![Team USA]()
To quote Vince Lombardi since we're all dying for football to come back ASAP especially after this: What the hell's going on out here!?
Team USA Basketball. Rife with NBA superstars. Everyone but
LeBron James pretty much sleepwalking through Saturday's Summer Olympics exhibition matchup — and understandably so, I guess. Just look at the pre-tip point spread.
https://twitter.com/pikkitsports/status/1814738876495261702
It took a trademark LeBron drive to the rim with fewer than 10 seconds remaining to lift the Americans to victory.
https://twitter.com/usabasketball/status/1814768964578185599
https://twitter.com/usabasketball/status/1814769432033427638
LOL at that graphic.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1814771510692999305
Not to get too in the geopolitical or economical weeds, but this is South Sudan we're talking about. Hats off to them first of all. What an extraordinary effort from a band of basketball heroes, very few of whom I had even a soft awareness of before today.
You know what
else pops up when you plug in "South Sudan spread" to Twitter search? This!
https://twitter.com/Refugees/status/1773259004233289762
Furthermore, if you look up "world's poorest countries", well, according to
Global Finance magazine's judgment of GDP-PPP per capita, South Sudan is indeed the very poorest country on the planet. Or least-developed, if you like.
Yet look at the halftime score.
https://twitter.com/usabasketball/status/1814752995508199932
https://twitter.com/br_betting/status/1814755103330513364
...And look at how in-disbelief the sharpest sports betting minds were with the disrespect they hurtled at South Sudan via this live spread:
https://twitter.com/JoeDellera/status/1814747807389266367
Joel Embiid was heavily blamed amid Team USA's sluggish start. Unless my eyes on the
box score deceive me, he finished with a plus-minus of +15, so I guess he got better as the contest wore on. Nevertheless, the reactions to his hilarious, awful behind-the-back pass and early struggles were fantastic — never mind the rest.
https://twitter.com/BricksCenter/status/1814748777074598399
https://twitter.com/minnyshowtime/status/1814747487648755961
https://twitter.com/damanr/status/1814745999270871428
https://twitter.com/AllThatandMoore/status/1814747805090787600
Marial Shayok poured in 25 points for South Sudan, who also had one of their guards hang a triple-double on the 'States squad who employs elite perimeter defenders such as two-time NBA champ Jrue Holiday.
https://twitter.com/LegionHoops/status/1814765589522727230
Anyway, not to belabor any points or make more obvious comments about how ridiculous it is that Team USA had
this much of a letdown. Let's hope they don't disappoint to this degree in Paris when the games actually start to count for something. The Americans are still the prohibitive favorites to take home the gold medal. This South Sudan scare should only help them in the long run if they're made of that gold mettle. I'm proud of that pun.
Time to hand it over to the people to describe what was unfolding during an otherwise rather sleepy sports day. And by that I mean The Open Championship got us in the U.S. up brighter and earlier than is reasonable on a Saturday. Those of us who tuned in for USA-South Sudan thought we might be having a shared hallucination. I speak for all of us. I don't know what I'm saying anymore. Here are more reactions. God Bless America.
https://twitter.com/MikeBeauvais/status/1814750184472985723
https://twitter.com/mollyhannahm/status/1814752676858802469
https://twitter.com/iam_johnw/status/1814748189733355751
https://twitter.com/_aboagyee/status/1814743967495311421
https://twitter.com/RyB_311/status/1814762441407885691
https://twitter.com/danfavale/status/1814746021647556821
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1814748502896873597
https://twitter.com/espn/status/1814753687224340797
https://twitter.com/AnimeGuru100/status/1814764213815935231
