North Greenwich Arena
London, England
Time: Wednesday, 5:15 p.m. EDT
TV: NBC Sports Network
And here we are. Welcome to the knockout round. It's a great place to be, but it comes with its own set of consequences and pressures. From now on, there can be no slip-ups, no plays taken off, no lapses in concentration. Even one substandard performance can derail a team's gold medal hopes — and nothing less than gold is good enough for Team USA. Thankfully, the Americans enter this brave new world of elimination basketball with what should be a relatively mild clash with Australia. To be sure, the Aussies are capable of putting together a good game. After all, they toppled Russia just two days ago on the back of a herculean effort from Patty Mills. But the United States is still, as good as Russia has been, far and away the most talented team in this tournament. If they play at even 75 percent of their capacity, they should dispatch their quarterfinal foes with ease. Then again, there's a reason why they play these games — you have to come to play every night, no matter the talent disparity. Tonight is no different.
What To Watch For:
Defensive pressure. Team USA is so good that they can often skate by with a pedestrian defensive effort. They have done so multiple times in this tournament, allowing exceptional offensive brilliance to bail out a lack of defensive intensity. They can't (and shouldn't) continue to bank on that happening in these knockout rounds. This isn't Nigeria or Tunisia. These teams are competent, and a sub-par effort could very easily come back to bite you. When the Americans play aggressive yet disciplined perimeter defense, they are virtually unbeatable. If they bring that kind of effort for the full 40 minutes tonight, they should be just fine.
Minute allocation. It should be interesting to see if/how coach Mike Krzyzewski varies his lineup now that we are into the knockout phase. The games are do-or-die, which means every possession counts all the more. He can't afford to have lineups on the floor that aren't working. Now, assembling the right lineups may bruise some feelings. Weaker defensive players (Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony, among others) may have to sacrifice some of their minutes to others (Andre Iguodala and Russell Westbrook) who can get it done on that end of the floor. On paper, it appears some concessions probably need to be made for the good of the team. Nevertheless, the big question remains: Is Coach K willing to hurt some superstar feelings to maximize his team's performance, or would he rather roll the dice with what got him here?
Patty Mills, human wild card. If you haven't been closely following the non-American action in this Olympic tournament, you probably missed Patty Mills straight up destroying fools for the past week and a half. He is the tournament's leading scorer at 20.6 points, and has essentially carried the Aussies to this point. Team USA should have the defenders to at least slow him down — Westbrook would seem to be an ideal candidate, given his athleticism and length — but if Mills manages to get loose and the Americans have a poor shooting night, things could get dicey.
This one counts. For real this time. Let's get it done.
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