Brook Lopez of the USA and his team link arms for the national anthem during the International Friendly Basketball match between Canada and the USA.
USA Basketball kicks off their FIBA World Cup play with a matchup against the Czech Republic in a Group E showdown.
In the United States, the game starts at 8:30 a.m ET. You can watch the game live on ESPN+, the digital streaming service from ESPN that has exclusive coverage of dozens of live sports, all the 30-for-30 documentaries and other original content for $4.99 per month.
You can sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then watch a live stream of USA vs Czech Republic basketball on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
USA vs Czech Republic Preview
After suffering their first loss in 13 years at the hands of Australia in an exhibition game just a few weeks ago, Team USA rolls into the FIBA World Cup ready to avenge their loss. Despite being loaded with the most talent from top to bottom, USA Basketball doesn’t have the elite star power basketball fans have been accustomed to. With a number of the world’s best opting out of this year’s FIBA World Cup, USA Basketball looks to compete with a roster of primarily young, up and coming players. Leading the way for USA Basketball is Kemba Walker, the lone All-NBA talent remaining on the roster.
Alongside Walker, USA Basketball features some exciting names like Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown. They look to be fairly weak in terms of big men and while Myles Turner, Mason Plumlee, and Brook Lopez are all serviceable options, they don’t necessarily have a reliable answer to the fearsome big men the tournament will throw at them. It should take a team effort to slow players like Nikola Jokic down but thankfully USA Basketball has an extremely deep roster with tons of NBA bodies to rotate through.
They look to be strongest at guard and with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece likely looming at some point, they should need all the production they can get in terms of their wings and big men. Despite losing Kyle Kuzma, they still have Brown and Tatum who are capable of at least giving the Greek Freak some actual NBA caliber resistance from the wing spots. The big men will be tasked with a major challenge in forcing him away from the basket as Giannis thrives on finishing at the rim. Turner and Lopez offer some above-average shot-blocking, though they’ll almost certainly need help against a finisher the caliber of Giannis.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic comes in with no NBA players on their roster. The Czech Republic has struggled to make waves on the international scene in major competitions, without a single medal to their name. Though not a bad international team by any means, they lack the firepower to really hang with the United States, or really any other elite international basketball team.
Don’t expect this to be a close matchup as USA Basketball is simply more talented everywhere on the court compared to the Czech Republic. Look for the Americans to send a message early that despite their lack of star power, they are still the overwhelming favorite entering the tournament.