FIBA World Cup 2019: The 7 teams that can beat Team USA, ranked - SB Nation
FIBA World Cup 2019: The 7 teams that can beat Team USA, ranked - SB Nation |
- FIBA World Cup 2019: The 7 teams that can beat Team USA, ranked - SB Nation
- Nation's top teams descend on Montco for USA Ultimate Pro Championships - KYW Newsradio 1060
- Fox News anchor rips into Trump: 'We don’t work for you' - USA TODAY
- 'Sickening and troubling': Senators press VA for top-to-bottom probe in suspicious death scandal - USA TODAY
| FIBA World Cup 2019: The 7 teams that can beat Team USA, ranked - SB Nation Posted: 30 Aug 2019 12:00 PM PDT  We have wondered if Team USA is vulnerable in the 2019 FIBA World Cup. Star defections from the tournament team have left a lot of lower-tier players on the American roster, and the team has just one 2019 All-NBA selection. The top three players in the tournament are playing for other nations. Team USA lost a game for the first time (while using exclusively NBA players) in 13 years. They lost to the USA Select team by double-digits in a one-quarter scrimmage. Signs of trouble are brewing. But for Team USA to lose, someone has to beat them. Who might that be? Here are seven national teams with the best chance to knock off Team USA, either in the early rounds or the knockouts, and make history. 1. SerbiaSerbia is the obvious No. 1 choice to win the World Cup if the United States can't swing it. The Serbs were the runner-up to Team USA in the last two global tournament (2014 World Championship, 2016 Olympics) and might be more talented now. Nikola Jokic is the second best player in the entire tournament, Bogdan Bogdanovic is one of the most dangerous wings in the tournament, and the team swept through its warm-up schedule with nary a hiccup. With the United States' weakened roster and having tasted defeat at the hands of the Americans in two gold medal games, Serbia has to be aching to get that win. They can totally do it. Red flags: Jokic's defense is a major concern against Marc Gasol and Spain, who will almost assuredly be in Serbia's group in the second stage. The second stage determines knockout seedings, which is very important — you want to give other teams a chance to beat or wear down the Americans before you have to face them. Also, Serbia doesn't really have a defender to deal with Giannis Antetokounmpo. But then again, no one does. 2. SpainSpain is the last nation to win a global tournament that wasn't the United States (back in 2006). Pau Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Juan Carlos Navarro, Nikola Mirotic, and Jose Calderon are gone or out, which really hurts Spain's infamous depth. But there's still Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, the ageless Rudy Fernandez, the Hernangomez brothers, and lots of Euroleague talent like Sergio Llull and Victor Claver. Coach Sergio Scariolo has been around about a decade, and Spain has medalled in each of the past three Olympics games. This is the traditional, synergistic powerhouse that a thrown-together U.S. team could struggle with. Red flags: Most of the roster is at least 30, and there's just not a ton of shooting unless Gasol steps out a lot or Fernandez goes on a two-week hot streak (certainly possible). Spain finished with bronze in the 2017 EuroBasket tournament after Slovenia crushed them in the semifinals. Was that defeat a sign of things to come? 3. GreeceGreece has the best player in the entire tournament, and it's not particularly close. That matters a lot in a two-week tournament. There were absolutely two-week stretches during the NBA season where no one could come close to stopping Antetokounmpo. Heck, there were two-month stretches. And the talent differential between the NBA and the World Cup is massive. If Antetokounmpo finds a flow, Greece can beat anyone and everyone. The Greeks also have some experienced complementary talent like Nick Calathes (one of the better point guards in the tournament), and grizzled veterans Giannis Bourousis and Georgios Printezis. With just one uber-talented, two-way NBA star and lots of European talent, there shouldn't be major stylistic shocks in the tournament (unlike for more NBA-heavy teams like the United States). Seriously though, who on Team USA will guard Antetokounmpo? Kawhi Leonard isn't walking through that door. Red flags: Greece has been pretty bad in major tournaments since winning bronze in the 2009 EuroBasket. Of course, Greece didn't have Antetokounmpo for those tournaments. Georgios Papagiannis is supposed to play a major role in this tournament, backing up the 36-year-old Bourousis? That's wild to me. Wild. 4. AustraliaThe best case that Australia can beat the United States in the World Cup is that Australia just beat the United States like a week ago in the warm-ups before the World Cup. Of course, these were warm-ups. The game was played in front of 50,000 screaming Australians, while the World Cup will be played in front of like 5,000 mostly indifferent observers and a couple