I wrote in my last blog about Team USA that it is important they not settle for jump shots in their offense. They showed why on Monday night against Brazil in their 80-69 victory. They shot just 41% from the field and only 6 of 24 from behind the three-point arc. As good as they are, the reality is you cannot rely on perimeter shooting every night and expect to win against good teams. Brazil just wasn't quite good enough. It doesn't matter who you are. On nights when shots do not fall you have to rely on toughness.
For Team USA their toughness again came in the form of their defense. 26 Brazil turnovers resulted in 28 Team USA points. That was the difference. Their defensive ball pressure is the highest level of pressure you will find. I thought Chris Paul's pressure was really good against Brazil. The thing to watch is the back end of the defense in those traps. The instincts of the other three defenders when the opponent passes out of those traps is what makes a good defensive pressure team great.
As expected Team USA had a difficult time on the boards against a bigger Brazil team, too. Brazil outrebounded Team USA 38-30. The Cleveland Cavaliers' Anderson Varejao was really good, scoring 12 points and securing 13 of those Brazil rebounds.
On nights when they don't shoot well and are outrebounded Team USA's margin for error will be smaller. I will be interested to see if Mike Krzyzewski draws up anything to get guys like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, or Kobe Bryant more post touches. They're not going to run their offense through Tyson Chandler in the post. You saw the Miami Heat be much more effective in the post-season when getting LeBron open in the post off some interior screens. Personally, I think Carmelo is much more consistent with his back to the basket than going off the dribble. And Kobe is one of the best mid-post players in the game.
USA vs. Great Britain
Team USA will play the Olympic host country today in their third exhibition in Manchester, England. Team USA will be a big favorite. It will be another chance for this team to develop in preparation for the Games. The reality is with the twelve players they have for London they have only practiced five times and played in two exhibition games.
Great Britain has several names that Americans will recognize. The most notable is Chicago Bull Luol Deng. I still have nightmares from his Duke team beating Xavier in the Elite Eight in 2004. J.J. Reddick was the all-time leading scorer in the ACC at the time but Deng, just a freshman, was the best player on the court. Without him Xavier makes the Final Four that year.
The hosts' other top player is Joel Freeland. At the age of 19, Freeland was the 30th pick of the Portland Trailblazers in the 2006 NBA Draft. The 6'10" skilled big man has played in Europe his entire career but recently signed with Portland and will play there beginning the 2012-13 season.
Almost every Great Britain team member played collegiately in the U.S. In addition to Deng, they include:
- Kieron Achara (Duquesne)
- Robert Archibald (Illinois and four NBA teams in two years)
- Eric Boateng (began at Duke before transferring to Arizona St.)
- Kyle Johnson (helped Long Island U. to 2011 NCAA Tournament)
- Andrew Lawrence (will be a senior at College of Charleston this year)
- Mike Lenzly (Wofford)
- Pops Mensah-Bonsu (George Washington and stints with five different NBA teams)
- Nate Reinking (Kent)
- Drew Sullivan (Villanova)
USA Women's National Team
I had a chance to watch some of the Women's National Team play Great Britain yesterday in an exhibition in Manchester. USA got off to a poor start and was down ten at one point. Perhaps jet lag had something to do with it. But a 21-0 run sparked the USA and they went on to win easily 88-63. Coach Geno Auriemma is using the Triangle Offense with this team. This is a great offense for this team since it utilizes great spacing and is able to isolate these great players' skills. Lindsay Whalen and Maya Moore have been playing very well for this team off the bench. I've also found it interesting to watch Diana Taurasi. She is such a talented scoring guard, arguably the best player in the world, but with all of the talent on this team she is distributing much more. Both the USA Women's National Team, much like the men, rely on their defensive pressure to create turnovers. I doubt anyone challenges them in London. They are worth watching.
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