Pre-Game Primer: USA vs. Great Britain

Manchester Arena
Manchester, England

Time: 2:10 p.m. EDT

TV: ESPN2

Apologies for our absence before and after Team USA's last exhibition game against Brazil. A confluence of factors — a recent move left me without Internet access for the past few days, and Ben Wagner was on a plane and thus unable to see the game — conspired to prevent us from doing our due diligence in breaking down the contest. Nevertheless, we're here now and, in the time we were away, the team picked up and flew to England on us. They'll take on the British team this afternoon in Manchester — a game that, from a competitive standpoint, should be a bit of a snooze. However, as with all these exhibition games, that shouldn't prevent us from learning quite a bit about this team and where everything stands with the start of the Olympics only 10 days away.

Report Card: USA 113, Dominican Republic 59

United States

113

Final

59

Dominican Republic

STARTERS

	Chris Paul, G 0-1 FG | 0-1 3PT | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 0 PTS Whether it was to rest his injured thumb or for some other reason, Paul didn't see much time on Thursday, playing only 8 minutes. When he was on the floor, he was his usual CP3 self, but the sample size isn't big enough to fairly award a grade.
	Kobe Bryant, G 2-6 FG | 0-3 3PT | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 4 PTS A below-average effort for Kobe. He looked disjointed and, dare I say it, old out there. Nevertheless, he is still Kobe and he hit a few unreal shots, as he is prone to doing. This clearly wasn't his best game, but Kobe's not done yet.
	Carmelo Anthony, F 3-6 FG | 0-0 3PT | 7-8 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 13 PTS Carmelo score very efficiently, repeatedly attacking the basket and getting to the line. He's still not interested in playing defense, but if he was, hell might actually freeze over. Melo just is who he is — and he had a solid game against the D.R.
	LeBron James, F 2-5 FG | 1-3 3PT | 2-4 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 7 PTS LeBron James is the best player in the world, but he was mostly invisible on Thursday. Coach K opted to rest him, playing him only 17 minutes, but he wasn't aggressive when he did get his chances. That's fine in Vegas, not so much in London.
	Tyson Chandler, C 3-3 FG | 0-0 3PT | 1-2 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 7 PTS Chandler got into foul trouble early, which is something that absolutely cannot happen against teams like Spain and Brazil. However, he rallied in the second half and showed why he'll be indispensable as the anchor of the defense.

Pre-Game Primer: USA vs. Dominican Republic

Thomas & Mack Center
Las Vegas, NV

Time: 9:00 p.m. EST

TV: ESPN

It's here. Tonight, we will finally get our first (in-game) glimpse of the 2012 incarnation of Team USA when coach John Calipari's Dominican Republic squad visit the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. As has become customary with this year's team, injuries continue to abound, so we may not be able to get a full picture of how the squad will fit together. Blake Griffin will be out (and maybe for awhile) after re-injuring his knee during practice yesterday, while Chris Paul may be limited as he continues to struggle with a sprained thumb. However, no matter who winds up on the court, keen observers should be able to begin gathering at least some insight as to how coach Mike Krzyzewski expects this team to operate in the weeks ahead. It should be fun.