Tokyo 2020 Men's Olympics Basketball Tournament

[morvillz7z]

Men's tournament is officially underway with Czechs leading Iran at the half 46:30 in the opening game.



Lucked on my very first bet with a few made 3s in the final minute of the first quarter. Kinda boring match but twas to be expected, funny seeing Hamed Haddadi still playing, dude looks like 50+ (he is in his 30s, by the way, lol), maybe some of you remember him with his stint with the Grizzlies years ago. Nothing surprising so far, Czechs are handling their bizz and will likely win by the double digits at the end and cover their spread (-18.5). They had an incredible qualifier, defeating the super-stacked team of Canada and Greece in the finals to make the trip to Tokyo, interesting how far can they go...

[ChiBitCTy]

Men's tournament is officially underway with Czechs leading Iran at the half 46:30 in the opening game.



Lucked on my very first bet with a few made 3s in the final minute of the first quarter. Kinda boring match but twas to be expected, funny seeing Hamed Haddadi still playing, dude looks like 50+ (he is in his 30s, by the way, lol), maybe some of you remember him with his stint with the Grizzlies years ago. Nothing surprising so far, Czechs are handling their bizz and will likely win by the double digits at the end and cover their spread (-18.5). They had an incredible qualifier, defeating the super-stacked team of Canada and Greece in the finals to make the trip to Tokyo, interesting how far can they go...

I dont know Greece's team at all. If they had had Giannis, I imagine it would be inevitable that they would  have made the cut?  Sucks but I'm sure the country will take that NBA championship win all day.

[Fredomago]

Does anyone beleive that France can make an upset? Why not?

France is not that solid as before so I don't think of an upset win. Team USA is better today as Bucks Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Suns Devin Booker will now be back to the lineup. These Bucks players are not just specialized in offense but also on defense as we have seen in the NBA Finals. Devin Booker is not good in defense that much but his handle and shooting are getting better like a Steph Curry 2.0.

Maybe France can do a close game but not a win.

We don't know if Gobert, Batum and Fournier will able to handle the all star cast of NBA selections.

Tough assignment for team France knowing that team US is there to prove something after those upset from the exhibitions games,

they wanted to prove that they still dominate this sport, we will see that later 5 mins more before the game start, betting for ML @ 1.11
seems not interesting, better to take the  handicap -11.5 @ 1.75.

[Ziskinberg]

Does anyone beleive that France can make an upset? Why not?

France is not that solid as before so I don't think of an upset win. Team USA is better today as Bucks Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Suns Devin Booker will now be back to the lineup. These Bucks players are not just specialized in offense but also on defense as we have seen in the NBA Finals. Devin Booker is not good in defense that much but his handle and shooting are getting better like a Steph Curry 2.0.

Maybe France can do a close game but not a win.

We don't know if Gobert, Batum and Fournier will able to handle the all star cast of NBA selections.

Tough assignment for team France knowing that team US is there to prove something after those upset from the exhibitions games,

they wanted to prove that they still dominate this sport, we will see that later 5 mins more before the game start, betting for ML @ 1.11
seems not interesting, better to take the  handicap -11.5 @ 1.75.

The game has started, it's in the 1st quarter now, it's still not too late for handicapped bettors as -11.5 has a good odds at 1.95. France are competiting, the have a good start so that's the reason why the spread is still good if you favor the USA to win.

[ChiBitCTy]

In case anyone needs a stream - https://stream.nbcolympics.com/basketball-mens-prelim-game-4-france-usa

Edit: durant w/3 fouls already is not good at all. The US lacking size is hurting them quite a bit right now too.  This US team is not even close to as good as it could be, but they still should without question win this game.  Prop to France coming out to play today, making it a fun game so far.

[freedomgo]

In case anyone needs a stream - https://stream.nbcolympics.com/basketball-mens-prelim-game-4-france-usa

Edit: durant w/3 fouls already is not good at all. The US lacking size is hurting them quite a bit right now too.  This US team is not even close to as good as it could be, but they still should without question win this game.  Prop to France coming out to play today, making it a fun game so far.

I was about to ask about a live streaming, thanks to that you have answered it before I post here. I am just looking at the scoreboard as I also put a little bet on the USA to cover the handicap, and so far they are in the lead so I'm happy now.

