US men's basketball team gets BOOED off the court in Las Vegas after embarrassing back-to-back exhibition losses to Australia and Nigeria
Facing the prospect of national embarrassment at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, the US men's basketball team was booed off the court in Las Vegas on Monday night following a second straight exhibition defeat.
The tension boiled over at the end of Team USA's 91-83 loss to Australia on Monday after the 15-time Olympic gold medal winners fell 90-87 to upstart Nigeria on Saturday. Prior to this summer, the US men's team had lost only twice in 56 exhibitions since 1992, when NBA players were first permitted to play in the Olympics.
Now, with NBA talent on nearly every international roster, Team USA has dropped four of its last five games dating back to dismal performance at the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
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FINAL: Australia 91, USA 83. Team USA has lost to Nigeria and Australia over the past 48 hours. pic.twitter.com/RkN9gTGAQq
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) July 13, 2021
FINAL: Australia 91, USA 83. Team USA has lost to Nigeria and Australia over the past 48 hours. pic.twitter.com/RkN9gTGAQq
Australia's Duop Reath, right, fouls United States' Bam Adebayo during an exhibition basketball game in Las Vegas on Monday. Adebayo plays for the NBA's Miami Heat
Nick Kay #15 of the Australia Boomers and Draymond Green #14 of the United States react after Kay fouled Green during an exhibition game at Michelob Ultra Arena on Monday
The frustration was palpable at Team USA's post-game press conference, where head coach Gregg Popovich became confrontational with one reporter.
Initially the decorated San Antonio Spurs coach tried joking with the assembled media.
'Why does he get two questions?' Popovich remarked after a reporter asked repeated a question to him that was just asked to point guard Damian Lillard.
After a brief pause, Popovich explained 'it's a joke,' adding that 'Damian's right.'
Another reporter followed with a question for Lillard about Team USA's reputation for blowing out opponents.
'It's not the first time that I've seen Team USA be tested,' Lillard said, calmly. 'Maybe not beat two times in a row, but I've seen it before. These other teams and these other countries just continue to improve. These players, they get better, they get more confident and they also want to beat us badly. It's definitely noticeable when you're on the court.'
Popovich objected to the line of questioning.
'Let me also answer that question,' he said.
'You asked the same sort of question, the same family of question last time after the loss to , where you assume things that are not true, when you just mention blowing these teams out. That's never happened. So I don't know where you get that.'
The reporter attempted to explain the question, but Popovich demanded to be heard first.
'Can I finish?' Popovich asked.
Head Coach Gregg Popovich of the USA Men's National Team talks with Damian Lillard #6 and Bradley Beal #4 during the game against the Nigeria Men's National Team on Saturday
'Can I finish? Can I finish my statement? Can I finish my statement? Are you going to let me finish my statement or not? So, you'll be quiet now while I talk, then I'll listen to you.
'When you make statements about in the past just blowing out these other teams, number one, you give no respect to the other teams; And I talked to you last time about the same thing.
'We've had very close games against four or five countries at all these tournaments. So, the good teams do not get blown out.
Calab Agada #3 of Nigeria drives to the basket against America's Draymond Green
'There are certain games that might happen in one of the tournaments -- the World Championships or the Olympics -- where somebody gets blown out. But in general, nobody is blowing anybody out from the good teams.
'So when you make a statement like that it's like you assume that's what is going on, and that's incorrect.'
Patty Mills, who plays for Popovich in San Antonio, scored 22 points and Australia held the U.S. without a field goal for the final 4:34 on the way to beating the three-time defending Olympic gold medalists.
'I thought we got better tonight,' Popovich said. 'After a short time together, there's a lot of things that have to be covered, but the first half and the second half were two different beasts.
'In the first half, we defended the way we wanted to defend. ... We rebounded better. We moved the ball better at the offensive end and had more pace. In the second half, we tired out.'
Joe Ingles scored 17 points, Matisse Thybulle scored 12 and Chris Goulding had 11 for Australia.
'We walked into this game expecting to win,' Ingles said.
With good reason. Starting with the World Cup quarterfinals in China two years ago and then their two exhibitions in Vegas, the US is 1-4 in its last five games with NBA players against international competition.
In the most recent 105 games that preceded those, the US went 101-4.
Lillard led the US with 22 points, while Kevin Durant scored 17 and Bradley Beal finished with 12. But the Americans wasted a 10-point second-half lead, and have dropped back-to-back games for just the third time since NBA players began wearing the red, white and blue in 1992.
The other instances: two straight in the 2002 FIBA World Championship and two straight in the 2019 Basketball World Cup. The US finished sixth in the first tournament, seventh in the other. And while these are glorified scrimmages, this much is already certain - a medal seems far from a lock for the US.
Australia's Matisse Thybulle, who plays for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, exchanges words with Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal during Team USA's loss on Monday
'It's not the first time that I've seen Team USA be tested,' Lillard said. 'Maybe not beat two times in a row, but I've seen it before. These other teams and these other countries just continue to improve. These players, they get better, they get more confident and they also want to beat us badly. It's definitely noticeable when you're on the court.'
Jayson Tatum's layup with 4:35 left put the Americans up 82-80. Australia outscored the US 11-1 the rest of the way, and Mills did most of the damage for the Boomers down the stretch.
'I just expect him to do it,' Ingles said of Mills' big finish. 'It's what he's done for 12 years. It's just what he does for our group.'
Favored by 16.5 points before the game, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Americans looked the part for much of the first half. A 20-6 run - capped by five points from Select Team call-up Keldon Johnson - put the US up by eight late in the opening quarter, and Lillard closed out his 16-point first half with a 3-pointer 31.7 seconds before intermission that gave the Americans a 46-35 lead.
The halftime lead was nine, the same lead that the US had early in the third quarter against Nigeria before letting it slip away.
And the same thing happened in this one.
The third-quarter lead for the US was as big as 10 and was 58-50 when Lillard made a 3-pointer midway through the period. But Australia closed the quarter on a 19-6 run, Goulding hit a 3-pointer as time expired and Australia took a 69-64 lead into the final 10 minutes.
'We'll learn from it,' Popovich said.
Calab Agada #3 of the Nigeria Men's National Team drives to the basket on Saturday