Making an early statement
The young Americans prove that they are still the team to beat in the World Championships
ANAHEIM, Calif. — This was a week of wake-up calls for USA Basketball, some provided by unheralded G League players in practice and now more offered up by the Spanish national team.
The Americans learned from both.
Donovan Mitchell scored 13 points, Khris Middleton added 12 and the U.S. topped Spain 90-81 on Friday night in a warmup exhibition in advance of the FIBA World Cup that starts in China on Aug. 31. The Americans shot 55 percent from the field, 58 percent from 3-point range and held a commanding 42-20 edge in rebounds.
“It was a good chance to jump in the fray and see what this is all about,” U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said after his official debut as Mike Krzyzewski’s replacement with the national team. “It was like a baptism for us. New group, players, coaches, all that sort of thing. It was a real experience.”
There was much he liked, such as the rebounding. There was plenty he didn’t like, such as committing 23 turnovers that Spain turned into 27 points. And the score wasn’t all that relevant to him, though it did extend USA Basketball’s program-record winning streak to 77 games and counting.
That run goes back to the bronze medal game of the 2006 world championships, now called the World Cup, and has continued on through the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, the Olympic runs in 2008, 2012 and 2016 and the World Cup titles in 2010 and 2014.
Most of those 77 wins have been one-sided. Only nine have been by single digits, and Spain has been the opponent in four of those contests.
“It was good to see the level and the standard that they’re going to set physically,” said Spain veteran and Toronto center Marc Gasol, who led everybody with 19 points. “It was good for some of the guys