Film Session: USA 87, Australia 76

(Note: Sorry this is so late. There was a glitch in my DVR that prevented me from watching the original broadcast, so I had to catch the re-broadcast at 7 PM.)


Yes, Team USA is mortal. This team can and may lose.

Shocked? Don't be. This team has never been unbeatable. That said, it's going to be really fricking hard to beat them. And I say that after watching the half-court offense get completely dismantled in the last two games. Sheridan says that if the Americans play like this against Spain, we'd lose by 20. Though I think we'd probably lose, I say 8-10 would be more realistic. The one thing about Spain that favors the Americans heavily is experienced. I'm sure you've heard about Spain's assortment of NBA-level talent: Calderon, the brothers Gasol, Navarro, Garbajosa, etc. While this definitely means that Spain is the most talented team outside of the US, it also means that the American players have invaluable experience playing against them (except Fernandez). You can watch game tape and read scouting reports all day, but nothing can prepare you for guarding a player like having played against them before (of course this argument goes both ways, but I'm going to side with Kobe, LeBron, and Wade in terms of beating their scouting reports). Just something to keep in mind.

Spain is definitely good, and they're definitely better than the Boomers. But while the Australians and the Russians were getting a little physical with Team USA from the inside out, do you honestly expect that out of Spain? Maybe to some extend from Gasol Minor and maybe Garbajosa, but we'll see. That will definitely play a huge role in who walks away with a win.

But screw Spain...for now, at least. This is about the Australians and how they nearly rained on the Americans' exhibition parade. Let's go to the notes:

• Must see play of the first quarter: Team USA turns the ball over at the beginning of what should have been a pretty decent fast break, leaving the Aussies 3 on 1 against Jason Kidd. Kidd plays the lanes well, then caps the guy going in for the layup. True story.
• We really got to see the "intentional foul" rule in full effect. Carmelo Anthony got the benefit of one of these calls when he and an Aussie defender were past the free throw line as Melo was heading towards the hoop. The FIBA rule definitely seems more akin to the college intentional foul than the "breakaway foul," which is what Kamla and Fran were comparing it to during the broadcasts.
• Another slow start for Team USA, which isn't a good trend. It didn't turn out to be the thorn in the side of the Americans in this one, but getting rolling early could be pretty important in a close contest down the road.
• You want the real reason Australia was able to stay in this thing for three quarters? Transition defense. Barring steals on the perimeter, the Boomers almost always had three or four defenders back on the break in an effort to stop the layups and dunks that Team USA's "offense" relies on. The penetration and passing on the offensive end certainly didn't hurt their cause, but transition D was a key for Australia in this one.
• Kidd got absolutely NAILED on a back screen in the first, and Dwyer absolutely NAILED that point home this morning.
• I can't keep Dwyane Wade out of these notes; he's doing too many good things to neglect him. Not only is Wade our most reliable isolation scorer at this point, but also a willing and capable passer as he showed with two sweet dishes from the baseline to Chris Bosh around the basket. Then on defense, Wade plays the passing lanes better than anyone on the team. If you want a Team USA MVP so far, I'd pick Wade first, then LeBron, then Kobe.
• Patty Mills just annihilated the Americans' perimeter D. He was too quick to contain (Even for Chris Paul), and got to the basket at will. Mills is fast, but the fact that he was embarassing defender after defender shouldn't be taken lightly. I mean he's definitely fast, but that fast?
• In an earlier post I mentioned that this team is sometimes too unselfish, causing them to go late into the shot clock. That observation is sometimes true. However, the more I watch these games, the more I realize that we need to stop camoflauging what is very obviously a turnover-prone team. The passes are careless, stupid, or unplanned, and the result is unnecessary transition opportunities for the opponent and fewer transition opportunities for Team USA. Kobe was particularly bad about throwing away passes tonight, and the fact that the scorekeepers only credited him with one turnover yesterday is very generous of them.
• Picture it: Team USA throws the ball up to LeBrom James on the break, he...takes like five steps and travels? He wasn't even close to getting a shot up, and didn't even make an attempt at dribbling. This sequence is exactly what's wrong with Team USA right now.
• We get to see Kobe's defense in action. In the second, Kobe begins to pick up David Barlow. Kobe must've done a floor slap in his head, because his defense immediately caused two straight turnovers. Behold, the Doberman/Koberman.
• LeBron's settling for jumpshots, most of which have his typical fade to them. But what LeBron doesn't understand is that when he puts the ball on the floor, he's downright unstoppable. And I don't mean that in a "he's playing really well tonight, no one can stop him" kind of way. I literally mean there is no hope for a single player at the Olympics to try to stop him off the dribble. If James could grasp that, Team USA would be better off for it.
• We get to see Kobe's defense in action. In the second, after forcing two straight turnovers, Kobe begins to rack up the fouls by being ridiculously overaggressive. Doberman, indeed.
• Nike aired a new commercial featuring Team USA practice footage and Marvin Gaye's incredible rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner that was declared Team USA's anthem. Take a look:
  
  
  
  
• LeBron missed a shot and Carmelo had a chance at the rebound, but the ball became loose, bouncing around. James hit the deck along with one of the Boomers, wrestled the ball away, and tried to throw it out to a teammate before a jumpball was called. My first reaction: wow, LeBron just all-out dove for that ball, hitting the floor hard to create an extra opportunity to him. Kudos to him for his hustle. But after thinking about it? That was revenge hustle. Anyone who's ever played pickup basketball knows what I'm talking about. After you yourself miss a shot or turn the ball over, you always feel more obligated to get the ball back...immediately. Some people go into beserker mode, fouling and slapping anything in sight trying to grab it. Some people just body you up and push you around. Others, like LeBron here, just hit the deck in an effort to attone.
• Fran Fraschilla picks his medalists for the Games: USA taking gold, Spain taking silver, and Greece taking Bronze. Definitely a possibility; I'm more convinced of Greece's synergy than Argentina's...well, anything. An injured Ginobili does not a winner make. Think what you want, but he's injured.
• Kobe's passing is really sloppy in this one. Cut the no-look shit, Bean! It's not doing anything for anyone, and it's not the time to showboat when your team's up by 6-7 points.
  
• Chris Bosh played really well in this one. Personally I think he's done pretty well in the exhibitions so far, mostly because he minimizes mistakes. If you throw the ball to Dwight Howard in the post, odds are he's going to take some sort of shot at it. Bosh is a little more hesitant in throwing the ball up there, and it shows in his efficiency. It seems like he's always there for the pass into the lane at the right time, but I haven't seen him force anything yet.
• Deron Williams and Chris Paul are not looking good. Is it a coincidence that our offense is struggling as a whole? If you look at the box score, it shows up more for Deron (3 turnovers, no assists, 1 point) than it does for CP (5 assists, 1 turnover, 4 points), but neither played well by any means.
  
• For what it's worth, this game was only competitive for thee quarters. The Americans didn't run away with it in the fourth necessarily, but they kept the Aussies at arm's-length almost the whole way. That fact may speak more to the constitution and determination of this team than anything else. Team USA's most powerful weapon in the Olympics won't be the fast break, pressure defense, or isolation game. It will be the fact that they refuse to be denied, and hopefully, no one will be able to stand in the way between them and some serious bling.