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00:00The chase for eight straight continues today for Team USA
00:08Women's Basketball. That would be eight consecutive gold
00:10medals in a row at the Olympic Games. A Paris primer on this
00:16Thursday and a ton of great action to break down for you
00:19round number one of the men's golf tournament already
00:22underway. We'll show you what the leaderboard is and break
00:25down the odds in just a moment, but we start with Team USA
00:29taking on Belgium today in women's hoops. Of course, it
00:33was the Americans off to an early and easy start against
00:38Japan. They blew out the Japanese by twenty-six points.
00:41They covered as a twenty-two and a half point favorite. Asia
00:45Wilson and Brianna Stewart just far too much for Japan down
00:51low. Twenty-four points thirteen boards out of Asia
00:53Wilson Stewie added in twenty-two and eight. Twenty-two
00:57and a half is the number once again in favor of the United
01:01States with a total of 165 and a half now against Belgium.
01:06Donnie, will it be another emphatic victory for the US?
01:10Yeah, I do believe so and also keeping up with the Joneses as
01:13we like to say, you know, Team USA Women's Basketball team is
01:16watching the men here handling their business. They want to do
01:18exactly the same thing because the goals that both of those
01:21teams on the podium raising the gold medal here while the
01:24Star-Spangled Banner does play. I expect another great
01:27performance and also like Belgium, great soccer, great
01:29waffles, great basketball. Not so much. Not so much. It is
01:33interesting though. They do have a player who is currently
01:36categorized as a WNBA rookie. Julie Van Lou, who is one of
01:41the leading assist players in the WNBA that plays for the
01:44Washington Mystics. She's 31 years old. She played her
01:48college basketball at Iowa State, but of course, played
01:51internationally in Europe. This is her first season in the W.
01:54She is the point guard for Belgium. 22 and a half is that
01:59number. Donnie, we talked about some of the points props that
02:02caught our eye earlier for the Americans in the opener against
02:06Team Japan. The actual props themselves not listed, but we
02:10can look at what the numbers say for 20 plus points, 15 plus
02:14points, all of that good stuff. Asia Wilson minus 166 to score
02:1920 plus might be worth the bet. I would still look at somebody
02:23like Kelsey Plum, Sabrina Inescu, plus 350, plus 520, and
02:28when the odds become available, the point guard for Las Vegas
02:32in the prop category, that being the assists, Chelsea Gray, who
02:36had 12 dimes in the opener for the US against Japan, that's
02:41going to be an area I automatically circle. Yeah, and
02:44also the last game, Team USA did not shoot the three-point
02:47shot legitimately well. One person did. That was Inescu at a
02:51minus 125 price today to make two or more three-point shots.
02:54I think that's legitimate, but also I think you can buy low
02:57Plum to make two three-point shots plus 120. Brandon Stewart
02:59plus 150. Asia Wilson at a plus 550 price. I look for a better
03:03performance as a team from three-point range, but I'll
03:05back Sabrina again. I think she can knock down two three-point
03:07shots and I'll lay the juice at minus 125. Had 11 points, three
03:12of them from three in the opener against Japan. There was
03:15a couple of other players outside of Stewie and Wilson
03:18that scored in double figures. BG had 11. Kelsey Plum had 11.
03:22So did Sabrina Inescu. Of course, BG is Brittany Griner.
03:26Alright, round number one at the Men's Olympic Golf
03:29Tournament underway in Hideki Matsuyama. Of course, a former
03:33Masters winner representing Japan off to a great start. Eight
03:37under at Les Golfes Nationaux firing an opening round 63 in
03:42the summer of Zander continues. Zander Shoffley tied for second
03:46right now alongside Mexico's Carlos Ortiz. Both players at
03:51six under Zander six under through his first 17 holes. One
03:55more hole to go in his opening round in a tie for second at
03:58the moment. And the Terminator sitting there lying in wait
04:02tied for eighth Scotty Scheffler a four under 67 around
04:06number one always lurking there in competition, but at that
04:09but that Matsuyama eight under 63. That is really impressive
04:13to get your Olympic started off in the right direction. We'll
04:16see who gold silver and bronze. You know, Scotty Scheffler is
04:19going to be in there come Sunday afternoon. Absolutely so
04:23the odds that not out right now, at least as I see them at
04:26the Indiana Fan Duel Sports book, but we've got the
04:29individual all around in women's gymnastics after a
04:33disappointing summer in Tokyo. Will Simone Biles win another
04:38all around gold medal or will it be the reigning all around
04:41gold medal winner for Team USA Sunni Lee that is this
04:44afternoon starting a little bit after noon Eastern time for
04:48swimming finals today. The woman's 200 meter breaststroke
04:51women's 200 meter butterfly women's four by 200 meter free
04:54relay Katie Ledecky back in the pool looking for her 13th
04:59Olympic medal. If she gets that the most decorated US female
05:03Olympian in the history of the Olympiad the most medals ever.
