‘Out Executed’: Brian Windhorst Reveals the One Weakness That is Bothering Kevin Durant’s Team USA

Team USA Men’s Basketball Team faced two exhibition losses going into the Tokyo Olympics 2020. However, just when things were looking under control, the team lost its Olympic opener against Team France too. This was also the very first time in nine years that Kevin Durant tasted a loss while representing his team in the Summer games.

The American side lost the game 76-83 to the underdogs in the French team that had multiple NBA players as weapons. Does this mean that the US team will see the same fate they last saw in 2004?

Brian Windhorst with a mild criticism for Team USA

The French team ended their opponent’s 25-game win streak and forced them into an unsettling territory. In a recent interview, American sportswriter Brian Windhorst gave his assessment of Team USA’s loss. 

The 43-YO expressed, “They’re not happy about it. Damian Lillard was sober about it and said when you come play for Team USA, you don’t expect something like this to happen. Gregg Popovich took a different tact, crediting the opponent… But even in a game where Kevin Durant has foul trouble, KD goes to the bench and you come back with Jayson Tatum.”

KD could manage just 10 points in the game after fouling out and that impacted the unit heavily. However, this shouldn’t have been the case with an All-Star studded unit that has a bench full with NBA starters. 

Brian, seemingly frustrated, further added, “The French played well but the Americans did not execute… They were just flat-out outplayed, it was not because they were tired, not because the French had some sort of special magic, it was because they got out executed.”

VIDEO: Kevin Durant Flops Miserably As France Stun Team USA at Tokyo Olympics 2020

What went wrong with Kevin Durant and men?

Turns out the 7-ft Japanese animatronic robot was better at shooting three-pointers than Team USA. As Damian Lillard struggled to score, the team managed to convert just 31.25% of their three-point attempts. Plus, the French were impressive at drawing fouls as both Devin Booker and Zach LaVine had more fouls than FGMs.

As the celebrated sports writer noted, “They got to worry about consistency… The reason that’s really a problem is because this is a 40-minute game… When you’re used to a 48-minute game, you can sometimes let your guard down on defense to give a possession here and there. You just can’t do that at International Basketball.”

Team USA can’t find excuses because it were the players like Evan Fournier & Rudy Gobert (2x All-Star) that outplayed them. Plus, the team repeated the same clutch troubles that they earlier showed in the exhibition game against Australia. 

So what would you say, will KD and his stars learn from their mistakes and bounce back against Iran? Help us know in the comments below.

Watch this story – Kevin Durant’s Fouls and Other Highlights from Team USA vs Team France at Tokyo Olympics