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00:00The opener for the United States in men's basketball at the Olympic Games
00:07comes your way on Sunday morning. A weekend of Olympic action and a familiar
00:13face will be on the other side for Team Serbia. That's Nikola Jokic. DRS even
00:20after the five-game exhibition lead-up for the United States and getting ready
00:24for the Olympic Games where they were tested a few times. They were two and
00:28three against the spread. One of their biggest wins, their biggest in fact, 105-79
00:32over the Serbians and Nikola Jokic had 16 points and 11 boards. Team USA for its
00:40opener at the Olympics was listed as a 16 and a half point favorite against
00:46Serbia. Now it's just a 12 and a half point spread in favor of the US against
00:53Serbia in the Olympic opener on Sunday morning. The over-under 180 and a hook.
00:59What do you want to see out of the Americans in the opener in the Olympics?
01:03I want to see a win and a cover. I actually do. Now granted all that really
01:07matters is you pick up the win. It's a group stage, get a couple, you move on to
01:10the knockout stage but sometimes you need a trendsetter here to start which
01:14means we are here to stay. You send a shockwave 98-68 something like that
01:20through the system of the Olympics and that'll get people's attention if it
01:23already didn't have the attention for how much talent Team USA actually has
01:27but that's my expectation. I don't want to hear at the end of this press
01:31conference where LeBron James had to make a layup with under 30 seconds to go
01:34from the win and say you know what getting our feet wet here feels good at
01:38this point. You had a long training camp. You had five games to get ready and get
01:41that rotation set. You are the best team by far here. I don't want to hear like
01:45this was a good test and we needed a little bit of camaraderie together to
01:49come together right in some of these you know huddles. Stop the madness. You
01:51had that already. You could have joked around with South Sudan like hey man we
01:55can't just roll the basketball here and beat quality basketball teams if they're
01:58playing good basketball. I need a decisive win out of the gate to let the
02:02people know Team USA is here. This gold medal it's ours. There are props up and
02:09available like it's an NBA game to bet of course it is different. Make sure you
02:14know the FIBA rules. Only 48 or only 40 minutes not 48 like we see in a normal
02:20NBA game. There is more physicality allowed based on where things are. Not
02:26many not as many free throws shoot that you can take throughout a game. I
02:32couldn't figure out what the word was and of course there was no defensive
02:35three seconds so you'll see some of those big bodies just hovering around
02:39the paint. The highest points prop for Team USA 14 and a hook out of LeBron
02:45James and Steph Curry. 19 and a half is the number for Nikola Jokic. Bogdan
02:50Bogdanovic who of course plays for the Atlanta Hawks 17 and a half is the
02:56number. Nikola Jovic another familiar name at least plays his basketball for
03:00the Miami Heat for the Serbians. The gap between the US and the rest of the
03:05international sides is not nearly as large as it might have even been 10-15
03:11years ago. It is not just going to be easy but Donnie's point is sound it can
03:17still be dominant. 12 and a half is that number 180 and a hook. LeBron James was
03:22truly Captain America down the stretch against South Sudan certainly down the
03:27stretch against Germany in their final exhibition game in London 14 and a half
03:32his number. I think my favorite Olympic prop bet for the Sunday opener Anthony
03:37Davis over seven and a half rebounds. He was dominant at least as probably our
03:42most consistent big throughout the Olympic warm-ups. Yeah for me because
03:46again I'm still based on the fact on I do think that rotation is going to
03:50settle in even for game number one as opposed to oh let's still play guys a
03:53lot of minutes. Now granted nobody came over here on the Team USA to say you
03:57know what I'll be that bench guy be the 11th man I really don't need that much
04:00playing time they don't want to get in because they're competitive and they're
04:02superstars and they deserve to play but there is going to be levels to this it
04:06isn't as if like unless again Ben it's a 40-point blowout win everything changes
04:10that point but if you're looking at that starting five which let's just say
04:13includes LeBron James and Steph Curry you know they're getting the bulk of the
04:16time out there so even with what you saw from that exhibition rounds like hey
04:21these guys are alpha dogs they're gonna get even more playing time here so more
04:24shots for LeBron James more shots for Steph Curry like if I'm looking from a
04:28perspective of points do I think LeBron gets 15 I do but I love Steph Curry
04:32getting 15 points in this game you're telling me right now Steph's not gonna
04:34leave this game at least four three-point shots made which gives you
04:3712 and he's gonna play probably 30 of the 40 minutes yeah I'll take Steph
04:41Curry in that environment LeBron James rebounds and assists should be up there
04:44he's gonna be more of a facilitator at this point so I like the fact of what I
04:48see on those international friendly games and then try to transfer it over
04:52because you know those guys are gonna be involved now you give them more minutes
04:54I think we're gonna get some pretty good price points there if we keep these
04:57numbers under 14 and a half we also have not seen Kevin Durant yet he was
05:03back in practice getting ready for the Olympic Games did not play in any of the
05:08five exhibition matches in these Olympic tune-ups I wonder how he fits into the
05:13rotation based on what Steve Kerr decides to do on Sunday against Serbia
05:19Serbia of course in our group this is group play it is group C team USA is
05:24minus 1,200 to win the group the Serbians have the second best price at
05:29plus 650 South Sudan and Puerto Rico both in the group as well team USA minus
05:36400 to win an Olympic gold medal I will say this in terms of maybe a couple of
05:42question marks following the exhibition tune-ups that we had in that five game
05:46showcase the two best wins for the Americans against the two teams on the
05:52slate that have the best prices to contend for a medal or a gold medal
05:57Canada 11 and a half was the number beat the Canadians by 14 in the opener in the