05:09She's already got 12. She's got eight gold Gilbert McGregor
05:13from sporting news joins us up next live right here on the
05:17early line to look back at Team USA and men's basketball
05:21forward at women's up next a hardwood handicap for the
05:25action in the Olympiad over in Paris live right here on this
05:30Thursday on the early line on sports grid a recap and a
05:33breakdown of yesterday's result. The American men a
05:37perfect two and oh in group play with a victory over South
05:40Sudan and a preview of game number two for the Team USA on
05:45the women's side against Belgium later this afternoon.
05:49Gilbert McGregor from sporting news joins us live right here
05:52on this Thursday to do all of that Gilbert. We appreciate the
05:55time. Thanks for being here on the early line. Absolutely glad
05:59to be here man. So we start with the men's action yesterday
06:03game number two of group play for Team USA against the South
06:07Sudan team that of course gave the Americans a big scare in
06:12that exhibition series only losing by one. That was the
06:16South Sudanese as a 40 plus point underdog in yesterday.
06:20Gilbert booked as a twenty-eight and a half point
06:23underdog South Sudan did record the cover 10386. The Americans
06:28though improved to a perfect two and oh over in Paris both
06:32wins by a comfortable margin 17 over South Sudan 26 over
06:38Serbia on Sunday. What is your main takeaway from win number
06:43two for Team USA over South Sudan? You know first of all
06:48big credit to South Sudan. I thought that the twenty-eight
06:51and a half point spread was a lot given what we've seen from
06:55that team and they proved me right and and and hanging in
06:57there with Team USA. There's a time where they could have
06:59folded and they hung around. I think that they have a chance
07:01to advance to the quarterfinals because of that
07:03with Team USA. I see a team that's still figuring it out
07:06still learning each other. It's important to remember that
07:08they've been together for less than four weeks. There are a
07:11lot of times in the half court where you see that they're
07:13still struggling a little bit to kind of learn one another,
07:15but those guys off the bench be a bam out of bio Derek White
07:19really are stepping up and punishing other teams because
07:22nobody has the depth that Team USA has and that's really been
07:26the difference and will continue to be the difference
07:28as they continue their pursuit for a fifth straight goal.
07:31Give it as we take a look at that game too. We'll get to
07:33into some of these statistics that these players had a lot of
07:36players scoring in double digits, which is great to see
07:38Tatum doesn't play one game and B doesn't play the next game.
07:41Do you read anything into this or they just trying to get the
07:44rotations down before they get to the knockout stage? I see a
07:48little bit of both right. It's something good for us to be able
07:51to talk about, but it's interesting because different
07:54matchups require different rotations and I know Steve
07:56Kerr kind of talked about the speed and athleticism of South
07:59Sudan and how that's a little bit difficult for a player like
08:02Joel Embiid. I think there's also an element of him having a
08:05checkered injury pass and probably playing it safe when it
08:09with respect to him and his workload out there in Paris.
08:13That being said, I do think they're still trying to figure
08:15things out and perfect that rotation again. Steve Kerr is
08:18learning this team on the fly as well. So, you know, you only
08:21have six games to really figure it out. They have two down and
08:24if they want to get to the gold medal game, it's four to go.
08:26So, you really don't have much time to get it together. So,
08:29things will seem drastic like that for sure. Nuneomot for
08:33South Sudan, the game's leading scorer with 24 points. The team
08:37high for Team USA actually came off the bench. That was Bam
08:41Adebayo. He had 18 points and seven boards. Kevin Durant
08:44pouring in 14. Gilbert, the rotations have of course been
08:48dissected as we are alluding to here that Steve Kerr has led
08:52with in the Olympics, of course, in the exhibition series, but
08:56yesterday, it wasn't the starting five. It was the bench
08:59players led by KD that made all the difference. What did you
09:02make of how the bench performed yesterday for Team USA? It's
09:07kind of a continuation of a trend that we've seen from Team
09:09USA. They did it during the exhibition schedule and even
09:12though Anthony Davis got inserted into the starting
09:14lineup, you know, that second unit still really held serve
09:17like it did. You know, we talk about Bam Adebayo stepping out
09:20and hitting three points. I'm sure Heat fans are excited to
09:23see. Talk about Kevin Durant being our greatest player to
09:26represent Team USA in Olympic history and again, Derek White,
09:30a guy who I expect to make every single open three-pointer
09:33that he gets and he's just all over the place. Whether it's
09:35blocking shots, getting back tap steals. It's a very perfect
09:39utility unit that knows their roles and know exactly how to
09:42play off of one another and they've kind of figured out the
09:44chemistry a little bit quicker than that starting unit has and
09:47let me not forget Anthony Edwards as well who had big
09:49moments off the bench too. Also, when we're taking a look at
09:53the gold medal, obviously silver medal, bronze medal, the
09:56goal is to win a medal but Team USA obviously wants the gold
09:58overall. They're a heavy favorite at a minus 550 price
10:01right now here at the Fandula Sportsbook. If we are looking
10:04overall, Canada, Germany, Serbia, and France, are there
10:07any teams and we've asked this quite a bit here so far this
10:10week. Has anybody impressed you so far that may be coming into
10:13the Olympics you didn't think might be able to get to that
10:15podium and also any teams that you're looking at right now
10:18that you're taking a look at Gilbert that say, I don't know
10:20if this team's as good as I actually thought they were.
