USA Basketball Prepares for Olympics; Serbia Matchup Best Bets
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00And we are back on the grid. Thanks for joining us on Newswire, bringing in Gilbert McGregor.
00:09We're going to talk all things Hoops. Gil, good to see you. He's from the Sporting News
00:13covering all things basketball. We'll start out on the Olympic side of the hardwood today.
00:18USA takes on Serbia in just about 45 minutes to warm up, but these teams will match up
00:25in the Olympics. They're in the same group that is the opening round game. The opening game for
00:30both teams will be against one another. So I don't know how much you'll see from these teams today,
00:35but that's sort of, as I've been watching these games, trying to figure out what
00:40rotations will look like. I'm sure Steve Kerr is trying to figure it out like the rest of us.
00:45Absolutely. I don't expect either of these teams to show too much of their hands,
00:49considering they'll be playing against each other again in about 11 days. But
00:52one of the big things that's important for these warm-up exhibition games is figuring out the
00:56rotations. Team USA tweaked the starting lineup ahead of the exhibition against Australia on
01:02Monday, and I think they liked what they saw. I know Joel Embiid is still struggling to find his
01:06way. There's a little bit of a subplot there between Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic in this
01:10game. So it'll be interesting to see if Steve Kerr goes with him again. We saw Anthony Edwards
01:14kind of coming to his own, and I'm expecting Steph Curry to figure it out. You know, he demands so
01:19much defensive attention, but he hasn't really gone off like we're used to him going off. So I
01:23think that's something I'll keep my eye on in this one. Maybe we'll see some other tweaks in the
01:27starting lineup as they try to perfect things as they head to Paris. Yeah, it was clear at the end
01:33of the game against Australia the other day. I know some people, it raised eyebrows that the game
01:38was tight late, but it was clear that the five that were on the floor at the end of the game
01:44would likely not be the five on the floor in a tight game during the Olympics. Is that
01:48fair to say? I think that is fair to say, Mike, and it's interesting because Tyrese Halliburton
01:54ended up making big shots for Team USA to kind of allow them to hold Australia off in that one.
02:00But I think the biggest thing that they want to clean up, regardless of who's on the floor,
02:03their turnovers are what allowed the Boomers back into the game. They were up by about 24 points.
02:08Team USA was in the beginning of the second half, and they just really played sloppy basketball,
02:12and that's why the game was closer than it probably should have been. So I would look
02:16to them to maybe try and clean up the turnovers and be a little more focused, you know, as they
02:21continue to kind of get back and ready for the Olympics, but also getting Kevin Durant back
02:26from injury is going to be an important part for Team USA as well. Yeah, the NBA players that
02:33are of note on Serbia, clearly Nikola Jokic, Nikola Jovic, Micic from the Hornets, and Bogdan Bogdanovic
02:43from the Atlanta Hawks. So those are the players that you'll see that could pose problems,
02:47obviously, especially with international rules. It's still always going to be a thing that when
02:52USA basketball plays, there are nuances to the game that I just think they're at a disadvantage
02:58when it comes to that kind of play, goaltending rules and whatever else. For the Group C that
03:05they will be in in 10 days when the Olympics starts, USA minus 1,400, Serbia plus 680,
03:11South Sudan plus 4,000, Puerto Rico plus 6,500. For those Group C odds, I'd imagine that we'll
03:18get out of the group stage, Gil, but today the spread is 14.5 with a total of 176.5.
03:25Let's move over to the NBA, where we have the Lakers adding Lindsey Harding to the coaching
03:33staff. Another female basketball coach added to an NBA staff. Good news for the Lakers, and she
03:41has a tie to JJ Reddick. She was on the Sixers coaching staff when JJ Reddick was playing there,
03:47correct? Correct. It pains me to acknowledge this as well, but they are both proud Duke Blue Devils
03:54as well, and they're two of the biggest names to play basketball at Duke. And Lindsey Harding
03:59is a coach who is really making a meteoric rise up the ranks on the men's side of coaching,
04:04and I think that she has a very good chance to be the first female head coach in the WNBA. That's
04:10how good of a coach she is. That's how good of a job she did last year with the Stockton Kings,
04:15the G League affiliate of the Sacramento Kings. So a great move from her to go from Stockton to
04:21go to LA to work with JJ Reddick. I think her player development is going to be a big key in
04:26this Lakers team because they're relying on a lot of young guys on that roster, having bigger
04:31roles than people probably anticipated them having because they struck out on so many free agents
04:35this offseason. So she could very well be the most important person on a Lakers bench this year.
04:42Harding joins Nate McMillan, Scotty Brooks, and Greg St. John on the Lakers staff
04:46this season. And for those that don't know, Gil is a proud Wake Forest alum, so
04:51Tobacco Road. Tension runs deep even on this program. Lakers playing the Hawks in Summer
04:59League. Two and a half point favorites are the Hawks. 172 and a half is the total.
05:06Obviously, it's going to be a storyline every time he takes to court about Bronny James and
05:12his performance. At present, his stats are not looking good. Five points a game, 21 percent
05:19from the field, 0 for 15 from three, and turning the ball over two and a half times a game.
05:26I don't love the fact, Gil, that Bronny is in this position because people are trying to make
05:33a punching bag out of him. I don't think it's fair to him, anything that's going on. But what
05:39is your thoughts as we approach them having to make roster decisions? What do they do with Bronny?
05:46I think it's a long-term project. I think they knew that coming into it. I'm sure that the
05:51Lakers organization would want to see more from him. I think he's been struggling and he's kind
05:56of in a shooting slump at the worst possible time. I think with that shot is falling, I think he'd be
06:01a little more confident, a little more sure of himself on the offensive end. But it's important
06:04to remember that he's still less than a year removed from that cardiac arrest incident last
06:10year at USC. So there's a player who's been through a lot as a person this past year,
06:15and the fact that he is where he is right now, I think he deserves a little of our patience,
06:19but it has been tough for him. And I know that he's facing a lot of expectations and a lot of
06:22pressure given his name, given his opportunity. But knowing anybody who's been under a lot of
06:29scrutiny and a big spotlight throughout their life, I think he is definitely built and has
06:34a system around him to at least handle it and kind of persevere through this right now.
06:38A lot of change going on with the Lakers obviously this offseason. They've lost three
06:42agents. They bring in a new head coach. They've got the Brawny storyline constantly around him,
06:48and they have obviously have a new coach to the staff in Lindsey Harding. So great stuff as always
06:54from Gil McGregor. He'll be with us all throughout the Olympics in order to track how USA basketball
07:00is doing with those rotations, if they have any real threats within the tournament and beyond.
07:06NBA Summer League has been entertaining thus far. I think it's always a good shot to take a look at
07:10some of those rookie players and see how they can do in the flow of an NBA-style
07:14game. Good stuff from Gil McGregor. We'll be back with more on Newswire right after this.