Team USA vs. Serbia: Will Team USA Turn it on in the Opener?
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00:00I mean, let's just call it what it is, man.
00:05That exhibition season, I don't care what the record is, it did not go well for them
00:08at the end.
00:09They needed this guy LeBron James to just come on strong at the end and win.
00:13And I don't know how many times I've been down this road, Carl, and it's like they always
00:17say like, oh, but when the real thing starts, the light goes on.
00:20That's not always the case.
00:22Team USA takes on Serbia.
00:24We know who's on the Serbia side.
00:26It's a one man show there.
00:28You know who the one man show is, by the way.
00:30I don't need to say his name.
00:31We'll jinx it.
00:32180 and a half is the total.
00:34Team USA, the line is dropped.
00:36They were 14, 15 points.
00:38It's down to 12 and a half.
00:41So that is the million dollar question, Carlin.
00:44Does Team USA turn it on for this game one, or is it going to be what we saw over the
00:49last week or so?
00:50Yeah, it is going to be interesting, and you hit the nail right on the head.
00:54Yes, they went undefeated in the pre-tournament games.
00:57Yes, the record is all that matters at the end of the day for most that are playing the
01:01games, but the eye test also matters, right?
01:03They did not look good in getting to that perfect record at the end of things, and you
01:08expect that, really.
01:09When you're bringing in alpha dogs, when you're bringing in the best player on the best teams
01:14of the NBA to come together on one team, it looks like what we saw in the pre-tournament
01:18games, right?
01:19Joel Embiid looks out of place.
01:21He looks like a player that, hey, if the system is not built around him, he's not going to
01:25find a way to manipulate the game or impact the game in any other way.
01:29He just looked like a complete loss out there, had some ... I saw him getting on a bus.
01:35People were asking him to give his passport back.
01:37He's going to hear it if he does not step up his game down the line, and this is a perfect
01:42matchup for someone like him to go up against his nemesis in the NBA, Nikola Jokic.
01:45You just mentioned it, right?
01:46He is the guy for Serbia, three-time MVP, probably stole one from Nikola Jokic, honestly,
01:52a couple of years ago.
01:54He's going to have to go out there and prove and earn his spot on this team, because guess
01:57what?
01:58Anthony Davis is playing behind him, and he played great in the pre-tournament games.
02:02Bam Adebayo was playing behind him.
02:03He also played really well coming off the bench for Team USA in those pre-tournament
02:07games.
02:08If Joel Embiid doesn't show up, he might be coming off the bench going forward for the
02:12rest of the tournament, but I will say this.
02:14They are going to cover the spread in game number one.
02:16They are going to cover that spread, so go out and bet it, because I said it.
02:20I do think that this tournament is all going to be about how Steve Kerr coaches this team,
02:26and we're really going to find out if Steve Kerr is one of the best coaches of all time.
02:31We know what he's done in the NBA.
02:32We know what he's done with the Golden State Warriors.
02:34The ring speaks for itself, right?
02:36But that was a very talented team that he sort of had a head start on.
02:40This is a different scenario.
02:42In FIBA, in FIBA ball, you don't just have to coach egos, right?
02:45It's egos and X's and O's.
02:47There's 12 other teams that are out there that are coming to these games against Team
02:51USA where it is game seven for them.
02:54It is the NBA finals for them.
02:55Just one win against America at the Olympic Games, it is huge for that country, even if
03:00they go no further than that.
03:02So Steve Kerr is going to have his work cut out for him, and the way he's coached in the
03:06pre-tournament games, I don't have a lot of confidence that they're going to get away
03:09without a loss going forward in the Olympics.
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