Olympic Basketball Arena
London, England
Time: Thursday, 5:15 p.m. EDT
TV: NBC Sports Network
Different day, same story. Team USA will play the heavy favorite in yet another match-up with an upstart African nation that is long on determination but short on ability, and I suspect this one will turn much the same as the Tunisia game. While Nigeria has slightly more talent and depth than their African counterparts, they are in no position to seriously challenge the embarrassment of basketball riches that will suit up in red, white, and blue jerseys. It's just not going to happen. Nevertheless, like always, all of these games count and each provides the Americans with another opportunity to work out some of the kinks before the medal round. Or in other words, with the final result of tonight's game essentially predetermined, the journey will be far more important than the destination.
What To Watch For:
Slow starts (again). The pattern continues! No matter how helpless their opponent (and honestly, Tunisia was pretty helpless), Team USA just can't seem to shake their habit of starting games with all the velocity of frozen molasses. Obviously, the second unit eventually came in and gave the team a boost on Tuesday and everything turned out fine, but that luxury may not be available to the Americans against better teams. I'm not one to fall back on the old "slippery slope" argument too often, but if they settle into this slow-starting rut of mediocrity now, it will be tough to break out of it down the road. Tonight is another opportunity to break out of the rut and bring it for the full 40 minutes.
Harden. With Kevin Love now having solidified his hold on a rotation position, James Harden is left fighting with Andre Iguodala for any remaining minutes in coach Mike Krzyzewski's regular 10-man lineup. Harden got a chance to prove himself against Tunisia, and while he played well, I didn't feel like he did enough to really make a persuasive case for more minutes against legitimate competition. Thankfully for everyone's favorite bearded basketball wonder, he should get another shot at it tonight once things start to get out of hand. He will need to prove that he can consistently connect on open threes (a skill that factored heavily in his selection to the squad, but has since come into question), handle the ball without committing turnovers, and that he's not a defensive liability on the perimeter. If Harden can do all those things, he may see some more time in the coming weeks. If not, he should start scouting out the most comfortable chair on the bench. Tonight's game will likely serve as a step in one direction or the other.
Old Man Kobe. Kobe Bryant played only 9 minutes against Tunisia. Granted, it was a 47-point blowout and Kobe has logged approximately 8 trillion minutes on those surgically-enhanced knees of his, so perhaps Coach K thought it was best to let the Mamba rest up a bit. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues tonight, resulting in Bryant watching much of the game from the bench. If it does, we'll know why.
Blowout City, part deux. Go team.
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