The United States finished seventh in the Basketball World Cup by beating Poland, 87-74, in Beijing, their worst ranking since the tournament’s inception in 1950.
So far the biggest American fiasco was that of Indianapolis-2002, when it was sixth with three defeats, one more than in this edition.
Weighed down by the resignations of its stars, the team led by Gregg Popovich only had two All Star players; Kemba Walker (Boston Celtics) and Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks).
Team USA was eliminated from the title race against France in the quarterfinals (89-79). They then lost to Serbia (94-89) in the first match of the fight for fifth place.
In the first round they had already touched the defeat against Turkey (93-92) and in preparation they fell to Australia (98-94), their first defeat in 13 years.
At the 2006 World Cup, the United States lost to Greece in the semifinals. They reacted by winning the Olympic Games (2008 and 2012) and the World Cup (2010 and 2014) twice.
Young Donovan Mitchell was the best scorer against Poland with 16 points. AFP