The last one on the list isn’t as certain as it used to be after Team USA embarrassingly finished third at the Athens’ Olympics and also has failed to win a World Basketball Championships in the past decade and a half. But since Coach K and Jerry Colangelo took over the program this team is once again its dominating self and the King Kong of the basketball universe.
So far in the run up to the World Basketball Championship finals Team USA has generally been embarrassing opponents and remains undefeated. The roster in Turkey right now is lacking many of the big names that carried this team to an easy gold at the Beijing Games but it’s still got more than enough talent to claim the title at the biggest basketball online wagering competition of the year.
The NBA’s current scoring champion Kevin Durant has become the leader of this squad and his superb play has guided this team so far. He’s done everything for this team from reigning jumpers, driving to the hole, getting out on the break and evening blocking two last second shots to preserve a close victory in the round-robin competition.
The USA squad hasn’t been prefect, though, and nearly dropped a game to a talented Brazil squad as G Leandro Barbosa missed at the buzzer and the US won 68-70. Nor does it have Kobe, LeBron or Dwyane Wade. But it’s got a very talented nucleus that is well coached and plays efficient basketball.
It’s the favorite in the online wagering lines to win the competition and unless it plays especially awful and beats itself there’s no reason why it shouldn’t win the title. Spain, the defending World Champions, have a very skilled squad and are among the favorites on many online wagering companies’ sites but the US has beaten this team before and will likely do so again should they meet up again. Also, host Turkey has a handful of NBA players and could be a dark horse playing in front of an enthusiastic home crowd.
Still, this is Team USA’s tournament to lose and the smart online wagering move is to bet on the US bringing home its first world title in 16 years.