U.S. sticks to gameplan crushes Germany

The United States continued its destruction of the Olympic games by destroying Zie Germans 106-57. Oddly enough, the game might not have been as close as the score indictates. The US man-handled Nowitizki and company from the start and they didn’t have a shot.

I must say that I have been very pleased in how they are playing. The major difference between the U.S. and the rest of the world is the U.S. is much more athletic and not neccessarily more skilled. With this type of team, a coach wants to pressure defensively, create turnovers and get out on the fast break to get easy baskets. The U.S. has gone and out and done this exact gameplan: exploiting their strenghts while hiding their weaknesses (shooting).

On the flip the side, I haven’t seen the rest of the world come out with the right gameplan to stop the Americans. They have seemed to have adapted to more of an “American” style of play. I see the recipe for the international teams beat the “Redeem Team” as the following:

(Sidenote: Who came up with the Redeem Team name? It is awful. NBC, ESPN and whoever elses uses it please stop.)

Pack in the zone and beg the U.S. to shoot

Most of the teams have come out man-to-man to start the games and didn’t go zone until it was too late. I wouldn’t have my team go beyond 18 ft until Coach K puts Michael Redd or Tayshaun Prince in the game. Most of the U.S. players are not used to being a “catch and shoot” guy. Make them a “catch and shoot” guy and play mind games with them. Hey, they are scoring at will anyways might as well try something different.

Slow the game offensively to a snail’s pace

Run a motion/passing game offense and keep moving the ball. I want to see how much the Americans will rotate. They have been going for steals on the first or second pass, but will they continue to play hard defensively through the entire shot-clock? The international teams have come out with plenty of pick and rolls, pick and pops and trying to penetrate and kick. These situations worked well before when the U.S. was not prepared, but, now, they have prepared for it and their athletic dominance creates way too many opportunities for turnovers in these situations.

Pray to whatever God your country follows

I don’t see how the U.S. can be beat in these Olympics. They are just flat-out playing great and do not think another team has a shot. Therefore, pray pray pray that your team gets on fire like Michael J. Fox in TeenWolf .

Image Source: ESPN