Practice squad dominates senior team in Team USA scrimmage
Things don't appear to be clicking for USA Basketball ahead of the FIBA World Cup in China.
Members of the senior national team scrimmaged against a collection of fringe NBA players to close out Wednesday's practice - and lost by a significant margin. The "scrappy" underdogs throttled Team USA's remaining candidates by a final score of 36-17, according to The New York Times' Marc Stein.
And it wasn't as if the senior team was holding back its top talent.
The favorites deployed a closing lineup featuring Boston Celtics guard Kemba Walker, Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, Sacramento Kings wing Harrison Barnes, Houston Rockets forward P.J. Tucker, and Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez, according to Lakers reporter Mike Trudell.
Officially dubbed the "2019 USA Select Team," the practice squad boasts some talents with NBA experience such as Justin Anderson, John Jenkins, and Chasson Randle.
Here's the LA Select Team roster USA Basketball assembled, mostly from the FIBA World Cup qualifiers, currently scrimmaging in LA tonight versus the 15 NBA players vying to make the World Cup Team. Cool to see USA Basketball reward some of the guys that helped get them to China. pic.twitter.com/5kni54gRd0
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) August 14, 2019
Gregg Popovich and his coaching staff will soon trim the senior team roster from 15 to 12 ahead of the World Cup starting Aug. 31. Unless they opt to take the select team to China instead.