Will Team USA breeze their way to the FIBA World Cup finals?
Yahoo Sports Daily host Caroline Fenton and Yahoo Sports' Jay Busbee discuss the idea that Team USA will breeze through the FIBA World Cup and make the finals. Watch the full episode of Yahoo Sports Daily on YouTube or YahooSports.TV .
Video Transcript
Team USA will sleepwalk their way to a gold medal in this FIBA World Cup.
Now, USA is the favorite.
Team USA has won the World's Cup the last four years, and they've won five of the last six.
Team USA dominates this competition.
But I'm gonna pass on this.
No A'ja Wilson, and A'ja Wilson is the best player in the world.
So you already have a little bit of skepticism there.
This is a young team.
Caitlin Clark was not with the Olympic team, so Caitlin Clark is kinda, you know, ramping up to her first big time, you know, prestigious worlds competition.
Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron were both late additions when Kelsey Plum and A'ja Wilson opted out of the World Cup.
So they don't have a lot of chemistry working with this team.
Paige Bueckers, same way.
So it's not a veteran team.
Now, they're, a lot of them are in second, third years in the WNBA, but national team ex- experience is different than WNBA experience.
So no A'ja, who had 20 something points and 13 rebounds in a one point win in the gold medal game over France.
It's a young team, and also I think France is trying to get their lick back, trying to get some revenge on that gold medal game.
They felt like Gabby Williams hit that final three pointer and her toe was not on the line.
They felt that that game should've gone into overtime, but it did not, and Team USA won gold.
France is becoming a powerhouse, and while there is still a gap between Team USA and everybody else, that gap is shrinking.
I'm looking at Spain, I'm looking at France, I'm looking at Belgium, looking at Germany on home soil.
I, I think that while Team USA I do think Team USA will win gold, it's not gonna be a cakewalk.
I often get asked what the best sports events I have ever covered are, and right up there is that gold medal game that you just mentioned, that women's gold medal game in 2024 in Paris.
I was lucky enough to be in the stadium covering the event.
I saw it go down.
I did not think that her foot was, was, was past the line.
I thought it was on the line.
But yeah, I could see how you could assume that in the moment, and it was a terrifying moment for the, for the United States.
That's the kind of thing that should keep Team USA aware, because the rest of the world is coming.
This is gonna, this is gonna be a situation where the USA can't just count on gold medal after gold medal, and competition after competition anymore.
Everyone else is getting better, and if you're not looking in the rear view mirror you're gonna get passed soon enough.
So yeah, while they'll probably go ahead and win fairly easily this week, it's not something that we can count on every single season
