Unpleasant guests: Team USA crushes host team

For a quarter and a half it seemed like the world’s largest nation would have a chance to upset the world’s best basketball team. Then the American players made sure it didn’t happen.

A steady diet of pressuring ball handlers and sheer speed and dunking ability propelled Team USA to a 101-70 win in their Olympic opener against host nation China. The game can effectively be broken down into three parts, the beginning when the US was sloppy and China played well, the middle, when the wheels came off for China and the mop-up period.

In that first quarter and a half, shooting was the big key for the host country. Gigantic point guard Sun Yue and Yao Ming both contributed early 3-pointers and an inside shot by Yao tied the game at 29 with six minutes to go in the second quarter.

The US followed by ripping of six quick points but Li Nan drained a long range shot to halve the deficit. A big factor in the game to that point had been US turnovers which numbered nine before the halftime break.

The US finally began consistently trapping at that point and the Chinese offense began to falter. Guards were being harassed down court and shots, if they could even be taken, were hurried and missed. A 20-8 run closed the half for the US, giving them decisive control of the game.

The American onslaught continued into the third as the lead ballooned to fifteen, then twenty and then more. Chinese turnovers and missed shots became open court plays for the US which yielded dunks and open layups.

And then in the fourth quarter, a strange thing happened, the Americans began running a half-court offense. They had showed little of it all game, saving their best passes for fastbreak trailers and isolating on defenders frequently. But suddenly patience was the modus operendi.

The ball moved around the perimeter. Michael Redd roamed the baseline waiting for a defender to vacate his spot on the floor. The US looked more comfortable than it had in earlier games, just letting movement and passing define their style.

The Americans mostly won on the strength of their 2-point shots (67 percent many coming on the break) but threes are still a concern. The connected on just two of their 16 long range shots in the first half and Kobe Bryant alone missed six in the game.

One factor that greatly helped the Americans was that the Chinese team is just awful at finishing around the rim. Numerous lay-up rolled off the rim and they couldn’t seem to hit open jump shots with any consistency.

 

Dwayne Wade was the best US player, connecting on every shot he took and amassing 19 points.

 

It seems that there is a comfort zone for the US in diving for steals and running in the open court that is both an advantage and detriment to the team.  When they are running, there is no one that can stop them. But when teams slow them down and the game is tight, Team USA tightens up as well.

When the pressure was off against China, Team USA showed itself as very willing to pass and share the ball. During the competitive segment of the game, the US went to what it knew, its game. They attacked on the dribble and relied on one-on-one skills to produce many of their points but until the suspect Chinese ball handlers were tested, the US was playing at the same level as an inferior team.

What Coach K needs to do is get the players to translate their comfort in isolations to a more unselfish ball sharing style. They still have a good chance to win gold if they don’t make the adjustment, but if they do it is almost impossible to imagine them losing.

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Despite not getting as much hype as some of the other games, the most important first day game was Croatia’s 97-82 win over Australia. In each group three teams are almost sure to advance and one will be lucky to win a game. China and Germany will be fighting for one quarterfinal sport while Croatia and Australia will be dueling for the other.

The Aussies now need to upset Russia, Lithuania or Argentina and hope for an upset or help from a tie-breaker.

In the other two marquee games of the night, Spain overwhelmed Greece81-66 with their array of NBA talent and a 15-2 run. Linas Kleiza’s 3-pointer with 2.1 left in the game broke a 75 all tie between Lithuania and Argentina, registering the first upset of this tournament.