Thoughts on Team USA after seeing them beat China on Aug.10

[QUOTE=AppleNader]What more needs to be said? I am sure people will look at the score and the flashy dunks and say Team USA is back.

I prefer to look at:

1) The fact that we continue to overplay and gamble on defense. I recall one instance where Wade lunged for a pass that was easily caught by a Chinese player, then Wade trying to jump back to steal it again, only to commit a foul. This is not intelligent basketball. It will only hurt us, especially when we play teams like Greece, Spain, Argentina who have excellent guard play.

[B]2) Almost non-existant half court offense?[/B]

3) USA "bigs" repeatedly being worked under the post by Chinese players.

4) Howard exposing his true self? Dude has absolutely zero post game. Absolutely none. Struggled to post up, struggled to get shots off, stymied by the zone, etc.

5) Atrocious defense? I couldn't even count how many open looks Chinese players got. The only reason they missed them was because they are so damn poorly conditioned. Again, playing this kind of perimeter defense will allow better teams to kill us from 3.[/QUOTE]

They didn't need to against the lowly China. But when they play Spain ect they will be demolished without a good offense.

You guys joking? USA team can beat any team in any style. Even freestyle.

If I was the coach I would just alternate between CP3 and DWill, bench Kidd and only play him when the games are 20+ points in favor of USA(Kidd doesn't do crap, even the other teams don't care to defend him which leads to more double teaming on the other players). I would start every game with:
DWill
Kobe
Lebron
Bosh
Howard

well I just alked to Shaq and he got a message for Yao Ming,

"Yao, tell me how my balls taste"

and Shaq said he's freestylin too.

Lets not start laying heavy $ on the US after today. Despite this 30 point victory, we should note the maxim: [I]things aren't that good when you win, and things aren't that bad when you lose.[/I]

First, the good: Team USA did well against high screen rolls by having their bigs show and the ball defenders go under the screen. This demonstrates their pick/roll defense is improving.

2, fantastic quickness and speed resulted in nearly 60 points scored in transition.

3, excellent half court defense, although poor play from the Chinese backcourt (forced drives, bad shooting on the move, weak interior decisions) helped them out.

4, unselfish passing and excellent shot selection. But Michael Redd needs more burn against elite teams.

5, USA's incredible depth blew the game open in the 3rd quarter.

On the other hand....

1, interior defense sucks. The Chinese got far too many offensive rebounds and easy layups. That cannot happen against the better teams.

2, perimeter defense remains undisciplined: they failed to stay on their guys whenever the Chinese penetrated from the strong side, causing them to be out of position for kick-out passes. The game would've been a lot closer had the Chinese hit their open threes/perimeter shots.

3, zone proved USA's halfcourt offense to be nonexistent. They shot approximately 6 of 21 versus the zone, which means the tougher teams will note this and exploit against the US.

Bottom line: deeper teams with skilled perimeter players and althletic frontline will give USA far more trouble. The key to USA's gold chances depends on their ability to hit their threes.

good post and repped. I agreed with nearly every statement.

[quote]The game would've been a lot closer had the Chinese hit their open threes/perimeter shots. [/quote]

I think that this was very telling. The only reason China missed was because they are just a poorly conditioned team. The amount of wide open looks they got was staggering. A deep, strong team like Spain will absolutely make USA pay for this.

Anyone know where I can watch the highlights online? If so, please post it, thanks! :cheers:

[QUOTE=starface]well its not over for those of us on the west coast, in fact it doesnt even start for another half an hour

but thanks for the spoiler :rolleyes:[/QUOTE]lol, us west coasters are just going to have to avoid ISH till after the game...
i actually watched thru the third quarter than had to jet, so i checked the score online to see how it ended up...

[URL="http://dimemag.com/2008/08/team-usa-vs-china-breakdown/"]Dime Mag's thoughts[/URL]

[URL="http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Behind-the-box-score-where-fine-first-impressio;_ylt=Ao1Ml6vxdrkWVYkISq9VmbiVTZd4?urn=nba,99716"]Yahoo's Ball Don't Lie's thoughts[/URL]

[QUOTE]Coach K's team also had its rebounding edge disappear for a bit in the third quarter, and you really get the feeling this outfit could take an early lead for once if Coach K would just face facts and run the ball through Chris Paul (driving) or Deron Williams (the screenin' and the rollin') as a starter instead of sticking with Jason Kidd, but this is quibbling with a 31-point loss.[/QUOTE]


My thoughts are that we need to do better with the perimeter shooting. Although I don't think some of the guys that shot pretty bad against China will continue to do so. And Team USA will need to do better at the free throw line. At least try to stay in the 80% range.

