PARIS (Diya TV) – The USA Men’s Basketball team moved to 2-0 in Olympic play after a 103-86 win over South Sudan Wednesday. After a scare against this same squad in exhibition play, the U.S. made sure there were no doubts in this showing.
The offensive output was helmed by an unlikely source. Center Joel Embiid got the same treatment that forward Jayson Tatum received last game and didn’t register a single minute on the floor. However, this paved the way for Bam Adebayo to produce off the bench. The big man had 18 points on 8-10 shooting along with seven boards. Head coach Steve Kerr saw firsthand how deep the U.S. is in this game with over 60% of its points coming from its bench unit.
“We have an embarrassment of riches on this roster, that’s the best way to put it,” Kerr said. “I mean these guys are all champions, All-Stars, Hall of Famers, however you want to put it. So the whole thing is are we committed to the goal? That’s it.”
A source of controversy in the win over Serbia on Saturday was the status of Tatum and if he would have a big role on his national team in these Olympic Games. It turns out that he does as Kerr made the NBA champion a starter in this matchup with South Sudan. Ultimately, it may not matter much who actually gets the starting nod since the firepower from any of Kerr’s rotations outweighs essentially every team’s bench. Adebayo seems to share the same sentiments.
“We’ve been calling ourselves the bench mob for a long time now,” Adebayo said. “And it doesn’t matter who’s in the lineup. We always seem to figure it out.”
The win notches the first seed for the USA out of group play and a spot in the knockout rounds. Canada, France, and Germany are the other squads to lock up a quarterfinals spot in their respective groups. Next up for the U.S. is a matchup with Puerto Rico on Saturday, who have been eliminated and cannot advance to the knockout stage.