06:02exhibition series in Las Vegas Canada's second best price to win a gold medal at
06:0710 to 1 Canada is the only other team favored with a minus money number to win
06:14a medal at the Olympics at the Olympics excuse me in Serbia a plus 118 number
06:20France a little bit in front the men's basketball MVP odds for the Olympic
06:26Games LeBron James is a short favorite in comparison to everybody else at plus
06:31320 I think part of that Donnie is not only that he is LeBron James he has the
06:37experience of winning multiple gold medals but just what we saw in the
06:41exhibition matches he took over down the stretch when things got the diciest for
06:47team USA yep the alpha dog he's gonna have primarily the ball in his hands
06:52which means you're gonna have the most statistics the US is gonna win gold it
06:55makes sense quick point here by the way on Kevin Durant yeah healthy Kevin Durant
06:59absolutely absolutely should be on this basketball team why are we taking up a
07:02roster spot for a guy that might not play hasn't practiced all that much yet
07:06just trying to get into the mix in the Olympics here I disagree with that fully
07:10healthy absolutely not healthy should have another superstar in his place I'm
07:13just being real yeah I don't disagree especially at this stage of where they
07:18are but I guess you could speak for continuity we'll talk about Olympic
07:23tennis next all right so there's a lot of tennis information that it's here
07:27available to us through our producer Joe Frieza I'm not sure Olympic tennis is as
07:34significant as some might make it out to seem but Joe really wanted to come on
07:39the show because of some technical snafus that was unable to be the case so
07:44he put so many notes into this segment for us to get ready for the Paris primer
07:49of tennis at the Olympics it's played at Roland Garros which is the site of the
07:55French Open of course we saw the French Open just a few months ago Frieza remind
08:02me as you can speak to us through our IFBs and headsets Igor Sviantech
08:07dominant on the women's side on clay was it Algaraz that won the men's French
08:13Open title this year yes it was he's gone back-to-back at the French Open and
08:17at Wimbledon so here are the odds the RS of where things stand on both the men's
08:24and women's singles matches at the Olympic Games in tennis Carlos Algaraz
08:29the odds on favorite minus 135 followed by Novak Djokovic Sasha Zverev
08:35Rafael Nadal and Casper Ruud the women's singles Igor Sviantech the
08:41hefty favorite at minus 250 Coco Gauff carrying the flag for Team USA during
08:46the opening ceremonies on this Friday afternoon second best price at plus 650
08:53so that's where things stand Donnie your thoughts on Olympic tennis I think
08:58Algaraz wins I think Sviantech wins and also by the way I would like to take my
09:02computer right now if I could and just turn it around and show it in front of
09:05my camera I mean I guess we're set up for a we are set up for like we might
09:09as well be on network TV right now trying to set the tone for the Olympics
09:13in tennis for a four-hour show with how many notes we have built in at this
09:18point right now yeah there can't see it like there are multiple multiple
09:27paragraphs like you know the mean that's like I'm not reading all that sorry it
09:31happened or congratulations yes depending on where things are that's how
09:35I feel here Friso told me that he was gonna put in so many notes I told him he
09:40should just come on the show he could take my spot for this segment yeah speak
09:44for six consecutive minutes or just like open up oh yeah honestly it could be you
09:50know what is the final 10 with Ben or Ben's College Corner now just Friso's
09:55tennis watch list for the Olympic Games we have a graphic that talks about his
09:59main storylines Joe's Paris tennis watch okay his main five storylines and
10:06for each of these bullet points there are seven or eight paragraphs of
10:13information how in the world he thought we were going to read through this and
10:17decipher the information to give the cliff notes is insane the fact that he
10:23wrote this much or has this much tennis information is insane I mean this guy
10:29should be hosted in-game live over the weekends when we have Olympic tennis do
10:34you want me to even try to read through some of this yeah I guess cuz I don't
10:40feel like reading through it so you do it yeah Donnie Donnie will alternate I'll
10:46take one three five you take two and four here's point number one from Joe
10:51Friso our producer and tennis aficionado Rafa's last dance question mark Olympics
10:56being played at Roland Garros when the doll has won 14 French Opens 112 and 4
11:00overall only confirmed tournament on his calendar after this is Laver Cup
11:04exhibition won 2008 gold medal on hardcourt in Beijing would face
11:09Djokovic in round two although he is now in a bit of doubt for singles after
11:13setback in practice favored to win gold in doubles with his countrymen Carlos
11:18Alcaraz for Spain opened at plus 650 now plus 210 won the gold with Mark Lopez in
11:24Rio in 2016 that was all the information and the notes available for
11:30just point one yeah go ahead by the way in point number two it does say Novak is
11:34going for gold now if we look at this we're like how come he struggles a lot
11:38in the Olympics here so that's a certain like you would want to fade it says
11:41only thing missing in Djokovic his career is a gold medal bronze in 08
11:45fourth place in 12 round one in 2016 and fourth place in 2020 guy just can't step
11:50by let me what if he's not taking this seriously yeah he takes other tennis
11:53seriously you got a faith so what I got out of this we're fading Djokovic in
11:57this can't happen can't win a gold just can't do gold medals Joe tell us right
12:01now in our IFP and headset do gold medals in tennis even compare to a grand
12:06slam hmm Wow he says they do okay good to know I didn't know that right because
12:13we talked about the gold medal in golf it doesn't really mean anything of
12:16course call for the Olympic Games has not been around nearly as much DRS did
12:21you read deeper into note number two it says number one seed but tougher draw
12:25did you read after that no yeah see I mean they're trying to Ron Burgundy me
12:28I'm too smart I gotta be like don't tell me to get me fired off of this network
12:33either it's not gonna happen too smart for that trying to get you trying to get
12:36you Olympic tennis get started pretty soon