thousand traveling, screaming fans. But Australia is certainly capable of beating Team USA. We just witnessed it! Between Joe Ingles, Patty Mills, Aron Baynes, Andrew Bogut, and NBA champion Matthew Dellavedova, the Aussies have plenty of cerebral, gritty players who know their NBA counterparts on Team USA and other squads well. And you know Australia will be feeling confident after beating the United States once already. Red flags: After beating Team USA, Australia lost a warm-up to Germany. The Boomers actually lost three of their five warm-ups! This speaks to the Boomers' greatest weakness: that's a streaky team. If Mills or Ingles get shut off, Australia's defense doesn't really seem good enough to keep them alive. Australia also has a pretty brutal draw, being in Group H with Lithuania, Canada, and Senegal. Canada has been as ravaged by disappearances as the United States, but Australia has to be better than two of France, Germany, and Lithuania just to make the knockouts. 5. FranceFrance shouldn't be a sleeper, but because their best player — the third best player in the tournament — is a defense-first center, most of us aren't considering them a top-tier threat. But with Rudy Gobert anchoring the middle, some heady scorers and playmakers like Nando de Colo and Evan Fournier, and an overall young roster, Les Bleus could be a real threat. I could not be more thirsty for a France vs. Greece battle in the knockouts to see Antetokounmpo run up on Gobert. United States vs. France — for the pleasure of watching Donovan Mitchell drive on Gobert — is also highly desired. Red flags: Frank Ntilikina is apparently going to start due to his defense? This is like Derrick White starting for Team USA, and I feel like I have to say "no offense to Derrick White" after that sentence. Also, France has been pretty lousy in international play the last few years. 6. LithuaniaEuropean basketball powers come and go, but Lithuania is forever. Lithuania has actually fallen off a bit in recent years, but Domantas Sabonis and a resurgent Jonas Valanciunas should help them storm back. Four-fifths of Lithuania's projected starting lineup is 27 years old or younger, and the depth seems solid, which should help with the busy two-week sprint that is the World Cup. Sabonis could really be a star at this level, feasting on lesser defenders. Team USA is expected to play relatively small, which could help Sabonis and Valanciunas get loose. Valanciunas' defense should also come in handy against Myles Turner, Gasol, and Gobert. Can we get some Sabonis vs. Turner action too, please? Red flags: Not much success in recent years, and the universal Giannis Problem looms large. You'd hate to see Sabonis just completely overwhelmed by Antetokounmpo, unless, of course, you are rooting for Greece. 7. GermanyOur last candidate is perhaps the least traditional. Germany is outside the top-20 in FIBA rankings and has won just one medal in a global tournament ever (bronze at the 2002 World Championship). For so long, the team was Dirk Nowitzki and literally no one else any NBA fan has heard of. Now, the team has some heft and depth while Nowitzki is gone, with three NBA players led by Dennis Schroder and Maxi Kleber. Heck, Germany is deep enough that a fourth NBA player, Isaac Bonga, was cut last-minute! Can you imagine a German national team of the previous two decades cutting an NBA player because they had the depth? Mindblowing. So how does Germany beat Team USA? Catching them sleeping, basically. Of all the non-gold contenders, Germany would seem to be best positioned to get a shocking upset in the quarterfinals. Red flags: Germany's path to the knockouts is rough (France in first stage, probably Lithuania and Australia in second stage). In the end, Germany is largely relying on Dennis Schroder. Ask the Atlanta Hawks about that.  |
| Nation's top teams descend on Montco for USA Ultimate Pro Championships - KYW Newsradio 1060 Posted: 31 Aug 2019 10:50 AM PDT  MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — The top Frisbee teams in the nation are in Montgomery County this Labor Day weekend competing in the USA Ultimate Pro Championship. If you've ever flipped a Frisbee for fun you know how challenging it can be. Getting the right release point, whipping action and just enough air under it to make your partner huff and puff to catch up with it. Now Take it to the elite level and you can't even imagine the skill involved, says tournament organizer Jereme Mason. "A majority of them can throw the entire length of the field, 70-80 yards long with precision accuracy. Their cuts rival any cuts of football wide receivers and the team dynamic is sort of unseen across any sport that I've ever played before." Thirty pro teams have come from all across the nation for the tournament that runs Labor Day. Saturday and Sunday games are being held at the Westmont soccer complex in Royersford. Attendance is free, and Monday's finals run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Germantown Academy. There will be a $10 parking and entrance fee.  |
