USA Can Shut People Up, Ledecky Dominance, & is USA 3x3 Kind of Bad? (Olympics Day 8 Preview)

The second half of Day 8 is here, with some monster events for Team. Let's take a look at the medal table going into the second half of the day:

The United States is cruising, once again, to winning the overall medal count. As for the Gold Medal count? We are lagging behind a hair, especially with a streak in the pool right now that has us not taking home many Gold Medals. Compared to the same spot we were at on this day at Tokyo 2020, United States Swimming is one Gold behind the pace. Luckily, tonight offers a few opportunities to make up some ground, but not before Team USA Basketball returns to action…

USA BASKETBALL CAN SILENCE DOUBTERS

Let me be clear: if you are still worried about Team USA Men's Basketball or are referencing the exhibition games… you're an idiot. They completely cooked Serbia team that was at full strength, which people thought might have mattered when the USA (not playing to their full capacity) beat a short-handed Serbia a few weeks ago. It didn't matter who was playing, the United States was beyond better than them, especially with Kevin Durant on the floor.

Now, they take on South Sudan, looking to all but lock up their group. Remember what happened last time these two teams played?

Crazy game indeed. Everyone farted and shitted their pants over this meaningless game.

Well, now shit matters, and I fully expect the United States to beat the shit out of South Sudan. They are playing at a different level from the laid-back approach against the South Sudanese in the exhibition game, and I am sure they're extra motivated after all of the hot takes they've heard.

Despite the convincing win, all people have been talking about is the fact that Jayson Tatum didn't play a single minute. For some odd reason, Steve Kerr played into the chaos in the media, and it has taken over the coverage of this team. Could he have played Tatum? Sure. Does it matter? To me, no. I expect to see Tatum against South Sudan, and then hopefully people will just relax, and enjoy this awesome team. I think they'll end up really clicking on all cylinders by the time they play Puerto Rico on Saturday. THAT IS SCARY FOR EVERYONE.

CAN USA MEN GYMNASTS KEEP UP GOOD FORTUNE?

After breaking a medal-less drought, the United States Men's Gymnastics Team now has three shots at another men with the Men's All-Around Final this afternoon. Paul Juda, Brody Malone, & Fred Richard are all competing in an event that has not seen an American medal since Danell Leyva won Bronze at the London 2012 Olympics. The United States has also won just one Gold since World War II, when Paul Hamm shocked the world at Athens 2004 (despite controversy with the scoring).

While not the favorite, the best shot at the podium seems to be this man: Fred Richard

Based on nothing but vibes (LET ME STRESS… VIBES ONLY!), I think Fred Richard ends up on the podium.

LEDECKY CAN RIGHT SHIP FOR USA SWIMMING

You know you're watching the Olympics when you look up at the TV and see Katie Ledecky swimming in the opposite direction of people.

Look, I am not saying it has been a disappointing Games for USA Swimming, but if we are hunting for Gold Medals, there has to be a tiny bit of disappointment after the first few nights of medal races. As I mentioned above, they're one off the pace of where they were at in Tokyo 2020 at this point.

Ledecky may also be the only realistic shot at Gold on the evening, as well (realistic is a funny way of saying she's going to win). Torri Huske (who has won Gold already) & Gretchen Walsh are longshots in the Women's 100m Free, Josh Matheny, Chris Guiliano, & Jack Alexy are also longshots in the Men's 200m Breastroke and Men's 100m Free Finals. As for the Men's 200m Butterfly, no USA swimmer even qualified for the finals.

To take the Gold Medal count again at the end of Paris 2024, the United States needs a few more wins in the pool, and hopefully it starts tonight with Katie Ledecky… and of course when Caeleb Dressel gets back into the pool over the course of the next few days.

DO THE USA 3x3 TEAMS STINK?

I will say this: no, they don't stink.

But holy hell you could not have had a worse start than what happened in both opening games for the Team USA Men's & Women's 3x3 Basketball Teams. Jimmer Fredette & the Men, considered favorites to win Gold in 3x3 Basketball fell to Serbia in dominant fashion, and the Women, with college star Hailey van Lith, also got blown out.

Group Stage play just began, so there's reason to be alarmed yet, but they did both open things up at the complete bottom of the table.

I expect the Men to bounce back tomorrow against Poland, but the Women will be a question mark solely due to chemistry issues. They lost recent top WNBA Draft Pick Cameron Brink due to injury and are still figuring things out (their game will be against Germany at 3:30|2:30c).

THIS WAS UTTERLY INSANE

Did you see how Team USA Women's Rugby Sevens won Bronze yesterday?

I mean, my god. That's essentially like walking off, as time expires, with a 105-yard touchdown run. So fucking cool.

OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS

• Soccer: The United States Women have gotten off to a monster start and look to move to 3-0-0 to wrap up Group Stage play as they take on Australia at 1:00|12:00. With a win, they'll win Group A, and then take on the third-place finisher from Groups B or C that qualifies for the Knockout Stage. They'd also join the Men's team in the Knockout Stage, who wrapped up their spot yesterday with a win that punched them out of the Group Stage for the first time since the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
• Basketball: For those interested in Men's Basketball related to Team USA, the other two members in their group, Serbia (Jokic, Jovic, & Bogdanovic) and Puerto Rico (Alvarado) square-off at 11:15|10:15c in the morning.
• Fencing: I fucking love watching Fencing, and you should give it a try if you've never watched the event. The United States Men's Sabre Team has a shot at a medal, but will have to work their way through the bracket throughout the day.
• Tennis: Despite the fact Coco Gauff got completely screwed over, United States Tennis is putting a ton of people through to the last few rounds of all competitions. In action tomorrow will be Tommy Paul, Danielle Collins, Taylor Fritz, Gauff/Fritz (Mixed Doubles), Gauff/Pegula (Women's Doubles), Fritz/Paul (Men's Doubles), and Krajicek/Ram (Men's Doubles).

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That's all for now. Go Team USA. See you tomorrow.