Russians give Team USA a stout challenge

Calling the friendly between the US and Russia a scare for the Americans is a stretch but it was by far the most competitive game the US has played this summer.

The 90-68 game was the closest Team USA has played thus far. The US again fell into old bad habits of not attaching the zone properly leading to some unsightly turnovers.

A turning point came in the middle of the third quarter when the American offense stalled and the Russians cut the lead down to just eight points. Russia’s J.R. Holden (who hails from Pittsburgh of all places) then lost his composure, throwing the ball away and bricking some awful shots.

The Russians stayed in the game with head coach David Blatt’s disciplined half court offense and a matchup zone defense that seemed to throw off the US. The game could have been even closer but the Russians missed a surprisingly large number of open shots.

As the game progressed, it also became clear that their just was not a lot of firepower on the Russian squad which led to offensive struggles. It should also be noted that Viktor Khryapa, one of the top-3 players on Russia, was held out of the game due to injury.

The slow Russian pace was partially responsible for the 90-point performance, the worst scoring output for Team USA this summer.

Beyond pace however, the American’s had several other troubles. They lacked the crispness that characterized their play in the last three games and their defensive intensity was uneven at best. They still could make individual Russian players uncomfortable when dribbling the ball but had their share of plays where they did not make the Russians work hard on offense.

Another upsetting trend was the lackadaisical play in the final four minutes when the US players began trying to make All-Star game style moves rather than just playing solid basketball. If you have game time where the result is not in doubt, try using it to work on something instead of frittering it away.

The biggest question of the game was how much were both teams, and perhaps Lithuania a few days ago, playing possum. Since these games don’t count there is little incentive to throw out the most creative plays. Lithuania learned in 2004 that beating the US before the medal round just doesn’t mean that much.

The next opponent for the US is Australia, a team that boasts a number of solid players from overseas but is build around center Andrew Bogut. The US should have an easier time with the Boomers than with Russia but will need to focus on the opponent in front of them and avoid looking ahead.