| Fox News anchor rips into Trump: 'We don’t work for you' - USA TODAY Posted: 29 Aug 2019 06:59 PM PDT CLOSE  Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto blasted Trump on "Common Sense" for the president's Twitter attack on the network. USA TODAY WASHINGTON -- Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto chastised President Donald Trump on Thursday after Trump tweeted that "Fox isn't working for us anymore" in a series of tweets in which he also said the network of "promoting the Democrats through their DNC Communications Director, spewing out whatever she wanted with zero pushback by anchor, @SandraSmithFox." Over the past couple of weeks, Trump has increasingly blasted Fox News' coverage, being especially critical of anchor Shepard Smith and analyst Juan Williams, calling them "hopeless and clueless." Cavuto began the segment by saying it's "weird" that the president is getting "sick" of the network, because he believes Trump gets "pretty fair coverage at Fox." More: 'Fox isn't working for us anymore!': Trump slams Fox News for 2020 coverage Cavuto curtly responded, "First of all, Mr. President, we don't work for you. I don't work for you. My job is to cover you, not fawn over you or rip you, just report on you. Call balls and strikes on you. My job, Mr. President, our job here, is to keep the scores, not settle scores." CLOSE Former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders will join Fox News as a contributor. USA TODAY "It is called being fair and balanced, Mr. President, yet it is fair to say you're not a fan when that balance includes stuff you don't like to hear or facts you don't like to have questioned," Cavuto continued. The anchor then went onto list things that Trump has done or said that has been fact-checked, including: a top Trump trade adviser calling tariffs a "wonderful thing," Trump saying Mexico would pay for a wall on the southern border, Trump flip-flopping on gun background checks, Trump ordering former White House counsel Don McGahn to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, and Trump seeming to publicly calling into question the conclusion of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. "These aren't fake items, they're real items and you really said them," Cavuto stated. "Just like you never paid to silence a porn star until it turns out you did," Cavuto said as a photo of Stormy Daniels was displayed. "Fake is when it's wrong, Mr. President." Cavuto stated. "Not when it's unpleasant," and continued to refer to Trump's infamous Access Hollywood tape where he can be heard telling host Billy Bush that because of his celebrity he is able to grope and kiss women without consent. When he sees attractive women, "I just start kissing them," Trump said in the recording. "It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait." "Hard as it is to fathom, Mr. President, just because you're the leader of the free world, doesn't entitle you to a free pass, just a free press. Goodnight," Cavuto finished. DNC communications director Xochitl Hinojosa was on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" to discuss the Democratic race, as Wednesday was the last day that candidates could meet the polling requirements to be included in the upcoming Democratic primary debate in September. Trump criticized Fox News for giving Hinojosa a platform despite the Democratic National Committee not allowing the cable network to host a debate. Last week, Fox News announced that former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Sanders would be joining Fox News as a contributor. Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/29/fox-news-anchor-neil-cavuto-donald-trump-we-dont-work-you/2158343001/  |
| Posted: 30 Aug 2019 01:01 PM PDT CLOSE George Nelson Shaw Sr. died at a VA hospital in West Virginia in 2018. His death was ruled a homicide by an Armed Forces medical examiner. It's one of 10 under investigation by authorities. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY WASHINGTON – Key senators are pressing the Trump administration to move "thoroughly and quickly" on its investigation into at least 10 suspicious deaths – including two homicides – of veterans at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Montana Sen. Jon Tester, the top Democrat on the panel, spoke jointly with VA Secretary Robert Wilkie on Friday for a briefing on the latest developments regarding the lengthy probe by the department's Office of Inspector General, according to a statement released by both offices. "They agreed with the secretary that the investigation should be concluded thoroughly and quickly to provide answers to the victims' families and to reassure Clarksburg veterans that the care they are receiving meets the high standard expected from the VA health care system," the statement said. The calls for action come following reports by USA TODAY that at least two deaths last year at the West Virginia medical center have been ruled homicides amid an investigation that was made public this month. The cause of death for both veterans, George Nelson Shaw Sr. and Felix Kirk McDermott, were changed after their bodies were exhumed and a medical examiner found that both men, neither of whom had a history of diabetes, died from insulin injections. More: After 10 suspicious deaths at VA hospital, veterans demand answers. 