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DONGGUAN, China – As far as the basketball world cup is concerned, that's the way things are at home for US players: it's only in defeat that we remember you.
In relation to the Olympics, our US national basketball team generally attracts the attention of the general sports public in the tournaments of our history.
The 12 players who agreed to represent the United States at the 2019 FIBA World Cup knew the deal basically when they signed up to join an alignment that had been shunned by some forty major pros, including the biggest American stars. Yet these volunteers discovered the depths of their winless situation on Wednesday night, when the US was outclassed sooner and later in a 89-79 defeat in the quarterfinals against France at the Dongguan Basketball Center.
If they had managed to maintain their lead of 7 points over France in the fourth quarter and to fight their way through the next two rounds against Argentina and the Spain / Australia winner, this group would probably have been celebrated – then quickly forgotten when more established players returned to the program next summer for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Instead? Rather than spending the night in Beijing for Friday's semifinals, as planned, the entire humble USA Basketball travel group was forced to return to its hotel in Dongguan to rest and get together. prepare for Thursday's match against Serbia in fifth place – as well as A comment that will surely be followed by Rudy Gobert and the French guards Evan Fournier and Nando De Colo, have stopped the Set of 58 series of victories in tournaments.
"It's a kind of oil spill right now," said Joe Harris of the Nets. "They beat us from the start, really. We reacted all night.
"You have put a lot of time, a lot of work, you have a special relationship with these guys and the coaches. And so that it does not materialize in the end, it is a pill difficult to swallow. "
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics striker, said: "Everyone knows what we wanted to do. And we did not do it. I guess you can imagine how we feel, is not it?
An observer from the locker room later suggested that since his arrival in the league, he had never seen such a downed scene after a defeat. Harris, without advice, has repeatedly mentioned the "39 days" that this group has spent together trying to establish enough continuity to carry out eight games and succeed his summer. more than one non-story.
Of course, Gregg Popovich's first steps as head coach of the national team went no better than his years as an assistant in 2002 and 2004, when the United States finished. sixth at the world championship in Indianapolis and third at the Olympic games. In six major competitions between these downs, Mike Krzyzewski led the United States to five gold medals – three at the Olympics and two at the World Cup.
Note that Krzyzewski has always had a composition far superior to this one and only achieved a three-point victory over France at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil with a team composed of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Paul George.
Popovich, head coach of the San Antonio Spurs since 1996, will have to answer questions about why he brought three centers to China if Myles Turner, Brook Lopez and Mason Plumlee could only merit 16 minutes combined against Gobert. Or why he decided to cancel almost all practices on rest days for a group that has been so slow to take root. But there is a reason why Popovich has felt very hurt since the potluck team gathered in Las Vegas on August 4th.
He knew that could happen.
Even before a defeat against Australia last month and almost defeat against Turkey in the first round, Popovich knew that the unreliability of his powerful players, his lack of depth and the middle distance pair between Kemba Walker and Donovan Mitchell, clashed. stylistically, could be problems.
Mitchell scolded for an authority 29 points three-quarters to help boost the United States, who had taken a double-digit lead early in the second half. But France took off 22 of the last 29 points of the match, capitalizing on six missed free throws Americans in the fourth quarter and a Walker off-key (10 points on 2 out of 9 shots) dominating the ball at the crunchtime instead of Mitchell.
Popovich spent much of his post-game press conference attempting to play the defense role, calling it a "disrespectful notion" when a journalist asked a question to Mitchell about the impact of all the defeats.
"France beat us – no matter who is on the team," said Popovich. "There are no" guys "."
The French also saw no reason to apologize for taking advantage of the rare vulnerability of the United States. When Walker committed a backcourt violation late, Orlando's Fournier (22 points) and Charlotte's Nicolas Batum, playing for France, celebrated the fist by raising their arms, as if the Americans had their team A on the ground.
From Colo's 18 points prompted Harris to call him "a N.B.A. Frank Ntilikina, much criticized by the Knicks, also played a key role in boosting backyard production to support Gobert, who attacked the rim as hard as defender. 21 points and 16 rebounds.
"I do not think yet to report it," Gobert told me after his own press conference, still sitting on the podium after answering questions about this surprise.
"And I do not want to report on it before the end of the competition."
You understood exactly what Gobert meant. As he has said in several interviews later, France's first victory over the United States in 10 tries will not give it the same meaning unless France can win the entire tournament.
Still, you had a hard time imagining how Popovich, still patriotic, on the other side, could pull a lot of this disappointment out of his system in just three weeks before his Spurs open training camp.
The Americans have to play two more games in the category from fifth to eighth, starting Thursday night against Serbia – a duel that so many people considered a likely match for the championship game.
"Everyone knew what was at stake," said Harrison Barnes of the Sacramento Kings, the only member of the gold medal team in Rio, also in China. "You must take possession of it."
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