Olympic basketball preview, July 28: U.S. men take the court, women’s competition begins

If these solutions do not come again within the affirmative, the trail to a gold medal may very well be fraught. That is the deepest pool of expertise the lads’s competitors has ever seen, and in case you do not suppose Workforce USA has realized the extent to which the hole has narrowed, simply take heed to what Kerr needed to say earlier this week.

“It’s time, you recognize?” Kerr mentioned throughout a gaggle interview session with reporters at Thursday’s observe. “We’re not touring round anymore. We’re right here. We’ve bought six video games. We’ve bought to get into the pool play, advance, after which it’s [like the] NCAA Match. So we want 40 minutes of power, consideration, and focus, and we are able to’t let groups outplay us with effort and vitality like we did the opposite evening in opposition to Germany, like we did in opposition to South Sudan.”

Historical past is there for the taking, and for a lot of of this group’s largest names, Paris represents their final shot at Olympic glory. It is time.

LeBron James vs. Nikola Jokic head-to-head

Arguably the best participant of all-time in opposition to arguably the best participant proper now. LeBron and Jokic won’t wind up matched up with one another fairly often, however they’re going to each have an outsized impact on Sunday’s recreation. Which celebrity has the sting? Let’s break issues down with a fast story of the tape.

Over their first 9 NBA seasons:

• Each had three NBA MVP Awards, incomes them in the identical relative seasons (six, seven and 9)
• Each averaged 6.9 assists; LeBron had 27.6 factors and 6.9 rebounds, whereas Jokic tallied 20.9 and 10.7
• LeBron had eight NBA All-Star Recreation alternatives, whereas Jokic had six
• Each received NBA Rookie of the Yr

Word: LeBron entered the league at age 19, whereas Jokic began at 20

What do their matchups within the NBA inform us about how this one may go? LeBron and Jokic have met 35 instances over the course of their careers, 21 within the common season and 14 within the playoffs. Jokic holds the 19-16 edge in these video games, averaging a really Jokic-ian 22.5 factors, 11.2 rebounds and seven.6 assists in these video games. LeBron, in the meantime, has averaged 26.9, 8.2 and eight.6, respectively. In fact, Jokic has had the final chortle of late, bouncing James’ Lakers from the playoffs in every of the final two seasons.

The ladies’s event will get underway 

The U.S. girls’s group has to attend till Monday for his or her Paris debut, however Group A will get underway on Sunday with a pair of intriguing matchups. 2016 silver medalists Spain face off in opposition to China, whereas upstart Puerto Rico meets 2016 bronze medalists Serbia in simply its second-ever Olympics look.