'It's scary – really scary' More: Family devastated by VA hospital death ruled homicide Diabetics can take insulin to control their blood sugar levels. But if a person without diabetes receives an insulin injection, it can lower their blood sugar too much and cause death. The FBI is investigating the death along with the Inspector General. Amanda Maddox, a spokeswoman for Isakson, said the chairman was waiting for the probe to wrap up before deciding on a course of action. "Once concluded, Sen. Isakson will closely review the IG's findings to ensure proper steps are taken to address the wrongdoing and prevent something like this from happening in the future," she said. Wilkie told Fox News Thursday that the probe was already underway before he was sworn in more than a year ago. The VA said that hospital officials first alerted the VA OIG about the suspicious deaths in June 2018. "It is time for the Inspector General, who is not controlled by me or the White House, to finally end this investigation to answer the questions that our grieving families have," Wilkie said. "It has been far too long." Earlier this week, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., spoke Monday with Wilkie and the director of the Clarksburg, West Virginia, medical center about the suspicious deaths and the ongoing investigation. The senator said officials told him there was a "person of interest" in the investigation but did not go into any details other than saying the person was "no longer in any contact with Veterans at the VA facility." Exclusive: Second homicide identified in string of deaths at VA hospital; family 'floored' More: Authorities investigating 10 suspicious deaths at VA hospital, including one ruled a homicide "These crimes shock the conscience and I'm still appalled they were not only committed but that our Veterans, who have sacrificed so much for our country, were the victims," Manchin said after the Monday phone call. Throughout the week, Manchin has sent letters to the Justice Department and VA calling for answers and for both agencies to dedicate their full resources to the investigation. "Due to the lack of information being made available to the public by investigators, veterans across my state are losing confidence in the safety, security, and quality of their VA healthcare," Manchin wrote in a letter Thursday to Attorney General William Barr. "Time is of the essence and the public deserves answers immediately. With each passing day, more and more Veterans could be unknowingly placed in harm's way." The senator said he was first notified in July 2018 about the string of deaths and that the VA Office of Inspector General had opened medical and criminal investigations. But during a visit to the hospital Friday, he said he didn't know until last week any deaths had been ruled homicides. The investigation didn't become public until this month. "My biggest question is, when? When did we know there were serious problems?" he asked Friday. "When did we confirm that first death, knowing it was an intentional homicide and not an accident?" Sen. Shelley Capito said she has also talked with a number of officials throughout the week, pressing for answers and getting the latest on the probe. "This news is sickening and troubling. I have spoken with several officials—including Secretary Wilkie, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell, Clarksburg VA Director Glenn Snider, and VA Inspector General Michael Missal—about the issue, and my office has also been in touch with the VA to learn more details," Capito said in a statement. "We will continue to stay on top of this, and I will do everything I can to make sure this is fully investigated" Congressman David McKinley, whose district includes the facility, also has discussed the investigation with officials at the VA, and said through a spokeswoman that the hope was the probe would help families whose loved ones died at the facility. "We hope to get more answers about this situation as that investigation progresses," said Amanda Hyman, a spokeswoman for McKinley. "We have spoken with the Office of the Inspector General and have been ensured the investigation is a top priority. What happened is a tragedy and our office will continue to work with the Veterans Administration to ensure that the families of these veterans receive the closure they deserve." Contributing: Ken Alltucker, Donovan Slack Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/30/va-suspicious-deaths-west-virginia-veteran-lawmakers/2165809001/  |
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