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| Photo: Fox Deportes |
On Thursday night, Team USA's summer officially began as coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Americans met up with coach John Calipari and the Dominican Republic in an exhibition game in Las Vegas — with the red, white, and blue running the Dominicans out of the building, winning 113-59.
It was a definite statement game for Team USA. Much has been made about the Americans' lack of traditional big men, and Tyson Chandler remains the only true center on the roster. Chandler played limited minutes, getting into early foul trouble and forcing Krzyzewski to go small, using three forwards with LeBron James playing chunks of the game at center.
Once the Americans went small, they were relentless with their ball pressure, seriously disrupting the Dominicans' offense as they pressured the ball the full length of the court. Russell Westbrook was particularly impressive as his next-level athleticism wreaked havoc on Calipari's ball-handlers, who frequently were unable to start their offense until 15 seconds into the 24-second shot clock.
With so much being made about the Americans' lack of size, Coach K utilized this game to demonstrate that Team USA is so athletic that size may be irrelevant. The team's superior athleticism was awe-inspiring as they utilized that full-court press to ultimately score 38 points on 27 turnovers.
Furthermore, Coach K proved that he didn't need size to stop a dominant post player. The Dominican Republic's best player is the Atlanta Hawks' Al Horford, who had been fantastic during Olympic qualifying yet was completely ineffective against the USA's smaller, high-pressure lineup. The Americans' pressure was so dominant that the guards were unable to get Horford the ball either in position or with enough time to effectively score. If they can press with this same type of efficacy throughout its Olympic run, the Gasol brothers may not get a chance to exploit Team USA's lack of size in a future matchup with Spain.
In playing small and utilizing players like LeBron James and Kevin Love at the center position, Krzyzewski also made a definitive statement about the future of the game. The 2012 NBA Finals signaled a tectonic shift in the way basketball is played at the highest level, and the 2012 U.S. Olympic team is becoming the ultimate manifestation of that shift.
The game is now less centered around the traditional positions, with athletic shooting ("stretch") forwards taking the place of lumbering big men. A player's expertise at a particular position is becoming less valuable than their versatility to play multiple ones. Players like Russell Westbrook, Andre Iguodala, LeBron James, and Kevin Durant — incredibly athletic players able to play three positions — are the future of basketball.
If Team USA does win the gold medal, taking out a team with superior size like Spain along the way, it will be more than just another gold medal for the country's ample trophy case — it will be the beginning of an entirely new paradigm of basketball, one that the United States is set to continue dominating for the foreseeable future.
Other Thoughts:
- Kevin Durant also made a statement in Thursday's game after Carmelo Anthony was selected to start over him. Durant, now the back-to-back-to-back NBA scoring champ, came off the bench to go 9-11 from the field to lead all scorers with 24 points (including five first-half three-pointers), while also grabbing 10 rebounds. Durant may be the ultimate international basketball player. He routinely makes threes from five feet behind the NBA line and, with the FIBA line being so much closer, three-point attempts are easy mid-range jumpers for him. Durant was the MVP of the 2010 FIBA World Championships and Melo's selection to the starting lineup seemed strange — but Coach K quickly recognized his mistake and KD started the second half. Durant is quite obviously the second best player on the team after LeBron James, he is the best scorer in the world bar none, and the rules of the international game benefit him more than any other player on the team. After the game, Durant said, "It was cool coming off the bench for the first time." If I were him, I wouldn't get used to it.
- After looking a bit rusty in practice this week, Kevin Love came out and immediately threw up a couple of air balls. I'm not expecting much from K-Love at first. He's going to need a few games to really get back into the flow of high-level basketball. Remember, Love hasn't played a full game since April 9th. (He played 8 minutes on the 11th before leaving with an injury.) It wasn't surprising that LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Andre Iguodala were the best players for Team USA — all of them were involved in long playoff runs and had only had a few weeks off before reporting to camp.
- Speaking of Iguodala, I had some concerns about where he would fit into this team, and it only took about 10 minutes for those concerns to be completely resolved. Iggy was brilliant against the Dominican Republic. In fact, it might have been the best game I can remember watching him play — ever. His role on this team is probably exactly what his NBA destiny should have been (instead of being the pseudo-best player on a middling playoff team). Iguodala is perfectly content to play lock-down defense, knock down open threes, and run the floor when needed — exactly what this team needs from its ideal sixth man. I now fully expect for Iguodala to be a major bench contributor. Every good team needs the "little things" guy, a high-character, high-chemistry, high-energy player who will do all the little things without demanding touches or trying to be the star — and that's a role for which Andre Iguodala is perfectly suited.
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