Team USA bounced back from an unlikely and uncommon defeat against Australia with an easy 84-68 win against a mismatched Canada team that wasn’t as close as the final score.
Part of the problem: when a couple dozen NBA players decline invites to Team USA, there’s at least still significant NBA talent on Team USA. When 10 key Canadians — Andrew Wiggins, R.J. Barrett, Trey Lyles, Dillon Brooks, Justin Jackson, Cory Joseph, Kelly Olynyk, Dwight Powell, Tristan Thompson, and Nik Stauskas — decline their invites, Canada doesn’t have any NBA talent behind them. Only Oshae Brissett and Khem Birch play in the NBA; today, Canada’s starting lineup featured the unfortunately-named Philip Scrubb and his brother, Thomas.