37-45 halftime score.

[robelneo]

It's a sorry loss for the US team 83-76 they are leading most of the game but cannot keep up,  the two missed free throws of the US in the closing minutes of the game spells the difference, and a missed three points shot by Durant put the US team in big trouble

France showed cohesiveness and aggressiveness in the last 3 minutes they've been playing for a long time, compared to the US, I still hope they can still get into the finals.

[LTU_btc]

France win against USA is surprise, but not something sensational I think.
It was great match. Maybe 2:30 minutes remaining, France was down by 8, but they managed to make amazing comeback. But offcourse, there was some luck when USA missed maybe 4 open 3pt shots.
Seems that losses in pre-tournament friendlies was real alarming signal.

[ingiltere]

USA blew a lead two times in the game, it was pretty competitive and exciting though. Durant choked out big time, this is something you don't see everyday. I'm sure he will come back better than ever next time. They are lucky this is just a group match, they can compensate this loss.
One of the big series is over, USA lost in Olympics after 17 years. They haven't lost a game since 24 matches. You can understand how big achievement is this win for France. Fournier and De Colo had marvelous performances. They showed they are one of the medal contenders.

[Jating]

France win against USA is surprise, but not something sensational I think.
It was great match. Maybe 2:30 minutes remaining, France was down by 8, but they managed to make amazing comeback. But offcourse, there was some luck when USA missed maybe 4 open 3pt shots.
Seems that losses in pre-tournament friendlies was real alarming signal.

Was not expecting this lost from USA.

But I do agree, the pre-tournament lost could have been an indication that they could be in a rough Olympics and teams are going to beat them.

But this is just one lost, they can bounce back and tie for the group lead. They have to cover some grounds though, it will be devastating that they got home without that gold and it happen on Durant's watch.

[Yogee]

I am not impressed with this current US team but one game and a lot of basketball "experts" suddenly asking for Pop's head hehehe. There's a lot of individual talent at their disposal but the preparation for this international competition wasn't the same when they had coack K. I think it's as simple as that. I honestly hope they don't win the gold so they could go back to the same mentality after Athens.

[boltz]

I'm not convinced that USA came to play as a team as a saw so many mistakes between the players but I don't know if the players are tired after the NBA season or this team really struggles to have some chemistry and play like a full team or they had just another bad game. All 3 of this possibilities can be true but personally I think the players are kinda tired after NBA season but they will try their best to take the gold to USA.

[Oasisman]

~snip

Not guaranteed, though as usual team USA is an allstar team, but teams like France, Italy, Spain, and Argentina has always had a chance at winning.
France might be the toughest opponent for the team USA in the first bracket, someone mentioned about what happened between the France and USA matchup in 2019.
Though I agree USA roster is looking great this year, but you can't take away the fact that France is also a good team.
Again, they (USA) have a huge chance and most favourite to win the Gold medal, but those teams I have mentioned will surely give them a good match.

It's not that I am disregarding other teams but the players in the USA is just too good that I feel like they are unstoppable and that they might be able to demolish all the other teams all the way through the finals. I just hope that there's no doping or any funny business happening, I just want these people to have fun and me watching their matches.

Well, it just happened. It came out that they weren't unstoppable at all because France was able to limit their score into 76 points and defended them very well.
Team chemistry might be one of the main factor for this USA loss. The NBA doesn't usually play air tight defense, thus the team USA might not have expected a good defense from the France and struggled to find a way to score.

[carlisle1]

I'm not convinced that USA came to play as a team as a saw so many mistakes between the players but I don't know if the players are tired after the NBA season or this team really struggles to have some chemistry and play like a full team or they had just another bad game. All 3 of this possibilities can be true but personally I think the players are kinda tired after NBA season but they will try their best to take the gold to USA.

Overpassing the ball and the leadership isn't there, I was thinking after that good rally coming
from Holiday that fire will start to heat up to all the players inside the floor. But it wasn't they blew that lead and ended up losing the game.

Dame time might forgot he's watch he keeps passing the ball, maybe he  also  left his balls   Kidding aside, I don't think that letting Bam alone to protect the rim is the good idea but I'm not questioning how great coach Pop was, it's just a matter of good chemistry and the will to take charge whoever inside the court.