[QUOTE=mrhoopfan]Kidd makes alot of hockey assists, passes that lead to the scoring pass[/QUOTE]
Honestly I think [I]anyone[/I] on Team USA can do that (Kobe, LeBron, Deron, CP3). And they also know how to shoot the ball.

Team USA could've won 40+ pts if they hadn't treated the last quarter completely as the show-time. This team is horrible in shooting 3 pointers so I suggest that they give up the plans for 3-point shooting except when Michael Redd is on the court. They shouldn't shoot more than 10 three pointers ever in FIBA games.

If China didn't hit 80% from 3 in the first half US would've won by 50+.


The only team I see giving us any trouble at this point is Spain. Argentina, Greece, and Germany all looked bad, in my opinion.

oh and Howard played horrible.

He needs to get some touch around the rim, and stop getting swatted by 6'6" SG's.


His game is essentially dunks and rebounds at this point.

[QUOTE=Resurrection]The game would've been much closer if the FIBA refs called the numerous traveling calls on James and Wade. I guess even in international ball they're giving an extra step to the Americans. Pathetic.[/QUOTE]


I agree. Obvious travelling was not called on a half a dozen occasions. This might decide a close game. I hope for better refereeing in serious games against Spain, Greece or Argentina.

[quote=darkofan]I agree. Obvious travelling was not called on a half a dozen occasions. This might decide a close game. I hope for better refereeing in serious games against Spain, Greece or Argentina.[/quote]

There were strange calls from the refs, but there was no traveling to call.

[QUOTE=Godfather]There were strange calls from the refs, but there was no traveling to call.[/QUOTE]

Just cause you're used to players taking two steps before putting down the ball doesn't mean it isn't against the rules...

Dwight has been horrible since the exhibition games started. I don't know what has happened to him between last season and now, but I hope he snaps out of it. He doesn't even look like he cares out there.

From what Ive seen the only team that can beat the US is Spain, they easily beat Greece this week and actually have a bench.

[QUOTE]I don't know if I'd call it street ball considering coach K. is the coach and his Dukies play a similar style of spread offense[/QUOTE]

Very good observation. Team USA is not playing like an All-Star style. They're playing like a college team. It's actually very entertaining to watch.

It does irritate me that American basketball supremacy is perceived to rest on the outcome of international competition. Please. In a best of seven series, nobody in the world takes us past six games. But, anything can happen in a single elimination format. In 2006, Team USA, and the Class of 2003 in particular, took major criticism for losing at the worlds to Greece. But, has anybody gone back and watched that game? Greece was hitting contested threes from twenty-three feet.

Also, if I've heard correctly, in 2010, FIBA is going to the NBA's rectangular lane? Then look for Americans to become permanently dominant once more. Nobody can hang with our post guys if they can set up that close to the basket. Opposing bigs will be flat out punished.

[QUOTE=bdreason]If China didn't hit 80% from 3 in the first half US would've won by 50+.


The only team I see giving us any trouble at this point is Spain. Argentina, Greece, and Germany all looked bad, in my opinion.[/QUOTE]

Germany didn't play bad. They had a nice win vs. Angola, Dirk and Kaman scored at will.

[QUOTE=Cangri]If I was the coach I would just alternate between CP3 and DWill, bench Kidd and only play him when the games are 20+ points in favor of USA(Kidd doesn't do crap, even the other teams don't care to defend him which leads to more double teaming on the other players). I would start every game with:
DWill
Kobe
Lebron
Bosh
Howard[/QUOTE]

who's gonna come in then when/if Bosh and Howard get in foul trouble or get tired

I think Team USA will be in trouble once they play a team that shoots the lights out, and don't turn the ball over. We all know the 3 point shot is huge in international basketball, and all it takes is a team getting hot to pull off the upset (like Lithuania in '04).

Also factoring in that outside shooting is not strong point of Team USA once again, they'll going to have some tough games against the stronger teams. Teams should play only zone against the US. Force the USA to be an outside shooting team, and they'll likely struggle.

No one will be surprised if Team USA wins gold, but I also won't be be surprised if they don't.

Personally, I like Spain.

[QUOTE=Silverbullit]Germany didn't play bad. They had a nice win vs. Angola, Dirk and Kaman scored at will.[/QUOTE]

We'll see how US handles Angola.

I'm guessing they win by 40+.

