If you’re searching for negatives with Team USA, you could point to Draymond Green’s offensive performance so far, or that point guards who can attack off the dribble may give them trouble.
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This year’s team faces a similar challenge: Numerous notable players declined to play – such as LeBron James, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard – with Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony the only two players returning from the gold-winning 2012 team. Also, Indiana’s Paul George missed a second game with a left calf injury. The team defense was once again strong as Team USA closed out a sweep of their showcase series games.
Mirotic had a down year in the National Basketball Association with the Bulls, but his ability to spread the floor with his jumper and ability to attack closeouts makes him a useful bench player for Team Rest of the World. He was attempting to maneuver around a screen when he got bumped and fell to the floor.
Irving was much lower on the list before the start of the playoffs, but he emerged as a superstar in the 2016 NBA Finals.
The Americans wound up finishing third in the tournament, but Nike planted the seeds which would turn players Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd and Abby Wambach into household names by the time they swept the 2012 London Olympics and 2015 World Cup.
This is only the second time they would be playing the Olympic Games.
Breanna Stewart and her Team USA teammates are headed to Rio following the final exhibition of their pre-Summer Olympics tour.
Parker will be joined by four other National Basketball Association players on his squad, including Nicolas Batum of the Charlotte Hornets, Joffrey Lauvergne of the Denver Nuggets, and Rudy Gobert and Boris Diaw of the Utah Jazz. He had 21 points and his four made threes were the only ones that Nigeria had all evening.
Butler broke out as an All-Star two years ago and looked like he might be ready to become an elite star in the league.
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Bryant sent back the playful trash talk, telling the rookie he’d have no chance of hanging with Irving. There are a few other traditional big men that may be better or more exciting players, but Mirotic slides in here because of his skill set. Bird recently teamed with Taurasi in Russian Federation and has played there since 2004. “You won’t find a coach like that that can do that, especially at this level with a bunch of All-Stars and superstars on the team”. But he remains one of the NBA’s best pure scorers when healthy, and he won’t have to carry a heavy load in Rio like he does with the New York Knicks. But his overall game makes him the weakest member of the team’s backcourt. If it’s the latter, though, then Team USA would probably just continue to blow everyone out of the water. The crowd came alive to cheer the Houston native, and more importantly for the Nigerians, the dunk trimmed Team USA’s lead to one point, 11-10, with 4:37 left in the first quarter.
