With group basketball play drawing to a close in Rio, Sunday's meeting against France's finest is Team USA's last chance before the quarterfinals to erase any lingering doubt about its near-misses versus Australia and Serbia being anything other than anomalies.
Friday's 94-91 nail-biting victory over the Serbians didn't do anything to reinforce the United States' intended dominance. It barely beat an inferior opponent.
Yet somehow, even at its most vulnerable, it seldom felt like Team USA would actually lose against either opponent. The Americans are nothing if not capable of beating any opponent in this tournament without ever approaching the peak implied by its roster makeup.
Thus, Olympic basketball has been reconstructed into a measuring stick for the rest of world. Australia stands alone on that front right now (sorry Serbia)—the lone squad with a puncher's hope of pushing the United States toward an unthinkable loss.
But if there's room enough for one more country on that island, France, buoyed by the fall of Spain and age of Argentina, along with its own bounty of NBA talent, is it.< ...
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Article written by Dan Favale
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