Lakers News: Why Team USA Lucked Out With Lithuania Loss
Though a disappointing finish halted the progress of Team USA before the knockout stages of the FIBA tournament, their recent loss to Lithuania may have actually helped Austin Reaves and the rest of the American squad.
Automatically qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Team USA's most recent defeat may have actually helped their chances to still win the FIBA tournament in the eyes of one analyst.
The best way to think about this is that the US is basically a one seed in the NCAA tournament. They are going to be pretty heavy favorites to win every game, but especially now at this point they got very lucky. It's funny, because of how the draw broke, because they lost and ended up on the other side of the draw, the three teams in their pod to go to the finals are Italy, Germany and Latvia. They'll probably play Germany in the semifinals, but they avoid playing Canada, Slovenia, Lithuania and Serbia until the finals. For as good as Germany's been, you probably take at least two or three of those teams over Germany if you we're picking who was going to win.
Despite great play from the German side, headlined by former Laker guard Dennis Schroder, the Americans surely will take their chances as Reaves and company will surely want a crack at their European foes.
First on the list for Team USA before that hypothetical matchup can even happen is an Italian side that has their own personal rivalry with at least one player for the Americans in Paolo Banchero.
Though a loss is never an easy pill to swallow, it looks as though Team USA has dodged a hypothetical bullet for their title hopes.
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