Team USA did finally win their first exhibition game on Tuesday. But after a rough start, and many questions still in play, many are still doubting whether or not Team USA has enough to win the Gold this year.
And while Damian Lillard acknowledged the team still has to build some chemistry, he also pointed out that talent around the world has gotten better:
“I think it’s been a process for all of us. None of us have ever really played together other than KD and Draymond. International game is so much different. Like, we trying to figure out how to play that game. And also how to be a team and not just a bunch of talented individuals,” Lillard said, per Casey Holdahl of Blazers.com.
“These other teams, they’ve been in camp longer than we have, they in better shape than we are right now. They’ve been playing as a team for years and years as a national team, so I think it just shows that the talent is getting better around the world and we’re just not going to roll out the ball and beat ‘em.”
The fact is, the rest of the world is catching up. Even in the NBA, overseas talent is really taking over, as we see in stars like Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Team USA roster is still the best the world has to offer, but the days of them just rolling through the competition may be a thing of the past.
Ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see.
