The United States men basketball team went through of nightmares before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games debut.
When they started calling up NBA professionals, the stars booked five friendlies, in Las Vegas, before their first showing in Japan, and lost two.
Nigeria and Australia shocked the country that collected 15 Olympic titles and five world titles. The only triumph in the series of trials came against Argentina, whom they lost in the 2004 Athens semifinals.
The 90-87 loss to Nigeria was a shock. The last time both teams met was at the London 2012 Olympics. The United States broke the competition record by scoring 156-73.
According to Brazilian basketball head coach, Ricardo Oliveira, the United States entered the court relaxed, as the franchise season ended a short time ago for athletes.
The selection led by Mike Brown, also assistant coach of the Golden State Warriors, is made up of some players who work in the powerful basketball franchise in the United States.
“I think Nigeria can be a big shock. They didn’t hide anything and the Americans tested several situations, even though they were lacking because they have players who are still playing in the NBA finals”, coach Oliveira said.
The United States suffered a setback of 91-83 against Australia. With the result, the team had its fourth loss in friendlies since the formation of the Dream Team, in 1992. After the match, in an interview with British newspaper The Athletic , the writer NBA senior Joe Vardon said the defense was a problem to be corrected before his debut against France at the Tokyo Games on the 25th.
Oliveira added the selection faced Australia more focused and intense than against Nigeria. The opponent was well prepared and has NBA players on the team: Patty Mills (San Antonio Spurs), Joe Ingles (Utah Jazz), Aron Baynes (Toronto Raptors), Matthew Dellavedova (Cleveland Cavaliers), Dante Exum (Houston Rockets), Josh Green (Dallas Mavericks) and Matisse Thybulle (Philadelphia 76ers).
“Australians came in full force, wanting to present the high level basketball that the country showed in the last Olympics.” Oliveira added.
