The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Down and out Down Under: U.S. team suddenly vulnerable
The U.S. men’s basketball team had never lost to Australia, had gone nearly 13 years without losing a game with an NBA-stocked roster, and was in the midst of the longest winning streak in team history.
Until Saturday, when the Americans went Down Under, and went down. Australia beat the U.S. 98-94 before a crowd of more than 52,000 in Melbourne, an outcome that ended the Americans’ 78-game winning streak and cast major doubt on the team’s ability to capture a third consecutive World Cup in China.
“Nobody wins forever,” USA Basketball coach Gregg Popovich said.
The last time the U.S. — counting major international tournaments and exhibitions with NBA players on the floor — lost a game was the semifinals of the 2006 world championships. The program has won gold in every competition since, including three straight in the Olympics and two consecutive World Cup titles. But now, the team looks unusually vulnerable.
“It’s a friendly so we want to keep it in context,” Australia center Andrew Bogut said. “But we did make history tonight.”
Popovich said all the right things after the game. He lauded the Australian players and those tasked with putting their team together. He raved about Patty Mills, who scored 30 points. He good-naturedly vowed that when he and Mills get back to San Antonio, where they’ve been together as coach and guard for the last eight years, he’ll exact revenge.
More seriously, though, he sounded an alarm for the Americans. “The loss means that we need to play better,” he said. “It’s a measure of who you are.”
And who they are is still to be determined. The U.S. has played three exhibitions on a pre-World Cup tour and Popovich used three different starting lineups. The rotation isn’t clear, even to coaches. Players — most never having been teammates until this month — are figuring out their individual roles.
The final exhibition for the Americans is Monday vs. Canada. Once the U.S. gets to Shanghai, its first three World Cup games shouldn’t be overly taxing. The Americans are ranked No. 1 in the world while group opponents Turkey, the Czech Republic and Japan are 17th, 24th and 48th.
From there, the tests figure to ramp up. Serbia, France, Greece, Spain and Australia arrive in China as legitimate title hopefuls. With most of the top U.S. stars from the NBA like LeBron James, James Harden, Paul George and Stephen Curry sitting out this summer, the rest of the world clearly isn’t stuck playing for second place.
Roster set: USA Basketball said an ankle injury will keep Kyle Kuzma from playing in the World Cup, finalizing the U.S. roster for the tournament. The Americans had 13 players and needed to get down to 12. The final roster: Guards Joe Harris (Brooklyn), Donovan Mitchell (Utah), Marcus Smart (Boston), Kemba Walker (Boston) and Derrick White (San Antonio); forwards Harrison Barnes (Sacramento), Jaylen Brown (Boston), Khris Middleton (Milwaukee) and Jayson Tatum (Boston); and centers Brook Lopez (Milwaukee), Mason Plumlee (Denver), Myles Turner (Indiana).