Gilbert Arenas has mocked Team USA after they lost to Lithuania in a FIBA World Cup game.
Team USA didn’t see their 2023 FIBA World Cup campaign come to an end but they did suffer a shocking loss that most didn’t expect them to fall victim to. Lithuania overcame Team USA with a bout of dazzling shooting, as USA fell to a 104-110 loss. Gilbert Arenas was full of criticism for the roster Team USA has built, calling it an ‘F list’ of talent.
“Team USA took that weak roster to the World Cup and look what happened… We can say as a group this is what, an F? This is the F list compared to what we have. Compared to all the players in the NBA. This is an F list.”
Just having big names on your roster is no longer enough. This FIBA World Cup is an example of how national teams with one or zero NBA players are still stealing wins from the favorites.
Australia fielded nine NBA players and lost to Slovenia, who only had one (Luka Doncic). Lithuania had just one NBA player on the floor against Team USA (Jonas Valuncuinas). There are many more such examples, including the success Latvia has had against NBA-led rosters in FIBA like Canada and France.
A Lack Of Stars Or A Lack Of Cohesion?
Gilbert Arenas had more criticism of the Team USA setup, naming players who should’ve been playing ahead of the roster that went to the Phillippines. Arenas said that Anthony Edwards would be the only player to retain his spot, while listing out names of players and deciding whether they’d be part of Team USA’s B team or C team, as compared to the F team that’s playing right now.
“If we are talking about like C list, we are talking about Jimmy Butler or Jaylen Brown. That would be considered a C-list team. Devin Booker would be what the B Group? Booker, Zion Williamson, Ja Morant that’s a B group. So this is an F group compared to what we have.”
Booker and Butler are both former Olympic Gold medalists and NBA Finalists, so not putting them in the A group seems unnecessary. But if it’s a situation where even Stephen Curry and LeBron James are being considered not international play, maybe an argument can be made for Butler or Booker to not be a part of the A team.
A Different Roster At The 2024 Olympics
We’re a year out from the 2024 Olympics, a competition where we likely see the best American players to represent their country. The likes of LeBron and Curry may prefer to recuperate over the summer, but there’ll be a lot of top-tier talents who’ll be looking to get a call-up.
We likely see some elements of the 2020 Olympics roster make it back next year, which will feature Devin Booker as the key piece. Whether Kevin Durant comes back for another Olympic run is yet to be seen, but if he does so, he’ll likely be the centerpiece of Team USA at the 2024 Olympics.
Jaren Jackson Jr. could have earned a spot as the big man behind Bam Adebayo on next year’s Team USA roster, but some of his showings in the World Cup have been downright horrible. There’ll be a lot of dilemmas for coach Steve Kerr and Erik Spoelstra, but hopefully, USA Basketball President Grant Hill will give them a solid roster.
