PARIS – Team USA may be favored by about 30 points to beat South Sudan on Wednesday at the Olympics, but is nevertheless leery of an upset. For good reason.
“I would say so,” USA coach Steve Kerr confirmed.
In an exhibition game between the two countries July 20 in London, the youngest basketball-playing nation on Earth came within one shot of beating the all-NBA, star-studded Americans. South Sudan led the game by as many as 16 points, and it took a dominant second half from LeBron James, including his bullish, game-winning drive to the hoop, as well as some rugged defense on the last play of the game to win 101-100 and prevent the ultimate upset.
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The rematch is set for 3 p.m. eastern in a massive soccer stadium just outside of Lille, France, about 2 ½ hours north of Paris.
“We have appropriate fear of everybody,” Steph Curry explained.
Perhaps that’s true, as the U.S. men’s national team has lost nine games in four summers dating to 2019. But after the close call against South Sudan in London, at least Kerr was saying the Americans had been caught off guard.
GO DEEPERTeam USA survives scare from South SudanKerr said in the immediate aftermath of the first meeting that the American coaching staff hadn’t prepared the players enough for the speed of South Sudan’s guards or the amount of 3s they launch (14-of-33 for the game), which led to the double-digit deficit in the first half. Also, Team USA did not work out the morning of the game, due to the heavy London traffic and the logistics of getting to and from O2 Arena.
It is unclear how much the American stars knew who was on the South Sudan roster ahead of time. But now they know. While they may be playing under the South Sudan flag, their top players were either born in North America, played there, or were otherwise trained far, far away from the country they now represent.
Marial Shayok, a Canadian-born forward who plays professionally in China, led his team that night with 25 points and six 3s. Carlik Jones, who has played 12 NBA games over three seasons, produced a triple-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Wenyen Gabriel, a former teammate of James on the Los Angeles Lakers, contributed 11 points and six rebounds, and JT Thor, who’s played with the Charlotte Hornets but is not currently on a team, scored 14 points. Khaman Maluach, who’s going to Duke, scored 7 points off the South Sudan bench. Their coach is Royal Ivey, an American who is an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets.
“The exhibition schedule was great because you got to figure out where we need to get better and also feel the force of teams that are coming trying to beat us no matter if it’s a friendly or an Olympic game,” said Curry, who scored 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting in the exhibition game.
Team USA survived a scare in the pre-Games exhibition match (Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
The U.S. played against the South Sudanese and Serbia in the Olympic preseason – two of the three teams in the Americans’ Olympic pool.
“I think more so it just challenges you to immensely prepare for a team that might not know a lot about ahead of time from a scouting-report standpoint to then make the necessary adjustments that we’re going to make to have a better showing against them,” Curry continued. “(South Sudan has) a very high octane offense, (its players) spread the floor and shoot a lot of 3s and have athleticism. So you just got to be mindful of how to guard them.”
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Kerr vowed that Team USA would be “much better prepared” on Wednesday, but added: “That doesn’t guarantee you anything.”
South Sudan used a strong second half to come from behind and beat Puerto Rico, 90-79, in the country’s first-ever Olympic game Sunday. Jones continued his strong play with 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
The U.S., winners of the last four Olympic gold medals, also won its opener on Sunday – 110-84 over Serbia. Kevin Durant played for the first time all summer after suffering a calf injury and led the Americans with 23 points; James added 21 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. The U.S. committed 17 turnovers against Serbia and 12 against South Sudan.
“Just take care of the ball,” U.S. guard Jrue Holiday said, when asked what the Americans needed to do differently against South Sudan. “They pressure the ball full court, and we also have that ability. But to be able to take care of the ball, execute the plays the way we want, we’ll be all right.”
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after years of war, and before the game against Puerto Rico Olympic organizers inexplicably played the wrong anthem. Organizers corrected the mistake and apologized.
GO DEEPERNumbers say LeBron and company can still be better. Here's how(Top photo: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
Joe Vardon is a senior NBA writer for The Athletic, based in Cleveland. Follow Joe on Twitter @joevardon
