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US coach, Gregg Popovich, talks with Brook Lopez during a consolation game against Poland for the FIBA Basketball World Cup at Beijing's Cadillac Arena Saturday, September 14, 2019. The United States beat Poland 87-74 (AP Photo / Ng Han Guan)
By John Schuhmann, NBA.com
BEIJING – The match result for Saturday's seventh place did not matter.
Once the US men's national team defeated Brazil in their last pool match at the FIBA World Cup, they qualified for the Olympics. After losing Wednesday against France in the quarterfinals, his five consecutive major league titles were finished without any medals. And once lost to Serbia on Thursday, he was sentenced to the second-worst performance in the history of American basketball, with the only worse result obtained when a team of junior players from the United States failed. University rose to 0-4 at the 2001 FIBA Americas tournament.
But the United States beat Poland 87-74 on Saturday to finish seventh in the World Cup and put an end to their two consecutive defeats since 2002. Only nine Americans played, with Kemba Walker (neck) joining Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart. the sideline. Donovan Mitchell led the way with 16 points and 10 assists.
Gregg Popovich later stated that there was no shame or blame for being distributed after the worst result of the Americans in a tournament to which they sent NBA players.
"As if we should be ashamed of not winning the gold medal?" Said Popovich. "It's a ridiculous attitude, it's immature, it's arrogant and it shows that anyone who thinks it does not respect all the other teams in the world and does not respect the fact that these guys did their best. . "
The goal of the gold medal is still not up to par, what the Americans have to do since their defeat against France in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, and will not disappear when they return to the United States Sunday .
"It's something," Myles Turner admitted, "it'll stay with us for the rest of our lives."
The sting could ultimately be worse for players who will never have a chance to play for the national team again. This could be an important part of this list, with high – caliber Americans scheduled to play at the Tokyo Olympics next year and with the next World Cup in four years.
A lack of talent among top-flight players is the easy answer to why this was the first American team of NBA players to lose since the 2006 World Championship. And it's not a bad answer. Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis and James Harden would obviously have made a difference.
But questioned about his country's failure to win gold this year, Kobe Bryant insisted that no matter who wears red, white and blue, defeats would happen.
"It's not a matter of catching up with the rest of the world in the United States," Bryant said at a FIBA press conference on Friday. "The rest of the world has been catching up for a long time now, it's at the point where we're going to gain some in the US and lose some in the US That's how it is happens."
Bryant spoke of the 2008 Olympics, when one of the most talented teams ever rallied ahead of Spain by just two points in the beginning of the fourth quarter of the gold medal match. At the World Championships two years later, an American team with four future NBA MVPs escaped with a two-point victory over Brazil in billiards.
"Put the best players that you think will be the best team on the field," said Bryant, "we will still have challenges, it will not be a defeat". The day of Barcelona Dream 1992 The teams left. They are finished. "
This does not mean that the United States could not have won this tournament with their players, some of whom had disappointing performances on the world stage.
In each of the last five major international tournaments, the United States has ranked first in terms of offensive efficiency. In his first six games in this tournament, he was ninth in the offensive. Before breaking with a performance of 12 against 25 against Poland Saturday, the Americans had shot only 33.3% after a distance of 3 points, well below the average NBA league (35.5%), even if the distance of 3 points is shorter on the same score. Floor of FIBA.
The general feeling among the players was that the defeat against France was a situation "anything can happen on a given night", but Harrison Barnes said it was "run at the end of the offensive", which which resulted in the failure of the team in a general sense.
"If you look at a lot of these teams and how they played," continued Barnes, "they are able to fall back on their system, they can fall back on things that they know, things that they have run guys who have been playing together for five, six or seven years, for us, we had to put our hat on the defense, that's what we kind of did our business card offensively, we knew we 'll never get to this place where,' OK, here are two or three quick hitters. "But we did our best."
Although the United States was one of the best defensive teams in the tournament, they could not turn enough stops into transition opportunities. In each of the five major tournaments won by the United States from 2008 to 2016, he ranked first or second in the standings. In its first six games, this American team placed 13th out of 32 World Cup teams (about 75 possessions per 40 minutes).
Less quick breaks have led to a bigger offensive in half-court, where the run-up has just not been regular enough. There is something to be said about the ingrained team work and the difference between the development of US and international players. However, four weeks of preparation and five games in pool are not enough to put in place the required chemistry when Americans bring back an almost entirely new list every time they participate in a major tournament.
This team also had less practice time than previous Team USA editions. The day before his first match in China at the end of the tournament, the United States never trained the days between games, they only chose to go to the gym for one hour of shootaround in the morning on match days .
The next year's Olympics will be held earlier in the summer, so the preparation time will likely be shorter than the four weeks of training for this team before the start of the World Cup. And without the same chemistry as their opponents, you need more talent – guys who can have custom baskets – is needed.
It means more turnover. And if some of these players never wear the uniform of the United States again, they can at least hope that the work they've done in the last six weeks will propel them to strong NBA seasons. .
"Individually, in all areas, everyone improves by playing and passing through this whole process," said Joe Harris this week. "You spent more than 39 days with one of the best coaches in the world, one of the best coaches in the Pop game.
"Just be around them, learn their approach to the game, be around all these great players, face them night and night, whether practices or matches, and compete at a high level every night against some of the best players in the world is the best preparation you can have during the off season. "
There does not seem to be any reluctance among players to spend the last four weeks on the other side of the world.
"We concluded this pact that we would do everything we could to win basketball games," said Barnes. "Go out there and try to win gold medals, and on the other hand, there is a chance we will not win, and I think our group does not regret anything we We gave, we sacrificed the commitment everyone has made to his family, his teams, his organizations, and so on.
They all have an NBA season to prepare for the moment, and at least some of them would like a chance of redemption next summer.
"We do not know," Walker said about the possibility of playing next year. "It's not up to me to decide, I'd love it – it was really fun to be part of .I would love to do it again."
Hope with better results.
John Schuhmann is Senior Statistics Analyst for NBA.com. You can send him an e-mail here, find his archives here and follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
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