Team USA Struggles to Cover, Faces Puerto Rico Next
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00:00So now let's get to one of the premier games this weekend.
00:06It is tomorrow morning at 1115 a.m. Eastern.
00:09Team USA, who Gilbert, let's just call it what it is, is having a hard time covering
00:14these games.
00:15I mean, there was never, I mean, I was watching the game and I saw what it was at halftime.
00:19I was like, OK, if we extrapolate this in the second half, then maybe they cover.
00:23But they really didn't look like they were going to cover against South Sudan.
00:26And now the line's even bigger against Puerto Rico, 32 and a half point favorites here.
00:32They've dropped Team USA's total in this game to 188.
00:36The South Sudan one was 191.
00:39I don't know.
00:40I mean, I feel like I want to take the points again here.
00:43Does Puerto Rico have any shot at keeping this close?
00:47I don't think they have as much of a shot as South Sudan did.
00:49I know when I saw that spread and we talked about it a little bit that it felt like a
00:53lot, felt a little disrespectful to that South Sudan team.
00:55But I think this Puerto Rico team has already been eliminated.
00:59They're playing for pride, obviously, and any time you get to represent your country,
01:02you're going to play for pride.
01:03But they're not playing for much else, while Team USA is probably playing for seeding.
01:08Point differential is really important, especially if teams from other groups finish 3-0 in group
01:12play.
01:13How much they beat this team by could come to be important.
01:16So, you know, winning that first game against Serbia by 26 and they beat South Sudan by 17.
01:22They're also trying to figure each other out still.
01:24That chemistry is going to be really important that we talked about that knockout stage.
01:28You have no more room for error.
01:29So they're going to lead to work on some things in this final game.
01:33So it's interesting to see the lineups that they go with and the way that they try to
01:36kind of win by a lot of points against Puerto Rico.
01:39All right.
01:40So now let's take a look real quick at odds to score 15 plus points.
01:44Joellen Bede has dropped off the odds board here.
01:47Right now, Kevin Durant's minus 112 and then LeBron, but look at Bam on a bio there.
01:51I don't know.
01:52Gilbert, you Bam on a bios look really good here.
01:55Is there a chance that Kerr goes right back to him and the next game at five to one?
02:00I mean, if it bought a bio scored 15 points a game in the NBA, what do you think?
02:05Bam is attractive pick right there, you know, the way he's making threes for this team and
02:10the way he's able to play in that South Sudan game.
02:12But I'm also interested in looking at Anthony Davis as well.
02:15It kind of feels like this is the type of team because there's so much talent.
02:19Everybody's going to kind of take a turn having their night, but another guy that's interesting
02:22to me is Steph Curry because he has not gotten going so far in order to be at their peak
02:28of their powers.
02:29Team USA is going to need Steph Curry to be Steph Curry.
02:32So a perfect opportunity in a game where you've already clinched your spot in the quarterfinals,
02:36but you are wanting to build momentum going into the knockout stage.
02:39Maybe you try to get Steph Curry going and have some place for him to get some good looks
02:42early on.
02:43All right.
02:44Finally, Gilbert, let's take a look at the basically trifecta odds to win the gold, silver
02:50and bronze.
02:51And Gilbert, if anybody outside of Team USA and Canada finish in the 1-2, there's a massive
02:58payout on that.
02:59I mean, take a look at Germany to win the silver, 16-1.
03:04So I would ask you, do you have any like inkling as to how do you think this finishes?
03:09You know, I think that Germany pick is enticing.
03:12If Germany is able to finish in silver, I think that they do have the talent and the
03:15team chemistry and the camaraderie to do so.
03:17If anything other than USA, Canada, 1-2, Germany finishing second would be a good pick.