Saturday night, Team USA played an exhibition game against Brazil in Chicago. The game was fairly uneventful aside from the homecoming of Derrick Rose and the stellar play by Anthony Davis. Team USA ended up beating Brazil by a final score of 95-78.
In Portland, all eyes are on Damian Lillard and whether he will make the team. If Saturday is any indication, Lillard is on the proverbial fence as to whether he will make the team or not.
Lillard played an insignificant 1 minute and 47 seconds with no recordable statistics.
That is not a good sign for those wanting him to make the team and make impact. The lack of playing time came with Steph Curry being in foul trouble. Klay Thompson was the substitute that came in for Lillard.
The only real sliver of hope for Lillard is that he was one of only 12 players to get playing time. One of the players that didn’t get in the game was DeMarcus Cousins, who was sitting out with a minor injury and will almost certainly make the final roster. The others that didn’t play were DeMar DeRozan, Andre Drummond, and Gordon Hayward.
At the point guard position, there is a definite logjam with Curry, Rose, Kyrie Irving and Lillard. Each of them are playmakers that can play the shooting guard position. Rose is a former MVP that will certainly make the team. Curry has the most experience of the group and will probably start for this team. Irving played for Coach K at Duke and has a lot of hype surrounding him this summer. Lillard may be the one left out.
The question marks on this roster are about big men, especially with the absences of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, Black Griffin and company. The depth is most definitely at the point guard and shooting guard positions.
I personally want to see Lillard make the team and represent Rip City in Spain. The chances look a little bleaker after seeing Coach K’s rotation on Saturday. There are still a few exhibition games to be played before the roster will be finalized; let’s hope the Lillard gets his chance to shine.
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