So Far So-so
Earlier today, the US basketball team defeated the Slovenia team 114 - 95 to win their third game in the tournament and clinch a spot in the round of 16 in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. While this accomplishment isn’t anything to write home about, at least the team has gotten off to a better start than its 2004 predecessor, which was defeated by 19 points in its first game of the preliminary round of the Olympics by Puerto Rico.
So far the team has shown some encouraging signs as well as some causes for concern. On the bright side, it appears that Coach K has decided on a starting five and tightened up the rotation a bit. Nothing is set in stone but it looks like the team will start Chris Paul, Shane Battier, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard.
While I might have started Kirk Hinrich because he’s a bigger threat from the perimeter than Paul is, I really like this line-up. Paul is a great passer and ball handler. Battier provides an outside threat and some hustle and defense. Carmelo gives you a great scoring punch. LeBron gives you a little of everything. And finally, Howard gives you rebounding and interior defense.
Halfway through a quarter, Coach K brings in Hinrich, Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson, Antawn Jamison, and Elton Brand. Coach K is still mixing up the rotation a bit but these two units appear to be working well together. At 115 points per game, the team is the only one in the tournament to be averaging over 100 points.
Another positive is that the team is doing a great job of forcing turnovers. That was Coach K’s plan from the outset and it appears to be working. In its first three games, the US is forcing the opponent to commit over 20 turnovers per game. That figure will probably go down as the competition gets tougher, but it’s a good sign.
I also like how the perimeter game is going. One of the biggest problems for the US team in recent years has been the inability to make perimeter shots in the face of the zone defenses that are favored in international play. While the team is missing Michael Redd and Ray Allen, they are currently hitting 37% of their shots from the 3-pt line, good for 10th among the 24 teams playing in Japan. I wouldn’t mind a little improvement there, but that’s not a bad start.
On the other hand, the two teams with the best 3-pt accuracy thus far are Puerto Rico and Slovenia, both of which hurt the United States from behind the arc. Puerto Rico made a blistering 10 of 16 (62.5%) three-point attempts while Slovenia was 6 of 15 (40%). China, the other team the US had faced, made 13 of 31 from 3-pt land (42%). I would feel a lot better about the team’s chances if it defended the three a little better.
Another area where I’m a little concerned is the team’s ability to stop dribble penetration by the opposing teams’ guards. Part of the problem is that the team gambles in order to try to force turnovers. When those gambles fail, it’s a lot easier for the guards to get to the rim. Hopefully the team will be able to find the right balance in the next couple of games against Italy and Senegal before the next round of play. Regardless, I still think the team will bring home the gold. Only time will tell.
So far the team has shown some encouraging signs as well as some causes for concern. On the bright side, it appears that Coach K has decided on a starting five and tightened up the rotation a bit. Nothing is set in stone but it looks like the team will start Chris Paul, Shane Battier, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard.
While I might have started Kirk Hinrich because he’s a bigger threat from the perimeter than Paul is, I really like this line-up. Paul is a great passer and ball handler. Battier provides an outside threat and some hustle and defense. Carmelo gives you a great scoring punch. LeBron gives you a little of everything. And finally, Howard gives you rebounding and interior defense.
Halfway through a quarter, Coach K brings in Hinrich, Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson, Antawn Jamison, and Elton Brand. Coach K is still mixing up the rotation a bit but these two units appear to be working well together. At 115 points per game, the team is the only one in the tournament to be averaging over 100 points.
Another positive is that the team is doing a great job of forcing turnovers. That was Coach K’s plan from the outset and it appears to be working. In its first three games, the US is forcing the opponent to commit over 20 turnovers per game. That figure will probably go down as the competition gets tougher, but it’s a good sign.
I also like how the perimeter game is going. One of the biggest problems for the US team in recent years has been the inability to make perimeter shots in the face of the zone defenses that are favored in international play. While the team is missing Michael Redd and Ray Allen, they are currently hitting 37% of their shots from the 3-pt line, good for 10th among the 24 teams playing in Japan. I wouldn’t mind a little improvement there, but that’s not a bad start.
On the other hand, the two teams with the best 3-pt accuracy thus far are Puerto Rico and Slovenia, both of which hurt the United States from behind the arc. Puerto Rico made a blistering 10 of 16 (62.5%) three-point attempts while Slovenia was 6 of 15 (40%). China, the other team the US had faced, made 13 of 31 from 3-pt land (42%). I would feel a lot better about the team’s chances if it defended the three a little better.
Another area where I’m a little concerned is the team’s ability to stop dribble penetration by the opposing teams’ guards. Part of the problem is that the team gambles in order to try to force turnovers. When those gambles fail, it’s a lot easier for the guards to get to the rim. Hopefully the team will be able to find the right balance in the next couple of games against Italy and Senegal before the next round of play. Regardless, I still think the team will bring home the gold. Only time will tell.
posted by The Pocho at 12:43 PM
2 Comments:
The team may be averaging over 100 points but it's probably also giving up more points than any other team by far. Yes, that is partly tempo but it's also just not playing defense. Did you Argentina, it won its last game 96-54 or something like that. We'll see but I'm not sold on this being a new, more disciplined Team USA.
Melo is given a lot of credit for being a leader on this team and I think he is in fact an apt model -- plays hard, wants to win, thinnks he's a money guy, but also still immature, thinks defense is outscoring his man and remains unproven in the clutch.
Yeah, Argentina will be tough to beat. But I still think it will happen.
I read that Carmelo has a pretty good percentage of making clutch shots. I remember his rookie year Denver and Portland were fighting each other for the last playoff spot and Carmelo played big in a couple of games against them down the stretch.
Post a Comment
<< Home