Despite making it through the preliminary rounds unscathed, going 5-0, there was still reason to worry about the long-term well-being of Team USA. Especially on offense, they hadn't been impressive, or even consistent for that matter. With elimination on the line, however, Team USA handled their business accordingly, crushing Angola 121-66.
Leading up to their matchup against the African country, many have reminisced on the 1992 Olympics, when the Dream Team pummeled Angola 89-53. Monday, the current Team USA did their best Dream Team impression yet.
With no games since last Thursday, Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, his coaching staff and Team USA got a chance to work some kinks out. No doubt, defensive rotations and ball movement were among the key teaching points.
Right out of the gate, Team USA was clicking on all cylinders, and it was clear that the game would be over in just a few minutes. The starting unit -- the same that had started every game up to this point -- came out with the best energy they have shown in the past few weeks. Defensively they got after it, Kevin Durant was his usual scoring-self, and Chauncey Billups and Lamar Odom looked the best they have all tournament.
Angola played a major part in the U.S.'s early success. While most other opponents thus far have been cautious not to let Team USA get loose in transition, Angola played right to that, as they were looking to run themselves. Unfortunately for them, America was far better at it. In addition to pushing the ball well, their half-court ball movement was the also the best it had been in the past few weeks, and got Team USA open shot and open shot. The power of the extra pass was on full display.
At the end of one, Team USA led it 33-13 -- game.
The Team USA bench came in and picked up right where the starters left off. While they did get lazy on D, giving up easy baskets here and there. Still, it didn't matter, as they continued to run away with the game. At the half, behind 17 points from Durant and 16 from Billups, they led Angola, 68-35.
The second half brought more of the same, and much of the minutes went to the bench as Coach K used the big lead as an opportunity to get his starters some rest and his backups some playing time.
Regardless of who was playing for the U.S., they were knocking down 3's.Team USA shot 47 percent from deep, making 18 three's, including five apiece from Eric Gordon and Chauncey Billups, and three from Derrick Rose.
By game's end, they had 30 assists against just five turnovers. They will play the winner of the Russia/New Zealand game in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
With the top seed already wrapped FIBA Championship, a bit of a letdown, though obviously unwanted, wouldn't be completely unforgivable. Especially as Team USA was facing lowly Tunisia, who, entering Thursday's game, was 0-4. While they came out sluggish, Team USA would eventually pull away, winning 92-57.
For State-siders, the game came on bright and early -- 9:30 AM for some, 8:30 for others and still even earlier for those out west. Team USA opened the game looking like they just woke up, even though it was early evening in Turkey. They struggled mightily from the field early on, but Kevin Durant held it down, scoring nine of Team USA's first 13 points. Ending the quarter on a 10-5 run, they led 19-13 at the end of one.
Tunisia deserves great credit for hanging with the Americans. They fought and never backed down, finding ways to put the ball in the basket early on; they were simply out-hustling Team USA. As Team USA's shooting woes continued, wandering for some kind of rhythm. Meanwhile, Tunisia continued to scrap their way through and hung in there throughout the first half. Knocking down six 3's to America's one, Tunisia came within two and trailed by six at the half, 39-33.
In the second half, however, Team USA's snapped out of their shooting slump, depth started to kick in and they slowly wore down Tunisia. Durant, Derrick Rose and Chauncey Billups got things going for the starting unit, but it was again the bench that would official close the casket on the competition. Eric Gordon, Russell Westbrook and Stephon Curry led the way.
Gordon, in particular, looked spectacular. 7-10 from the field, including 4-7 from 3, he was the catalyst in the second half, knocking down shots with ease. He was also great on defense, especially on the ball, coming up with three steals.
Tunisia was clearly overmatched. Team USA was able to open up the floor, outscoring Tunisia 32-6 in fastbreak points, and as they ran the floor, they ran away with the game. Gordon led Team USA with 21 points. Durant had 14 and Curry had 13.
Russell Westbrook added 14, as well, and continued to pad his great field goal percentage (60%) with several high-flying dunks. To his credit, he knocked down a few midrange jumpers -- which had been a weakness of his -- that looked very nice.
With pool play out of the way, top-seeded Team USA with a 5-0 record, will now prepare for the elimination rounds. Their first game will come against Angola on Monday.
Coming into the FIBA World Championship, the expectations were that Team USA would have three tough games to get through in pool play, and then to breeze through the last two games. So far, everything is going to according to plan.
Team USA handled their first three opponents -- Croatia, Slovenia and Brazil -- then demolished Iran on Wednesday, winning 88-51.
With no games yesterday, USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski let his players sleep in and gave them the day off. In the first quarter against Iran, they were still in chill mode. In their most previous game, facing Brazil, Team USA's inability to execute in the half-court was on full display. Early in Wednesday's game, it didn't look much better. They opened the game up incredibly sloppy -- on offense and defense.
As usual, it was Durant leading the scoring, but again, there was little ball movement, little screen action and a bevy of turnovers, many of which were unforced. Even the defense fell off today. Trying to blow out Iran from the jump ball, Team USA was continuously reaching, getting beat on defense. Luckily for the Americans, Iran is just bad.
