How seriously should we take Saturday’s US loss to Nigeria?
Well it’s historic. Nigeria hasn’t been within shouting distance of the US before in international competition. So there’s that.
But as the NBA goes global, that means that lots of teams will have good players. Nigeria features KZ Okpala, Gabe Vincent, Precious Achiuwa, Josh Okogie, Michael Gbinije and former Blue Devil Jahlil Okafor, among others.
It’s coached by Mike Brown, a well-known and respected NBA coach and has had more time together than the US team, which is only four days in.
And while the US was favored and more talented, the bottom of the roster features Josh Maggette and Dakota Mathias.