Is this rock bottom for Team USA basketball?

It’s an important question for bettors to consider after France upset the Americans 83-76 in their Olympics opener.

Team USA men’s basketball had its 25-game win streak at the Olympics snapped with its first loss since the bronze-medal game in Athens in 2004.

We already knew the Americans needed to overcome a number of internal challenges in order to live up to their status as the gold-medal favourite.

After another market adjustment, is now the time to buy low on Team USA?

Here is the Morning Coffee for Monday July 26, 2021.

Team USA’s gold medal futures

It certainly didn’t take long for another significant adjustment in the men’s basketball gold-medal market.

Team USA entered the Olympics at -300 to win gold. One loss later, and they are now -200.

For perspective, the 1992 Dream Team entered the Olympics at -2000 to win gold, and looking back now, that number still seems lower than it should be.

This certainly isn’t the 1992 Dream Team, but at what point does it make sense to jump on the most talented team in the tournament and obvious favourite?

Australia remains the second choice to win gold at +650 – I liked them at -130 to win a medal entering the tournament.

Spain went from +1100 to +800 to win gold. France, which upset Team USA in their opener, went from +2000 to +1000 to win gold.

Our TSN Edge basketball analyst Wesley Cheng highlighted in detail the issues that the Americans would need to overcome in order to deliver as the favourite.

As far as I’m concerned, Team USA is still far too talented to completely overlook in the futures market.

For what it’s worth, the Americans led France 74-67 with less than four minutes to go before hitting an absolute wall and getting outscored 16-2 down the stretch.

If they had won that game against a top four choice to take the gold, Team USA would probably be priced around -500 this morning. Instead, we get them at -200.

Keep in mind that Devin Booker, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday didn’t land in Japan until less than 24 hours before tip versus France.

This team also hasn’t had much practice time together. They will get some work in this week, including as a 39.5-point favourite versus Iran on Wednesday.

This team is far from perfect. Still, reinforcements have arrived, and this group should in theory get better as the tournament progresses.

Maybe this is rock bottom for Team USA basketball. Or maybe it isn’t.

At -200 to win gold, I feel compelled to take this as a buy-low spot to back the Americans.

Will Aaron Rodgers retire?

The final act of Aaron Rodgers’ off-season drama is fast approaching. So how does it end this time around?

Speculation that Rodgers could call it a career ramped up when multiple sportsbooks pulled down any odds related to the Green Bay Packers after they received a tip that he could opt to retire.

DraftKings and PointsBet in particular took down their odds to win the NFC North and Green Bay’s win total.

 Apparently, Rodgers isn’t the only star that wants out of Wisconsin, either.

Some books still have their NFC North odds up, with varying prices depending on where you look.

William Hill U.S. has the Packers and Minnesota Vikings as co-favourites to win their division at +140, with the Chicago Bears at +350 and the Detroit Lions at +1800.

Green Bay’s win total is off the board.

All of this sets up for what should be a very interesting week as we wait word on what Rodgers will do next.

Blue Jays aim to stop slide in Boston

With the MLB trade deadline this Friday, the Toronto Blue Jays are expected to get some help as they continue to chase a playoff spot.

While reinforcements could very well be on the way, the Blue Jays need to help their own cause by getting back on track with a four-game set against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park to begin the week.

Toronto has struggled against division opponents this season. The Blue Jays are 49-46 overall, but just 21-24 against AL East opponents.

Toronto limps into this week with just one win in its past five games.

After getting outscored a combined 20-8 in a pair of losses to Boston last week, it will be interesting to see how they respond.

The Blue Jays are currently 9.5 games back of the division leaders and four games back of a Wild Card.

As of this morning, Toronto is +1400 to win the AL East.

The Red Sox remain the favourite at +100, but with the Tampa Bay Rays (+120) and the New York Yankees (+1200) still in the picture.

Tonight’s series opener is currently a pick’em with Thomas Hatch expected to get the nod for the Blue Jays opposite Nick Pivetta as the scheduled starter for Boston.