FIBA World Cup has produced some major shockers the last two days. After Argentina eliminated Serbia on Tuesday in a big upset, Team USA suffered a shock defeat against France, thereby ending the United States' dream of bringing home the gold medal.
After falling to a highly motivated French side, 89-79, Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich was his usual nonchalant self when he spoke to the media. The 70-year-old veteran shot-caller tried to play down the rather humiliating defeat, implying that the best thing to do right now would be for everyone to move on.
Pop: “Life will go on.”
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) September 11, 2019
This is typical coach Pop right there, with the five-time NBA champion coach opting to keep his response to a bare minimum. Popovich was understandably in a pretty unfriendly mood, and he even gave out some unsolicited advice to NBA insider Tim Reynolds, telling the reporter to keep to his strengths:
https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1171788590185177089
Regardless of how Gregg Popovich tries to downplay this defeat, there is still no escaping the fact that this is indeed a very disappointing time for USA Basketball. Coach Pop is one of the most decorated and highly respected coaches in the game today, and much was expected of him in this tournament. Sure, he had pretty much a superstar-less team at his disposal, but an exit at the quarterfinal stage definitely leaves much to be desired.
In truth, this defeat does not come as a complete surprise. Team USA was already showing some vulnerability early on in the tournament, and despite racking up win after win up until this point, there was already some doubt about whether or not this particular side was capable of going all the way.
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