Team USA’s two olympic basketball teams are representing the nation well so far.
The men’s team is 3-0 and will take on Brazil in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. est. on Tuesday, Aug. 6. On the women’s side, the team is also 3-0, and will take on Nigeria in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. est. a day later, on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
Pitt’s head basketball coach Jeff Capel has had a front-row seat in the past, spending time on Mike Krzyzewski’s 2016 Team USA Olympic staff in the Rio de Janiero games and on staff in previous FIBA competitions. Now, watching from home, he has admired the way that the team members have adapted to new roles alongside the best players in the world.
“You look at that team, I think it’s a seamless transition for Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, because, they’re basically playing their role on this team that they play with, the Celtics,” Capel said. “You have Durant, you have LeBron, you have Curry, those three guys are just different. They wake up in the morning, ‘I’m different than everybody.’ But then the rest of the guys are great, but, ‘how do I find my footing? Where do I fit? I can’t be how I was with the Celtics, with whoever, with Phoenix.'”
Both teams have cruised to early victories in France behind stars old and new, including Diana Taurasi and Napheesa Collier on the women’s side as well as LeBron James and Anthony Edwards on the men’s team.
“It’s unbelievable,” Capel said about the veteran stars on both teams. “When you look at how they take care of themselves and you look at how they’re able to still be elite. It’s unheard of. You look at LeBron. I texted Grant [Hill] during the game. I just said to him, ‘this dude is incredible. He’s unbelievable.’ It was interesting because he said to me, this was before the Olympics started, when they started practice. He said, ‘he showed up in the best shape of anybody on the team..”
“Taurasi, 42, unbelievably competitive, smart,” Capel continued. “She’s a killer. Like, she is. She is like of the Kobe, of the Jordan, of that ilk. I remember being around her in 2016 at the Olympics, because we were on the boat in Rio, and just watching her trash talk, and you can back it up. Just how competitive she was. I think it also shows just how much they love the game. They understand that they may not be what they once were, but they can still have unbelievable impact, and probably more than anything want to give back to the game, to teach the younger people that are on these teams how to be great.”
