92-69, US beats Greece

I hope I’m not ruining your day if you were planning on watching the highlights in primetime tonight, but the US Mens Basketball team beat Greece this morning 92-69 .

I watched a bit of it this morning on nbcolympics.com (note, you can stream the entire game online and the quality is fantastic). A few random thoughts:

• If the US loses, it’ll probably be because of foul trouble. If you’re used to watching US college or NBA basketball, it’ll feel like these International FIBA games are a complete joke from an officiating perspective. You know when you’re playing pick-up with some random dudes and that ONE GUY calls a foul on EVERYTHING? That must be how all the US players feel, especially the guards. Lots of tiny ticky-tack calls. Luckily for the US, all of the other countries are much more used to this style of officiating.
• As expected, Kobe is the ringleader. He sets the tone on defense by playing really hard and it just permeates the rest of the team. Everyone pressures hard on the ball and denies passes - sort of classic Coach K defensive philosophy.
• The size of Lebron and Carmelo really helps the US on defense. With four guys on the floor who can pick up against guards, we’re really able to switch a ton of ball and off-ball screens. Trapping off of pick-and-rolls also works great when you have those two extra perimeter defenders to deny the next pass on a trap.
• Lebron can jump very high.
• The tandem of Howard and Bosh at the 5 spot is probably the weak link, only in that we’ve only got those 10 fouls to work with (please, God, don’t force us to put Boozer in). With all the stupid shit the FIBA refs call, could be an issue.
• Chris Paul and Deron Williams both look a little uncomfortable deferring to the other scorers so much. When they’re able to spend some time breaking their guys down off the dribble, they look great. Also, when Paul is out on the break, he’s a complete blur. The transition game in general is a huge advantage for the US.
• The Greek team LOVES to flop. At one point Kobe fouled one guy and he fell down like he’d been shot with a Magnum. Right on queue, the FIBA ref called a flagrant foul (you can’t make this stuff up).

Gotta love the Olympics.