What I learned From Today’s Olympic FIBA Action

Death, taxes, and FIBA Patty making ridiculous shots, am I right? Ladies and gentlemen, we witnessed one of the best days basketball history on Tuesday. That is not hyperbole. The FIBA world, which has NEVER had this much talent dispersed across the globe, just put on a show for every obnoxiously smug french citizen in Paris and the rest of us watching at home. (Sorry not sorry France)  Jokes aside, international basketball has never been this competitive. The days of Team USA highlights providing the only entertainment from the basketball side of the Olympiad is over. It’s time everyone starts paying attention.

If you weren’t waking your wife up with the phone alarm at 5 AM (sorry Rose) to dial into Greece vs. Germany this morning I don’t blame you. Neither do I blame anyone who missed today’s action because of a 9-5 work schedule. Luckily for you I scared Rose to death with my phone on full blast before the sun came up and then watched her leave for work as I sat on the couch with my tortilla, eggs, and pork. While my brain feels like mush after watching seven hours of commercial-filled basketball, I do feel the need to share everything I learned from the Quarterfinal Round on this platform. Here are five things I learned.

Team USA Is/Was Still The Best Team In The World

The Stars and Stripes have come off their disappointing 2023 FIBA World Cup performance to a tune of four straight Olympic victories by an average of 24.75 points. The deepest and most talented team in Paris has had a different leading scorer in each game, while NBA MVP Joel Embiid and Finals champion Jayson Tatum have accumulated DNP’s based off matchups. It’s simply going to take a “Lake Placid” type miracle for this team to not win gold.

Now, I’ll mainly use this section of the blog to once again explain why Noah Lyles, and all international basketball fans who agree with his take, are so incredibly diluted with pride it hurts. International basketball has never been better than it is right now. That trend is going to only grow as the years go on. There may come a time in fact, probably decades down the line, where Team USA is not favored to win Olympic Gold anymore. The three best players (you could make a case for four) in the NBA right now are not American. 81 of the 144 (56%) of the men’s basketball players in the Olympics play/have played in the National Basketball Association. 32 of the 48 players left (66%) in the tournament play in the NBA. The world is catching up, but the world is sending their best to the NBA. That is never going to change. That is why the Celtics, and every champion after, are champions of the world.

Also a quick shout out to Kevin Durant as he just passed Lisa Leslie for the most Olympic points by a United States basketball player.

The Hometown Magic Could Help France Win Silver

There is an old adage in basketball that role players, specifically guards, play much better at home than on the road. For a team as “big man” dependent as France, this simple hypothesis turned fact could lead them to a medal.

It’s not secret the French are headlined by “Alien Superstar” Victory Wembanyama and 10-foot-5 Rudy Gobert, but they do have guards with NBA experience (Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier, Frank Ntilikina) as well. That being said, the former two are in the latter part of their respective careers and Ntilikina is a defensive specialist. France needed someone to step up as a scorer alongside the towering bodies underneath.

On Tuesday that someone was 6-foot-5 wing Isaïa Cordinier. Scoring 20 points and knocking in four 3-point attempts, Cordinier provided France with early offense that blitzed the favored Canadians early. If he and fellow guard/forward, and Celtics legend, Guerschon Yabusele (22 points) can provide France with that level of scoring in the medal round, they may find themselves in a similar situation they did at the Gold Medal Game in Tokyo.

Australia Should Have Brought Matisse Thybulle

It’s not very often I am disappointed with news coming out of the FIBA world. When I heard the Boomers had left former Washington Huskies star Matisse Thybulle off of their roster, I was gutted however.

While the 27-year-old has yet to develop a offensive bag in the NBA he is still one of the best perimeter defenders in the world. Australia could have used his tireless tenacity around the 3-point arc on Tuesday against a Serbia team that shot 46% from the field.

Thybulle’s presence as a defensive wizard also might have helped take some pressure off of 67-year-old Matthew Dellavedova and Patty Mills against NBA superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the group stage. But what do I know.

I Was Right About Germany

Attribute it to my lack of brain power or shameless need to plug the podcast, but you can listen to my full thoughts on the German squad pre-tournament by skipping to the 28:40 below.

Everything I said a week and a half ago still rings true. Germany is the only team other than the US to not lose in the Olympics. Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner are FIBA Superstars. The offense is smooth, the defense is elite, and I am slightly worried about the United States going cold in a potential Gold Medal Match to leave the door open for Germany to strike.

This team won the 2023 FIBA World Cup but was comically (+235) to medal in this tournament. If you want value picks from the nosebleeds, take a moment to hit the subscribe button below.

Oh, Canada.

You can blame it on Andrew Wiggins, Drake’s all-time terrible summer, or kids choosing to play hockey, but Canada just proved to the world nothing is easy in Olympic basketball. The clear second-favorite to win Gold, Canada never truly found dominant form in these games. If anything, there story further exemplifies how remarkable of a run Team USA has been on, both on the mens and womens side of things.

The team from the North will certainly be back as a podium favorite in 2028, but this quarterfinal exit stings nonetheless.