After a loss to France in their Olympic opener, Team USA is still favored to win Gold

To say it's been a rough start for the U.S. Men's Basketball team in the 2020 Olympics would be an understatement of the year. Yet, after losing twice in the preliminary exhibition and falling to France as huge favorites on Sunday, they are still listed at the favorites at the top online sportsbooks.

Sports betting giant BetOnline has seen the odds drop on Team USA, but the Men's Basketball squad is still listed as a -250 favorite to win gold in Tokyo. Prior to the tournament getting underway, the U.S. team had -350 odds, so the odds have dropped just slightly, despite poor play on the hardwood. However, having lost to France already, Team USA is +550 to come out of Group A on top. 

Odds to win Group A courtesy of BetOnline.ag

Next Up

The next game for Team USA is vs. Iran on Wednesday, July 28th. They are enormous favorites to beat the Iranian squad, like 40 point enormous favorites at Wagerweb.eu. Wanna bet the U.S. straight up? How about -10000 or bet 10K to win $100, if you can find it. 

Offensive Woes for Team USA

The main problem for the Americans is the lack of offense from a team that features many of the NBA's top scorers. On a paltry 36% from the floor, Team USA was only able to muster 76 points in the recent loss to France, the second lowest of any team at Toyko thus far. That number is also the second-lowest point total ever by a U.S. men’s team in the Olympics. 

The overall problem is not just team chemistry, but, on a team of high-paid, high scoring superstars, who will take the lead and the ball when a bucket is needed. This team has an offensive hierarchy problem.

Kevin Durant is one of the most prolific scorers of all-time, yet managed just 11 points vs. France. Devin Booker, who proved he is one of the NBA's next superstars by scoring 31, 40 and 42 in the NBA Finals, only scored 4 points on Sunday night. And Jrue Holiday, who was the #3 scorer for the Bucks in the NBA finals, was the high scorer against France with a meager 18 points.

In the four game 2021 USA Men's National Team Tour, where Team USA went 2-2, four players averaged more than 10 points per game, with Damian Lillard and Durant averaging 17 and 16.3 respectively. Perhaps, this team's problem is the addition of Booker, Holiday and Kris Middleton, who were added after the NBA finals. 

Contenders

Several of the nations who made the Men's basketball Olympic field have teams that have played together in several world and EU championships, while the U.S. started practically from scratch in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago. Australia is the 8-1, co-second favorite listed at Betonline.ag. They have  6 NBA players, but have never stood on the podium at any previous Olympic games. The surprise in Tokyo so far is Slovenia, who is now the other co-second favorite. Their odds jumped after the Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic scored 48 points in his Olympic debut, as Slovenia put up 118 to defeat Argentina. And Spain is in the mix at 9-1 and features NBA stars such as the Gasol brothers and  Ricky Rubio, and in the past three Olympics, they won silver, silver and bronze. 

If the U.S. can't find they're rhythm on offense their odds to win Olympic gold will certainly drop. However, if they being to crush opponents, or one of the top squads is eliminated, the odds will certainly skyrocket. U.S. backers for the Men's Basketball Gold should give serious consideration to betting now, before Wednesday's game versus Iran, slated to start at 12:40 AM ET - just after midnight on the East Coast. All of the top 10 online sportsbooks have the U.S. as 40 point favorites with a total of 167.

After the match versus Iran, Team USA's next game is July 31st at 8AM ET vs the Czech Republic, and they should again be massive favorites. But, the game to watch and wager on this weekend is the final game of the group round, Spain versus Slovenia on Sunday at 4:20 AM ET. This contest will give the world an idea of which squad is for real and which team could give the United States a run for their money in the medal rounds.

Odds to win the Men's Basketball Gold Medal courtesy of BetOnline.ag