10:22Maybe they get a slight downgrade. You know what?
10:25There haven't been really any surprises as far as teams that
10:28have that have performed better than I expected them to
10:30perform, but I do want to double down on the on the
10:33support in the way that I thought that Germany is a
10:35really good team. This is a team that won the basketball
10:38World Cup last year. Their NBA quartet of guys who did a
10:41shooter, the Wagner brothers and Daniel Tice. They really
10:44play well off of one another and they're non NBA guys are
10:47really good and these guys you can tell they've been playing
10:49with one another for a very long time. So I think about
10:52Germany. I know Canada is the flashy pick. They actually
10:55Gillis Alexander. They look really good. Spain has been a
10:58little bit impressive. Santiago Dama is a guy and that
11:00Spanish national team program, you know, they kind of get
11:03behind their one guy and push. So, you know, there's some
11:06teams who are very strong team units that if they have a hot
11:10shooting night could upset a team that has more talent or
11:13more NBA talent. All 12 countries in the Olympic pool
11:18in men's basketball now completed two games in group
11:22play for unbeaten. Canada, a perfect two and oh in group A
11:26to lead that group in group B. Both the Germans and the host
11:31nation Victor Wiminyama and France off to a two and oh
11:34start and of course team USA. A perfect two and oh in group C
11:38Gilbert to your point about Germany right now a plus 130
11:42price on the Germans to see the medal podium in men's
11:45basketball. I do like that number as of right now. Let's
11:50transition to the women's basketball tournament at the
11:52Paris Olympic Games. It is game number two for team USA
11:56today against Belgium. They handle Japan in the opener
12:00winning by 2610276 even covering as a 22 and a half
12:06point favorite. Same spread today. 22 and a half in favor
12:09of the Americans against the Belgians. The total on the rise
12:12to 165 and a hook. What is the thing you want to see most out
12:16of team USA today? I want to see a better shooting effort
12:20from the team. They shot four of twenty from three-point range
12:23against Japan. That really is what allowed Japan to hang
12:25around longer than people probably expected them to.
12:27Japan has a very interesting play style. They like to run.
12:30They like to shoot and they were hitting shots and team USA
12:32wasn't hitting shots, but ultimately, you know, having
12:34Asia Wilson and Brianna Stewart on the interior, two best
12:37players in the world. The size advantage that they give them
12:40is going to be the difference for team USA every game. So I
12:43fully expect them to reply prize that role against Belgium,
12:47but I also expect them to get going from the perimeter. This
12:50is important to note that this Belgium team only lost the team
12:53USA by two a few months ago. Granted, Asia Wilson didn't
12:56play. The game was played in Belgium, but I'm sure that will
12:58be on team USA's mind. They won't take this team lightly
13:01and they're still figuring things out as well. So I expect
13:04them to be on a mission to kind of make a statement here as
13:07they continue to pursue gold again. Gil, but we expect
13:10dominance there certainly from both the men's and the women's
13:12team. Let me ask you this question moving forward with
13:14the women's tournament. Is there going to be a game where
13:17team USA does not win by double digits from now right up to the
13:21gold medal game in your opinion? You know, that's a
13:24great question. I was wondering the same thing coming into this
13:27tournament and I don't think so yet. You know, I think the rest
13:30of the world is catching up with their WNBA talent. We're
13:33seeing a team like Germany who has numerous WNBA players and
13:37they're making their presence felt at the Olympics. But I
13:40think that maybe four years from now, we'll see some closer
13:42games. The rest of the world is starting to catch up, but
13:44they're not there just yet because team USA just has too
13:47much talent. The best, I don't know, four or five players in
13:50the world are all on the same team and that's really hard to
13:51keep up with. Yeah, it's a really good point, Gilbert. I
13:55look forward to seeing what the spreads are in favor of the
13:58United States once we reach the medal round. Technically,
14:01they're most competitive games, but team USA, a minus 3,000
14:05favorite entering the second day of action in women's
14:09basketball to win an eighth consecutive gold medal. Some of
14:13them pay attention to Nigeria takes on the host country,
14:16France a little bit later, really in just about a half an
14:18hour. Nigeria, 15 and a half point underdog. They beat
14:21Australia outright in their Olympic opener. Keep an eye on
14:26that spread. Gilbert McGregor from Sporting News breaking
14:29everything down in the Olympic basketball tournaments on this
14:32Thursday. Gilbert, we greatly appreciate the time.
14:35Absolutely. Thanks for having me.