Nakuntento na lamang sa ikapitong puwesto ang defending champion na Team USA sa pagtatapos ng kanilang kampanya sa 2019 FIBA World Cup sa China.
Ito’y matapos nilang magapi ang Poland, 87-74, sa classification phase, rason para tapusin nila ang pagsabak nila sa prestihiyosong torneyo tangan ang 6-2 kartada.
Ang nasabing placing ay ang siyang “worst finish” ng isang koponan ng Estados Unidos sa isang malaking international tournament.
Namayani sa Team USA si Donovan Mitchell na umiskor ng 16 points and 10 assists, na dinagdagan naman ni Joe Harris ng 14.
Ayon kay Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich, wala raw dapat ikahiya ang kanilang team kahit ganito ang kinasadlakan ng team.
“If you don’t win, some people will play the blame game,” wika ni Popovich. “There’s no blame to be placed anywhere. They play the shame game, like we should be ashamed because we didn’t win a gold medal? That’s a ridiculous attitude. It’s immature. It’s arrogant. And it shows that whoever thinks that doesn’t respect all the other teams in the world and doesn’t respect that these guys did the best they could.”
