Damian Lillard and USA NBA stars struggle in Pre-Olympic games
Teresa Powe
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Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, and other NBA stars struggle in the pre-Olympic games. Before pulling out a win over Argentina, they lost back-to-back games for the first time since pros debuted in 1992.
Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard, along with Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, Bradley Beal, and other NBA elite, cannot seem to get it together in this year’s pre-Olympic exhibition games. Lillard, who is joining the USA team for the first time, is finding out that winning Team USA’s fourth gold medal in a row will not be an easy feat.
Dame, you may be rusty. You’ve been sitting at home since your team lost in this year’s first round of the playoffs. Will Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, and Devin Booker be more helpful after the Finals? I don’t believe so. From what I see, this Olympic team is in trouble.
A tough road so far
Nigeria
Pre-Olympic competition began for the red, white, and blue with a 90-87 loss to Nigeria. Nine years ago, Team USA defeated Nigeria by 83 points. Five years ago, they defeated them by 43. To be defeated by them was a huge eye-opener for the USA coach Greg Popovich. In his post-game press conference, Coach Pop tried to spin the loss as a good thing.
In a way I’m kind of glad it happened. It means nothing if we don’t learn from it. It could be the most important thing in this tournament for us. To learn lessons from this.
Nigeria is not the same as before. There are currently seven NBA players on this team. So the US team has to understand that most of the teams they will play against in Tokyo have NBA players.
Lillard scored 14 points in the contest but was missing that end of game energy and fire that propels the Trail Blazers to victory.
Australia
In their second game, America suffered another surprising defeat. This time, Australia beat them 91-83. In this one, there was a spark of the same Dame Dolla that carries his team. Scoring 11 points in the first half, Dame had six three-pointers and was the game’s high scorer with 22 points. Lillard had this to say after the game:
These (international) teams are experiened, and we are still working at becoming a team. We’re not just going to roll the ball out and beat these teams…these teams have a starting five of NBA players now.
Team USA’s defense was better, and their rebounding was great in the first half. But it takes two great halves to win a game, and in the second half, the Australians mostly had their way with the US team. Lillard’s teammates, who should have helped him make this a runaway game for the American team, didn’t. Kevin Durant had 17 points, and Bradley Beal had 12.
Argentina
Finally, a win. Team USA knocked off Argentina 108-80. All the staters scored double digits, but no one impressed. Lillard grinded his way to 13 points and 4 assists.
Team USA begins the defense of their gold medal on July 25 against France.