US romps over Argentina in first Olympic exhibition

Aug 1, 2014; Las Vegas, NV, USA; USA Team Blue guard DeMar DeRozan (45) dunks the ball during the USA Basketball Showcase at Thomas & Mack Center.

Many wondered if Team USA would struggle with some of the top players, such as LeBron James and Stephen Curry, sitting out.

Team USA’s journey to the Olympics starts Friday when it plays Argentina in a friendly, in which it will most likely win their 64th consecutive game. With DeMarcus Cousins pulling down 15 rebounds in just 16 minutes, the US dominated inside, outrebounding Argentina 53-30. “We were disheveled, depressed, ashamed”, Krzyzewski said this week.

“I was just lost in the game, I didn’t really notice”, Durant said.

Players like Kevin Durant, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony headline the team for the United States, while guys like Luis Scola, Manu Ginobili, and Carlos Delfino are the most notable Argentinians. But it wasn’t clear that was the case for anyone watching George play, as the 6-foot-10 forward put on a spectacular show, finishing with 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting to go with two rebounds, an assist and two steals. The games will kick off Friday, July 22, at 9 p.m. Eastern when the USA Men’s National Team takes on Argentina.

The U.S. Men’s Basketball Olympic team is missing a lot of its key players, but that hasn’t prevented the team from putting up the same results as they have for the last decade.

If Argentina is going to be the biggest competition for Team USA, it may be better for the Olympic committee to just give us the gold now and have everyone else battle for silver.

The United States’ Men’s National Team opened up exhibition play with a comfortable win over Argentina. Team USA next travels to Los Angeles for a few days of training and another friendly on Monday against China before making a trip to Chicago at the end of next week.

So now, we’re back at the point where a championship is expected and anything short of that is a borderline disgrace. The question is, what can be done about the situation for a country that by sheer numbers alone, has the best players coming up through its system year-after-year?

Carmelo Anthony returns for his fourth run at the Olympics, after winning a bronze medal in 2004 and gold medals in 2008 and 2012, while Kevin Durant is looking for a second gold medal after playing on the championship team in 2012. As with its presence on Twitter, the National Basketball Association has a large Facebook following, with almost 31 million “likes”, the largest of the US sports leagues on the social network.