South Sudan struck something more than “appropriate fear” in Team USA when they played in London this month.
The first-time Olympic qualifiers held the lead late in the fourth quarter with a chance to upend the U.S. before LeBron James’ heroics in the 101-100 exhibition victory.
The teams meet again Wednesday night in Paris, the second game for each team in Pool C. South Sudan beat Puerto Rico, 90-79, and the U.S. knocked off Serbia, 110-84. The win marked the welcome return of Kevin Durant, who led the team with 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting, but did not play in the previous matchup with South Sudan.
The U.S. trailed that game by as many as 16 points and head coach Steve Kerr laid into the team for being outsprinted by the opponent for layups and open jump shots.
“We have appropriate fear. We know we can’t just sleepwalk through any game and feel like you’re going to win,” Team USA’s Steph Curry said of Wednesday’s rematch with South Sudan.
The Bright Stars are shooting for a second consecutive Summer Games win, while the Americans are chasing a fifth consecutive gold in the Olympics.
Former Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers forward Luol Deng is funding the South Sudanese basketball program. The country itself is only 13 years old.
“Luol Deng has been funding this thing for four years out of his own pocket. He pays for gyms, hotels, plane tickets — everything. Kudos to Luol and the staff. We wouldn’t have been able to put this team together without them,” South Sudan coach Royal Ivey said.
Ivey is a current assistant coach for the Houston Rockets and focuses on spreading out defenses with 3-point shooting and starting possessions off of missed-shot rebounds defensively to beat the opponent back down the court. The Bright Stars made 14 3-pointers against the U.S.
While Kerr can mix-and-match with tricks available like bringing Durant off the bench or not playing Celtics MVP candidate Jayson Tatum for one solitary second against Serbia, Ivey doesn’t have any current NBA players on his roster.
While James and Curry and other Team USA stars said they would be leaving Olympic Village in Paris’ dorm-room like arrangements for the creature comforts of hotels and villas to which they’re accustomed, South Sudan doesn’t have an indoor basketball facility.
Bright Stars center Wenyen Gabriel, a Sudanese refugee from the Civil War that led to the creation of South Sudan, said most of the roster was far more concerned with whether they would have a country than a basketball team.
But Deng, himself a refugee from Egypt who eventually played at Duke, made it possible and the current club is committed to making the two-time All-Star’s dream of “changing the narrative” around South Sudan a reality.
“Knowing that there’s a bunch of kids, a bunch of youth, that are from South Sudan that look up to us, that are inspired by what we do, that think that maybe they can make it next — for me to go represent the country, be one of the first group is just an honor to me,” he said.
Gabriel, who had a chance for the game-winner in the exhibition loss, has played for the Lakers and Clippers and shooting guard Marial Shayok was a second-round pick of the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019. He scored 24 points against Team USA this month and plays professionally in China.
Kerr said not to read into the roster comparison or a narrative that South Sudan lacks the firepower to match up with NBA All-Stars after “they came within one shot of beating us.”
“I’m really glad that we played them so we can feel their speed and their 3-point shooting ability and feel how good they are,” said Kerr. “We’ll be much better prepared, but doesn’t guarantee anything.”
–Field Level Media
