Olympic Update: Team USA & Canada's Strong Performances
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00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on Sports Grid, we'll get back to some baseball in just a
00:07few minutes.
00:08But first, the Olympic Games going on right now in Paris, and although some of us are
00:11sleeping through some of this stuff, Gilbert McGregor has at least one eye open during
00:16all these games, because he's got to come on with us and talk about it.
00:18Now the good news, Gilbert, is that Team USA is going to play at a reasonable time, right?
00:22Three o'clock?
00:23Okay.
00:24Or wherever you are, it's reasonable.
00:25But some of these games, I'm waking up and I'm like, what happened?
00:28I didn't know.
00:30Thanks for coming on the show.
00:31It's great to have you back.
00:32Absolutely.
00:33Great to be back, Craig.
00:34All right, so let's dive in here to this Canada-Australia matchup.
00:38Canada was one of the favorites to take the silver medal.
00:43We know Team USA is the favorite to take the gold.
00:45Very good, impressive performance they've had thus far, including against Australia.
00:50Any threat to Team USA, or is this just simply look at silver and bronze?
00:55You know, I was paying attention to what Carlin Gay, a proud Canadian, said about his
00:59national team and their chances of taking down Team USA on this very show, and I kind
01:05of buy into that a little bit.
01:06We saw some of their flaws today, but also saw some of their strengths in that Australia
01:11game.
01:12Shea Gillis-Alexander got into early foul trouble, but it was RJ Barrett that stepped
01:16up offensively, and Lou Dort who really showed his strengths on the defensive end.
01:20So this is a very complete Canada team.
01:23They are deep.
01:24They can go 10 NBA players deep, and Kim Birch also is an 11th player with NBA experience,
01:29so they do have that going for them.
01:31But I think today, when I saw the difficulties that they had with Australia on the interior,
01:36that kind of showed their weakness there.
01:37So it does kind of feel like silver is the peak for them right now, but I sure could
01:42be proven wrong.
01:43Yeah.
01:44And, you know, look, certainly a long way to go here.
01:46Point spread's a factor.
01:47That's what we're most interested in.
01:48And so I wonder your curiosity on this game here, because Team USA plays against South
01:54Sudan today.
01:56And if you remember in the exhibition that they played, it was very close.
01:59It came right down to the end.
02:01But the oddsmakers, Gilbert, are telling us that Team USA is going to pay South Sudan
02:07back in a big way tomorrow afternoon.
02:09They're 29 and a half point favorites with a total of 191.
02:16So I don't know what to make of this, Gilbert.
02:18I mean, either Team USA, I suppose, is going to win by 40, or is South Sudan going to keep
02:26this right down to the wire here?
02:28I mean, what do we take away from the exhibition season in the Olympics to the medals season?
02:37You know what, Craig?
02:38I find this line very interesting.
02:40It took a game-winning layup from LeBron James to beat this very talented South Sudan
02:45team.
02:46And it almost feels like this line suggests that Team USA took that team lightly.
02:50And I think that actually South Sudan is a very talented team.
02:53I think that they are built to take advantage of the fact that Team USA has not been together
02:58very long.
02:59Team USA has made a lot of mistakes because they're still learning one another, and South
03:02Sudan took advantage of almost every single one of those mistakes.
03:05I do think Team USA is going to be a little bit more prepared this time around.
03:08I don't expect it to be a one-possession game like it was during the exhibition season,
03:13so to speak.
03:14And I also know that Kevin Durant's return to the lineup does make a big difference,
03:18as we saw in that opener against Serbia.
03:20But I kind of feel like South Sudan is talented enough and athletic enough and skilled enough
03:25to keep it within 30 points.
03:2730 points just really does feel like a lot.
03:29But again, maybe they know something that we don't know about Kevin Durant's presence
03:33and what he can do.
03:34And maybe they do have a little vengeance on their mind after being pushed to the limit
03:37by South Sudan.
03:38Yeah.
03:39And to have vengeance, Gilbert.
03:40They could have vengeance and win by 21.
03:42I mean, this is 30 points.
03:43It's a lot in any stage.
03:46What's also fascinating is that a player that a lot of people probably have never heard
03:50of or are limited of is Carlic Jones.
03:52He is the favorite on the FanDuel Sportsbook to have 20 points or more amongst all of the
03:57other props that you could bet on.
03:58You see LeBron James there, plus 220.
04:00You mentioned Durant at plus 280.
04:02And then you have several other players from Team USA here.
04:06So when you look at the board here, you basically, Carlin, can get almost two to one on any player
04:12going into this game tomorrow to get 20 or more points.
04:15Do you like any one or more?
04:18You know what, Craig?
04:19I look at these odds and Jones is actually the player who I would maybe least expect
04:23to score 20 points in this game.
04:25He had a triple-double during that exhibition game.
04:28And I feel like if anything, Team USA is really going to take that personal matchup to heart
04:33and not let him do what he did.
04:35He's a very talented player.
04:36Has a little NBA experience.
04:37Spent some time with the Chicago Bulls most recently.
04:40And he's a very talented player.
04:41But I do think that with Drew Holiday and the perimeter defenders that Team USA has,
04:45Derek White being another one of them, it's going to be difficult for him to find his
04:49way once again.
04:50We saw Kevin Durant was very efficient in a short period of time.
04:53I like him replicating that.
04:55We've seen just what he's capable of doing at the FIBA level.
04:58He's one of the greatest to ever wear Team USA's colors in the FIBA game.
05:02So I like him replicating his performance.
05:05He had, I think, 23 points in about 18 minutes in that Serbia game.
05:08And he scored 21 of them in the first half.
05:10So I can see him doing that again against South Sudan.
05:12All right.
05:13Now, the odds are changing because Canada has moved on here.
05:18So I'm just going to roll off a few teams for you.
05:20And we're not going to make the assumption Team USA is going to win the gold.
05:24But for the purposes of betting, it's not a bettable asset right now for you to bet
05:28the gold.
05:30For the silver and the bronze, I give you Canada, France, Germany, Serbia, and Australia.
05:37You must have made a prediction over at Sporting News prior.
05:39Have you changed at all?
05:41And how do you see this now moving forward?
05:44You know, I listed Germany as the greatest threat or after Canada to Team USA.
05:49And I'll stick with that.
05:50I think that Germany, more so than Canada, I think that their talent, it's a little more
05:55tiered.
05:56I think what Dennis Schroeder is capable of, Franz Wagner, another player, Daniel Tice
05:59steps up, and Mo Wagner as well.
06:02They're built to really take advantage of the mistakes that Team USA makes.
06:05And they can make the effort plays, and they can also have a hot shooting night, which
06:09I think those are the things that make you capable of going far in a tournament like
06:13this.
06:14Ultimately, it's just six games, three in pool play, and three to get to the medal game.
06:19So in a tournament like that, I think Germany is built to do that, especially with the way
06:24that Dennis Schroeder stars in his role, and the other guys do as well.
06:27All right.
06:28Well, we will find out, Gilbert, together how things roll over the next week or so.
06:34Very highly anticipated silver and gold medal games coming up, and hopefully Team USA is
06:38part of that.
06:39I think it's fair to say we're rooting for them.
06:40Thank you again for coming on the show, and have a great rest of your week.
06:43Absolutely, Craig.
06:44Have a good one.