[QUOTE=Kujo]No one will be surprised if Team USA wins gold, but I also won't be be surprised if they don't.[/QUOTE]

Kujo lives in a state of constant non-surprise. Guy's seen it all anyway.

China is in no way Spain... We need to keep our composure to make it through this thing on top

I think we can do it... just can't overlook anybody with the way everybody else has gotten so much better in all these years

ive watched all the powerhouses greece spain argentina lith


no one will have a chance to beat USA its true it is the Redeem Team i predict to win by 30+ each game

[QUOTE=lilojmayo]ive watched all the powerhouses greece spain argentina lith


no one will have a chance to beat USA its true it is the Redeem Team i predict to win by 30+ each game[/QUOTE]


I sure hope so

[QUOTE=Kujo]I think Team USA will be in trouble once they play a team that shoots the lights out, and don't turn the ball over. We all know the 3 point shot is huge in international basketball, and all it takes is a team getting hot to pull off the upset (like Lithuania in '04).

Also factoring in that outside shooting is not strong point of Team USA once again, they'll going to have some tough games against the stronger teams. Teams should play only zone against the US. Force the USA to be an outside shooting team, and they'll likely struggle.

No one will be surprised if Team USA wins gold, but I also won't be be surprised if they don't.

Personally, I like Spain.[/QUOTE]
I think China was a warm up. For some reason I'm thinking the US team might loose concentration because it comes so easy for them , because quite frankly (like team China) there isn't a high skill level and weak after the first 5 players hit the floor.
- - I think Bron and Wade you'll see become the focal point to this team, and demand from the rest of the team a urgency to play well when the games get more difficult in the next rounds.
When they get there , I think there Defense will get better as well as outside shooting and play execution.
Even this team doesn't want to peak until the later rounds.
I like coach K's vision - keep bringing in guys in rotation with lots of hussle , to just burn the opponents out .

People who claimed that the US would have no trouble shooting from long range, you owe me money.:pimp:

My take on Team USA thus far:

Obviously the team is very, very talented and extremely athletic. I think generally the USA has the right blend of stars and 'role' players, but i do think there may be one too many stars and big egos for the team to reach it's full potential. However we must remember that the so called 'role' players are in fact star players on their respective teams, and also that Team USA [I]could[/I] win the Olympics while not playing to their full potential. Both are stark indicators of the immense natural talent they posses.

With all the talent, athleticism and deep bench rotations Team USA have, complications and short-fallings may appear too. I believe there are three main problems that Team USA will or may face:

1. [U]The Clash of the Ego's[/U]

When you have 4 superstar guard/wing type players who all average more than 20 ppg in the NBA playing on the same team. There are bound to be problems. Add in a few high scoring big's and Point guards and you're sure to have problems. While there have not been many obvious or public clashes yet, we have seen some minor examples; Melo's apparent 'freeze out', Kobe saying he wants only 5 or 6ppg while he seemingly takes the most shots on the team and way too many isolation plays.
Surely when the game's get tough and glory is within reach, everyone will want to be the hero. This must mean that problems lie ahead?

2. [U]A Championship team without a set play?[/U]

In both games so far, Team USA have not needed to run a single set play. While fast breaking and playing 'run and gun' style is great and entertaining. Great teams such as Spain and Argentina will not allow this. One of their guards will have the sense to hang back and stop an easy layup or dunk. I mean, those teams have some very good NBA players on it. They can play. Then can play a variety of defenses. I think that if Team USA's fast break is taken away, and they have not had enough practice at running plays, a team such as that will tear them apart. I watched Argentina demolish Australia with perfectly timed set play after perfectly timed set play. I think this non-organization of such is also to do with ego-clashes. Every man on Team USA wants to take him man one on one. How can that possibly work come the medal rounds?

Cont.

3. [U]Opponents familiarity with both themselves, Team USA's players and their style of play[/U]

The big teams players are all familiar with eachother and play together on a more consistent basis than that of Team USA. They know each other and each other's games. Also, many of the big team's players are currently plying their trade in the NBA, so therefore they are used to matching up with these American superstars. But, this team it's in FIBA rules; the rules they grew up with and know. Many of these big teams NBA players are stars. But they are stars with a difference. They share a common goal; to win. They will play as a team, not individuals. A team (of very very good players) will beat a group thrown together (of superstars playing as individuals).

For those reasons, i think Team USA will find things much harder than they think.

Please could anyone criticize my writing or give me any pointers. I want to be a sports writer when i'm older.