing 90-87. Monday, USA Basketball lost their second consecutive exhibition game, falling to Australia 91-83 in Las Vegas, Nevada.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It\u2019s the first time Team USA has lost back-to-back exhibition games since the United States began sending professionals to the Olympics in 1993.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"8.9174757281553\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Australia takes down Team USA.<\/p>\n<p>They have now lost back-to-back exhibition games for the first time since pros started playing in 1992. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qnwixFbHO3\">pic.twitter.com\/qnwixFbHO3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SportsCenter\/status\/1414766532249403398?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 13, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>It\u2019s the second consecutive loss against Australia in international play and the fourth loss in five games for USA Basketball since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/olympics\/story\/_\/id\/31808700\/team-usa-falls-0-2-olympic-exhibitions-loss-australia\">2019<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Team USA better be careful, because legacies are at stake.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Head coach Gregg Popovich saw improvement from his team, but excellence is expected from Team USA. Incremental improvements aren\u2019t going to get the job done.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI thought we got better tonight,\u201d Popovich <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/olympics\/story\/_\/id\/31808700\/team-usa-falls-0-2-olympic-exhibitions-loss-australia\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span>.&nbsp; \u201cAfter a short time together, there\u2019s a lot of things that have to be covered.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIn the first half, we defended the way we wanted to defend. \u2026 We rebounded better,\u201d Popovich <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/usa-mens-basketball-exhibition-australia-july-12\"><span>continued<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cWe moved the ball better at the offensive end and had more pace. In the second half, we tired out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Australia is no slouch. The roster boasts Joe Ingles of the Utah Jazz, Patty Mills of the San Antonio Spurs, and Aron Baynes of the Toronto Raptors. One of the concerns that Team USA has always faced is that their opponents generally have been playing together for years, whereas Team USA is a hastily thrown together concoction of the NBA\u2019s best.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe walked into this game expecting to win,\u201d said Ingles. \u201cNo disrespect to them, they\u2019re a hell of a team, obviously the guys they\u2019ve got on their roster and Pop standing up there is always nice to see, but we came in here expecting to win the game and that\u2019s what we did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It usually takes a few games for the U.S. Olympic team to get into a rhythm, but a roster ladened with stars will get no breaks here.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Damian Lillard led the way with 22 points, and Kevin Durant helped out with 17, but the lack of size for Team USA was an issue from the tip. Much like in the NBA, the USA roster is built for spacing and shooters. The only big men on the roster are Draymond Green, Kevin Love, and Bam Adebayo. And the Aussies took advantage.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not the first time that I\u2019ve seen Team USA be tested,\u201d Lillard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/news\/usa-mens-basketball-exhibition-australia-july-12\">said<\/a>. \u201cMaybe not beat two times in a row, but I\u2019ve seen it before. These other teams and these other countries just continue to improve. These players, they get better, they get more confident and they also want to beat us badly. It\u2019s definitely noticeable when you\u2019re on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span>There will be those who see the back-to-back losses as nothing more than a blip on the radar. And they may be correct. The games are meaningless and the only losses that matter would take place in Tokyo, but if Popovich\u2019s postgame spat with a reporter is any inclination, there is at least some reason for concern.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>NBA reporter Joe Vardon implied that Team USA should be \u201cdominating\u201d their opponents, and Popovich took exception.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhen you make statements about in the past, just blowing out these other teams \u2026 No. 1 you give no respect to the other teams,\u201d Popovich <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outkick.com\/popovich-feuds-with-reporter-after-team-usa-loss\/\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span>. \u201cI talked to you last time about the same thing. We\u2019ve had very close games against four or five countries in all these tournaments. So, the good teams do not get blown out.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThere are certain games it might happen in one of the tournaments, world championships, and Olympics when somebody gets blown out but in general, nobody is blowing anybody out for the good teams,\u201d Popovich continued. \u201cSo, when you make a statement like that it\u2019s like you assume that\u2019s what\u2019s going on and that\u2019s incorrect.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\" readability=\"10.363636363636\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;Can I finish my statement? Are you gonna let me finish my statement or not? So you&#8217;ll be quiet now while I talk?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Gregg Popovich and a reporter got into a heated exchange after Team USA&#8217;s loss to Australia. \ud83d\ude33<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IwjT0WIWCY\">pic.twitter.com\/IwjT0WIWCY<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ClutchPointsApp\/status\/1414777869012672521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 13, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Team USA continues its exhibition schedule against Argentina at 6:00 p.m. eastern on Tuesday, July 13.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to sports@dailywire.com.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If the USA Olympic Basketball team thought they were going to sleepwalk their way to a gold medal, the first two exhibition games have been a sobering reminder that the &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2314570,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1328465004.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Team USA Basketball Loses Second Straight Exhibition Game","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-589884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/GettyImages-1328465004.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Team USA Basketball Loses Second Straight Exhibition Game","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2314570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}