Last time, it took a LeBron James driving layup for Team U.S.A. to leave South Sudan. That was recently in an exhibit video game, when the Americans hung on for a 101-100 win after making it through some close shots from South Sudan in the last 5 seconds.

It’s worth pointing out that the Americans were preferred by 43 points because video game. This time, they’re preferred by almost 30. And this time it’s for the genuine thing, as tipoff happens Wednesday at the Paris Olympics.

Team U.S.A. is coming off a dominant win over Serbia in the opener. South Sudan, which ended up being a nation in July 2011, beat Puerto Rico. So South Sudan is unbeaten all-time in the Olympics (1-0).

The rematch will occur in Lile, France, in a soccer arena. That might likewise work positively for South Sudan, as the nation doesn’t have an indoor basketball court.

Anyway, the Americans recommended they appreciate the South Sudanese and objective to be much better ready.

“Just take care of the ball,” Team U.S.A. guard Jrue Holiday stated, through Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “They pressure the ball full court, and we also have that ability. But to be able to take care of the ball, execute the plays the way we want, we’ll be all right.”

Star guard Stephen Curry included it does undoubtedly assist having actually seen South Sudan currently throughout exhibit play.

“I think more so it just challenges you to immensely prepare for a team that might not know a lot about ahead of time from a scouting-report standpoint to then make the necessary adjustments that we’re going to make to have a better showing against them,” Curry stated, through Vardon. “(South Sudan has) a very high octane offense, (its players) spread the floor and shoot a lot of 3s and have athleticism. So you just got to be mindful of how to guard them.”