Still have the chance if I get it right, if they can win all the games that left for them which is very possible after losing this one.

[Jackl87]

It's a sorry loss for the US team 83-76 they are leading most of the game but cannot keep up,  the two missed free throws of the US in the closing minutes of the game spells the difference, and a missed three points shot by Durant put the US team in big trouble

France showed cohesiveness and aggressiveness in the last 3 minutes they've been playing for a long time, compared to the US, I still hope they can still get into the finals.

This result may seem very surprising at first glance, but if you study the subject a little, this outcome was even almost predictable. Many experts have predicted that the US team might struggle in this tournament and there is definitely no guaranteed gold medal if they don't give their best. There are several reasons for this. For one, the Americans didn't really send a team, but simply the most well-known players who wanted to go to Tokyo. On the other hand, the FIBA rules apply at the Olympic Games, not the NBA rules, and it is now the case that there are no small teams any more; the national team of almost every country now consists of professionals.

[yazher]

I'm not convinced that USA came to play as a team as a saw so many mistakes between the players but I don't know if the players are tired after the NBA season or this team really struggles to have some chemistry and play like a full team or they had just another bad game. All 3 of this possibilities can be true but personally I think the players are kinda tired after NBA season but they will try their best to take the gold to USA.

We rarely see them play like this because usually, we witnessed how great they are in the last decades however if something is going on with the players, we will know the stories behind it in the next years when they make a documentary about this unusual play in the Olympics. Something is really happening with them and if they gonna lose again against a team they usually beat, then the gold medal will only be another dream for most of them.

[Harkorede]

France win against USA is surprise, but not something sensational I think.
It was great match. Maybe 2:30 minutes remaining, France was down by 8, but they managed to make amazing comeback. But offcourse, there was some luck when USA missed maybe 4 open 3pt shots.
Seems that losses in pre-tournament friendlies was real alarming signal.

Perhaps we downplayed that signal, The only reason why I didn’t get any bet on today was because I couldn’t meet up with my the timing and I would have gone with team USA.

Still have the chance if I get it right, if they can win all the games that left for them which is very possible after losing this one.

The fact that there will also be two best third placed team selected among the 3 groups would increase their chances of making it through, but crashing out early would be nothing short of an epic failure.

[ChiBitCTy]

Sucks seeing them lose but it's not shocking.  There are only two super stars on the team as most US super stars decided not to play this time around ( Lebron, Leonard, Curry, Thompson, George, Irving, Davis, Zion, Westbrook, Paul, Harden) and I'm probably forgetting one or two others.  So while it was certainly an impressive win, they were playing a USA "B-Team".  Obviously if the US had all it's stars playing they would destroy everyone like they normally do with ease.  Still hope for Gold though of course.

[stadus]

Sucks seeing them lose but it's not shocking.  There are only two super stars on the team as most US super stars decided not to play this time around ( Lebron, Leonard, Curry, Thompson, George, Irving, Davis, Zion, Westbrook, Paul, Harden) and I'm probably forgetting one or two others.  So while it was certainly an impressive win, they were playing a USA "B-Team".  Obviously if the US had all it's stars playing they would destroy everyone like they normally do with ease.  Still hope for Gold though of course.

Honestly, I think the lineup of the USA is good enough to win, but it's just disappointing to see them lose against France, however, we should give France the credit they deserve. I am surprised with the result as I was thinking they'll dominate France, the handicap was -10.5, so bookies also believe they'll win easily.

[wheelz1200]

Sucks seeing them lose but it's not shocking.  There are only two super stars on the team as most US super stars decided not to play this time around ( Lebron, Leonard, Curry, Thompson, George, Irving, Davis, Zion, Westbrook, Paul, Harden) and I'm probably forgetting one or two others.  So while it was certainly an impressive win, they were playing a USA "B-Team".  Obviously if the US had all it's stars playing they would destroy everyone like they normally do with ease.  Still hope for Gold though of course.

Yeah and they really have no center presence.  Couple bad shooting games and they are out of the games.  I hate when they build and entire team of shooters.  When time comes to bang down low they can't against certain teams that are beefy down there.