Celebrating Team USA, Emirates NBA Cup thoughts & reviewing preseason predictions | No Cap Room

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On this episode of No Cap Room, Yahoo Sports senior NBA reporter Jake Fischer and Yahoo Sports senior NBA writer Dan Devine get to close the book on Team USA, who won gold in men’s basketball while being led by LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry.

Speaking of Curry, he finally got the international basketball moment that had been missing from his career when he scored a combined 60 pts in the final two games of the tournament, including a downpour of three-pointers late to give USA the decisive win over France in the gold medal game.

Jayson Tatum, and many around him, is upset about his diminished role while playing for Team USA in Paris. Dan explains why Tatum had a hard time seeing the floor, while Jake explains why Tatum’s style of play is a bad fit for Steve Kerr’s offense. Will the 2028 team be built around Tatum once the older players retire?

Victor Wembanyama was not happy to have lost the gold medal game to USA, and he said afterwards that he’s learning more and is worried for future opponents…both in the NBA and internationally. Jake explains why he’s excited to see Wemby play with Chris Paul in San Antonio while trying to temper expectations for how high their ceiling is on offense.

The NBA In-Season Tournament has a new name, it’s now the Emirates NBA Cup, and they’ve already released their schedule for the upcoming season. Instead of digging into the matchups, Jake and Dan talk about what they liked from the event last season and ways that it could be improved going forward.

Finally, the guys go back to a podcast they did in October where they made preseason predictions using made-up over/unders, and they check to see who was right and who was wrong.

(01:50) – Team USA wins gold over France

(05:20) – Steph Curry finally got his Olympic moment

(15:25) – Why didn’t Jayson Tatum play more in Paris?

(29:15) – Wembanyama is worried for his future opponents

(35:45) – Ways to improve the Emirates NBA Cup

(47:15) – Were we right about our preseason predictions?

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