The United States men’s basketball team wants to put on a stronger performance Monday against Germany after surviving Saturday’s scare against South Sudan.
LeBron James and company came out Saturday with the slightest victory that could serve as a wake-up call ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The skill gap between Team USAAnd the rest of the world is tighter than ever, yet the hope remains that the Americans will win each and every Games and eventually go home with the pass medal.
Monday’s match in London is the ultimate Olympic preparation for the U. S. team. Paris will receive a much larger margin of victory.
Information about United States vs. Germany
Date: Monday, July 22
Start time: 3 p. m. Eastern Time
Television: fox
Live Stream: FoxSports. com and Fox Sports App
Advance
The Americans are undefeated heading into the Olympics, although just barely.
South Sudan gave the U. S. team a scare. The U. S. military on Saturday, taking the Americans into the firing squad in London.
Saturday’s result serves as a wake-up call for the United States: They can’t make the quarterfinals or play against any of the Olympic qualifiers.
Germany may not seem like the toughest opponent due to the lack of stars on their team, but they are the defending FIBA Basketball World Cup champions.
Last summer, the team led through Dennis Schroder, Franz, Mo Wagner and Daniel Theis winning the World Cup and qualifying for the Olympics.
Germany eliminated Team USA in the World Cup semifinals with a 113-111 victory, so there may be revenge for the Americans.
Steve Kerr’s side are not lacking in motivation between their poor performance on Saturday and their ability to avenge last year’s loss to Germany.
The Americans didn’t have their full roster of superstars at last year’s World Cup, but Anthony Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton were on the team.
Edwards had 23 points and eight rebounds in that loss, while Haliburton contributed seven points and eight assists off the bench.
Franz Wagner, Theis and Andreas Obst scored more than 20 points in the semi-finals of the World Cup. Schroder had 17 points and assists.
The key on Monday will be to curb Schroder’s distribution of points and limit Franz Wagner’s goalscoring potential.
The Americans can allow a single 20-point scorer, but they can’t allow multiple players to leave, as Germany did last summer at the World Cup.
Expect the leaders of the U. S. team to be able toStart the festival early to send the message that Saturday’s narrow victory was just a fluke.
A huge double-digit victory over Germany would erase Saturday’s poor performance and put the Americans back on track for a successful Olympics.
After Monday, the opening match of the Olympic Games will take on Serbia on Saturday. Team USA faces Serbia, South Sudan and Puerto Rico in Group C. Germany is grouped with France, Japan and host Brazil.