Mali Gets Mauled

The United States of America’s Under-19 team routed Mali yesterday in the first game of the U-19 World Championship in Serbia. The US team, made up of college hoop stars and high school seniors had no problem overwhelming team Mali, quickly jumping out to a 34-5 lead, and never looking back. DeAndre Jordan had a game-high 20 points, with several of the players also scoring in double figures.

This will probably be one of the easiest teams that the US faces in the tournament. Their next scheduled game is against China, and after that they will face Serbia, before the elimination rounds begin. Many people believe that the US team is one of the best that has been put together in a long time, event though players like Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, who would have been eligible to play, will not be helping the US cause.

The teams sent from the US have not exactly lived up to the standards we place on them in recent years, either in the Olympics, the World Championships, or the youth tournaments like this one. Soon enough, it seems, the United States will have a more competitive soccer team than a basketball team. Excuses abound for the poor play of Americans in international tournaments, but overall, sports fans really want to see some improvement from the newest batch of basketball stars. You can see these players in the US by getting NCAA basketball tickets at StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on July 13, 2007 - Post a comment