Team USA remains heavy favorite to win the 2019 FIBA World Cup, but Australian center Andrew Bogut thinks they are beatable unlike in previous years.
In an interview with Marc Stein of the New York Times, Bogut admits that in the past tournaments, Australia was resigned to the fact that they were not going to beat Team USA. However, after a plethora of NBA stars withdraw from the USA national team, the Boomers saw a sliver of hope.
“That mind-set has changed,” Bogut said. “When I first joined the national team, we never really had that true belief of beating the U.S.A. Whereas now we genuinely think, if we play it the right way, we have a chance to beat them.”
Bogut's statement is not a slight to USA Basketball players nor to Gregg Popovich. This has been the weakest iteration of Team USA for years, and the level of talent they have on the team is similar to the rest of the top nations in the contest.
Australia, for one, boasts NBA players like Bogut, Joe Ingles, Patty Mills, Aron Baynes and Matthew Dellavedova. It's also worth noting that the Boomers beat the USA squad in one of their recent back-to-back tune-up games.
The FIBA tournament is just getting started, but the level of competition is sure to bring excitement to fans who will watch the games. Expect both Team USA and the Boomers to provide fans with entertaining games.
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