Anthony Edwards gave a simple two-word answer when he was asked why the US men’s basketball team recorded a narrow victory over South Sudan.
The US team avoided humiliation by the skin of their teeth on Saturday as they escaped with a slim victory in an exhibition game against South Sudan in London as their Paris Olympics preparations ramped up. The US are ranked as the top men’s basketball nation in the world, with their opponents the 33rd ranked team in the FIBA ranking.
Despite their low ranking, the lowest of the 12 nations competing at the Olympics, South Sudan proved incredibly hard work for Team USA. Questions were undoubtedly asked of the American players, as Edwards faced the media and gave a simple reason regarding how the US avoided embarrassment, replying: “ LeBron James . Yeah pretty much, just LeBron.”
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With just 20 seconds left on the clock, a timeout was called by US coach Chuck Daly as he formulated a plan to get James on the ball. And the Los Angeles Lakers star was able to dig the team out of the hole as he made a driving layup with just eight seconds left to prevent a mammoth upset and edge Team USA over the line with a 101-100 victory.
“A lot of these teams we’re playing have been practicing either one month or months in advance,” James said after the game as he attempted to deflect the barrage of criticism which unsurprisingly has headed the team’s way. “We’re like maybe two weeks into it, together. So, every game, every film session, every opportunity we have to try to make the most of it.”
Kerr had previously warned his players that retaining their Olympic gold medal would not be a foregone conclusion. “There’s great teams all over the place and nothing is guaranteed at this point for USA Basketball,” he said earlier this summer. “We know that well, I know it personally. We won the gold medal in Tokyo, but we lost three games along the way. Our gold-medal game against France went right down to the wire. So, this is an entirely different competition than it was in 1992.”
Team USA’s pregame preparation also didn’t go to plan after the team were stuck in traffic getting to the arena, with Anthony Davis claiming that late arrival threw the players off their routines. However, Kerr took the blame for the players’ mindset heading into the game. "I did not do a great job preparing our team, I think we did not focus enough on what they're capable of and that's on me," he added.
"They played a wonderful game and the ending was good for us just to feel that. To feel what it's going to be like in Paris and Lille ... a good reminder that when we play against teams, it's the biggest game of their lives and we have to expect everyone to play like that."
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