The best example of just how bad the Team USA offense was came in the final seconds of the first quarter. One pass was made, no screens were set, no one moved, and the result was a shot clock violation. At the end of one, Team USA led it 19-13.
Against Brazil, Coach K tightened the rotation leaving many of the bench players sitting for the entire game. Wednesday, he went to them early, and it would be them that finally jump-started the Americans. Eric Gordon, Russell Westbrook, Rudy Gay and especially Kevin Love, came in to provide great energy and solid D. At one point, Love scored nine straight.
The starters came back in and picked up right where the bench left off, and when Iran went to the 2-3 zone, Team USA sliced and diced it. By the half, they lead Iran 42-28.
Team USA opened the third quarter with two steals on Iran's first three possessions, and three wide open layups. Derrick Rose led the way with six of their first 10, and in less than two minutes, they had officially sewn up the win. They would cruise from that point on, outscoring Iran 46-23 in the second half.
Kevin Love led Team USA with 13 points. Durant had 12 and Rose added 11. Hamed Haddadi, of the Memphis Grizzlies, led Iran with 19 points, but the most impressive performance came from Arsalan Kazemi. Kazemi, who will be a sophomore at Rice University this season, had 14 points and five steals, showing off good savvy and athleticism.
Team USA will play Tunisia tomorrow in their final game of pool play before the elimination rounds begin.
Coming off of what was by far their most impressive performance, against Slovenia, Team USA reverted back to some of their old ways in their bout against Brazil on Monday. Poor play on both sides of the ball led to a 40 minute struggle for the Americans, though they would eventually -- luckily -- pull it out, winning 70-68.
It was all Brazil in the game's early minute, as they opened up 6-for-6 from the field. Brazil came out with great energy, and did a nice job of pushing the ball getting several of those baskets in transition. As great as Brazil was on offense, Team USA was equally as bad on defense. While many of Brazil's baskets were products of good play on their part, others wide open shots, results of poor help and defensive rotations by the Americans.
Kevin Durant, who had nine points in the first quarter, was the only member of Team USA able to get something going. Interestingly, Kevin Love got the call from Coach K as the first big man off the bench. It had been Tyson Chandler, but Love's strong play in yesterday's win over Slovenia earned him the look. At the end of one, Brazil led 28-22, shooting a torrid 71%.
Team USA's defense continued to struggle in the second quarter, and, unfortunately their offense was not much better. As was the case in many of their early exhibition games, they often got caught standing, watching guys play one-on-one. Brazil deserves some credit, too, for doing a good job of not letting Team USA get loose for any fastbreak points. At the same time, poor shot selection and decision-making give reason for the US to blame themselves.
Durant shouldered the load for the entire quarter. By the half he had 19, and had it not been for him, Team USA would have been facing a much harsher deficit. Brazil's offense, on the other hand, looked outstanding. Their guards did an excellent job pushing the ball, getting in the paint and knocking down shots. More importantly, they, teaming with center, Tiago Splitter, put on an absolute clinic on the pick-and-roll.
In addition to using and reading the screen to perfection, Splitter, who was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in 2006 and should finally be coming over this year, and his fellow teammates spaced the floor flawlessly, thus enabling them to spot for open jumpers and catch the US out of position. Brazil shot 58 percent from the field and 64 percent from three in the first half.
However, despite their incredibly confident play, and extremely hot hands Brazil led by just three at the half, 46-43.
Coach K and Team USA made some half-time adjustments that were immediately on display to start the third quarter. Burned by the pick-and-roll for the entire first half, they began hedging out much harder, even trapping it at times. Doing so denied Brazil the penetration that came so easily earlier in the game. It also helped that Brazil went ice cold, and would remain that way for the rest of the half.
Team USA opened with an 8-0 run, and got a more balanced scoring effort, with Durant, Chauncey Billups and Derrick Rose contributing, but were still stagnant and inefficient. Rose showed off his floater some more, which has been near automatic over the past few weeks. This one he pulled from about 15 feet. Both teams struggled from the field, but Team USA managed to push their way ahead, leading 61-59.
If all offense was dormant in the third quarter, it was completely nonexistent in the fourth, as both teams scored just nine points. Leading by two, Team USA fouled guard Marcelo Huertas with 3.5 seconds. After missing the first free-throw, Huertas intentionally missed the second and getting the rebound, passing it to Leandro Barbosa underneath the basket. Barbosa got a layup off, but had it altered by Kevin Love, bouncing in and out. Team USA escaped with the victory, 70-68.
Durant again led the way for Team USA, finishing with 27 points on 9-18 shooting. Chauncey Billups and Derrick Rose added 15 and 11, respectively. Coach K tightened the lineup in a major way. Russell Westbrook and Rudy Gay were the only bench players to play more than five minutes, though, Kevin Love and Tyson Chandler did make solid contributions when called upon.
Marcus Vinicius Nieira Souza led Brazil with 16 points. Tiago Splitter looked legit, increasing the hype of his rival, as he showed off solid rebounding ability, good finishing skills, and nice hands, to go with a great basketball IQ.
As much they struggled, it was encouraging to see them find a way to pull out a close one. Team USA is off tomorrow and will play Iran on Wednesday.
