The lads’s Olympic basketball match area is ready, and the motion is getting began this weekend in France. Group USA males’s basketball goes for its fifth gold medal in a row, and the People have introduced a star-studded roster to Paris to face some robust competitors. Group USA — which went unbeaten in 5 tune-up video games — can be in Group C, together with Serbia, Puerto Rico and South Sudan. The US — the favourite to win gold once more — mechanically certified for the Paris Olympics by ending as one of many high two nations within the Americas zone on the FIBA World Cup final summer season. 

The People beat Canada, Australia, Serbia, South Sudan and Germany of their exhibition schedule, however there have been extra shut calls than anticipated. That features a one-point win on July 20 towards South Sudan, as Group USA wanted a game-winning lay-up from LeBron James to keep away from a large upset. James got here to the rescue once more towards Germany two days later in a four-point win.

The lads’s match begins on July 27, with Group USA taking the court docket for the primary time on July 28 towards Serbia.

Group USA has its most stacked roster in fairly a while for the 2024 Olympic Video games. But it surely’s a roster that now not options Kawhi Leonard. The Clippers star withdrew from the Olympics on July 10, and in an announcement Group USA stated it decided with the Clippers that sitting out the Paris Olympics was in Leonard’s “finest curiosity.” Leonard missed the top of the common season and many of the playoffs with a proper knee harm. Derrick White was chosen for Leonard’s open roster spot and the champion Celtics now account for 3 of the 12 roster spots on Group USA.

Group USA can be led by Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, in addition to Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, Clippers coach Ty Lue and Warmth coach Erik Spoelstra as assistants.

Because the Olympics get underway, here is all the knowledge you could learn about Group USA’s roster, schedule and an outlook for the defending world champions.

Group USA males’s basketball roster

Group USA 2024 Olympics schedule

Serbia	July 28	11:15 a.m.	Group stage
South Sudan	July 31	3 p.m.	Group stage
Puerto Rico	Aug. 3	11:15 a.m.	Group stage
TBD	Aug. 6	TBD	Quarterfinals
TBD	Aug. 8	TBD	Semifinals
TBD	Aug. 10	TBD	Gold/Bronze Medal video games

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Group USA Basketball exhibition outcomes

Group USA outlook

The US has gained 16 gold medals on the Olympics, and has captured nothing lower than gold since 2004. The People enter each Olympic Video games because the heavy favorites, and for good purpose. They area the perfect gamers each 4 years, and regardless of placing collectively a staff on a brief timespan they nonetheless sometimes handle to bulldoze the competitors each 4 years. However Group USA is not infallible. In every of the 2 final FIBA World Cup appearances, the U.S. did not medal, inserting fourth final summer season and an much more surprising seventh-place end in 2019. Granted, these groups didn’t boast the perfect expertise the US has to supply, however it’s proof that you may’t simply throw anybody on the market with hopes of beating the remainder of the world.

However the 2024 Olympic roster is probably the perfect assortment of expertise the US has fielded for the reason that 2008 Redeem Group, which was constructed to avenge a bronze medal end on the 2004 Video games. We’ll get Stephen Curry in his first Olympics ever. In all probability the final Olympic look from LeBron James, the debut of Joel Embiid, who Group USA was hotly recruiting to hitch as a substitute of going with France or Cameroon. And peppered in there’s a good mix of older expertise like Kevin Durant, Jrue Vacation and Anthony Davis, blended with the subsequent era of American stars like Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton.

Nevertheless, the sector on the 2024 Olympics options a few of the finest worldwide gamers that may all be chomping on the bit to try to knock the People off. Canada has the second-best assortment of NBA expertise behind the US, and will very effectively meet the U.S. within the gold medal match. The identical is true of France, which could have Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert patrolling the frontcourt. Even in Group USA’s personal group, the staff should face reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Serbia, which completed second finally summer season’s World Cup. After which there’s Puerto Rico, which earned a berth to the Olympics for the primary time since 2004. The final time Puerto Rico had been there, the nation handed Group USA a surprising loss within the group stage, which despatched the People on a spiral that resulted in a bronze medal end.

The People will definitely be favored in each matchup, however they can not afford to take any opponent calmly as there’s NBA gamers on practically each roster heading to Paris. The largest weak point for Group USA can be determining methods to play collectively on either side of the ground. They’ve coaching camp and 5 tune-up video games to construct chemistry, however it’s all the time slightly clunky when you’ve gotten 12 guys who usually are not used to taking part in collectively.