Olympics Basketball 2012: Team USA Too Dependent on 3-Point Shots

Want to know how Tunisia stayed relatively competitive with Team USA for a full 10 minutes on Tuesday?

The Americans' affinity for the international three-point shot, results be damned.

If Team USA isn't careful, its propensity to jack up three-pointers could keep digging the team into deeper and deeper holes as they advance toward the medal rounds.

The Americans missed all eight of their three-point attempts in the first quarter against Tunisia on Tuesday, after having missed their first six tries from deep in their opening game against France.

Tunisia, on the other hand, knocked down three of their nine three-point attempts in the first quarter, allowing them to stay close to Team USA for longer than expected. (The Americans entered the game as 50+ point favorites.)

It's no surprise to see inferior teams bombing away from deep against Team USA. The Tunisians, who finished 9-of-26 for the game from downtown, lacked the offensive weaponry that would have set them up for easy baskets inside against the Americans.

At least they fared better than the French, who opened their Olympics against the Americans with a 2-of-22 night from deep.

As long as Team USA continues to close out strongly on opponents jacking up long-range jumpers, their defense should hold up against the three-point barrage.

It doesn't mean they should emulate the strategy, though.

Consider this: The Orlando Magic led the NBA with 27 three-point field-goal attempts per game this past season. Overall, 34.6 of their shot attempts came from downtown.

Through two Olympic games, the Americans have taken 142 shots overall, with 50 coming from deep. That's 35.2 percent of their shots coming from three-point range.

In exhibition play, Team USA's averages were only more out of whack. Of their 357 shot attempts, 138 came from downtown, which constituted 38.7 percent of their total offense.

With the amount of talent on Team USA, the Americans don't need to be taking so many threes, even if the line may be a foot-and-a-half closer at the top of the arc.

Instead, Team USA should be looking to improve its half court mid-range game before medal play.

Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook rarely hesitate when they're open with a 10- to 15- foot jumper, but others on the team tend to pass up those shots more often than not.

We're talking about an admittedly small sample size here, but through the Americans' first two games, they've only shot 42.1 percent from the floor. For a team with as much talent as they have, that's pretty hard to believe.

One look at the shooting splits explains it all. They've only hit 18 of their 50 shots from deep (36 percent), while knocking down 56 of their 92 attempts from inside the three-point line (60.9 percent).

A similar trend appeared in exhibition play, where the Americans shot 51.8 percent overall. They knocked down a respectable 40.6 percent of their three-pointers, but shot 58.9 percent from two.

Team USA very well may have contained some of its aggressiveness during exhibition play for the actual Olympics. Despite attempting 77 more shots than their five opponents, the Americans managed to take 13 fewer trips to the free-throw line.

Through two games, that imbalance appears to be back in alignment. The Americans held a 56-48 advantage in terms of free throw attempts against the French and Tunisians, and knocked down 75 percent of those tries.

It's no secret that the Americans' plan in these Olympics is to get the ball in the open court and run it down their opponents' throats.

When that plan falters, however, Team USA needs a backup.

Three-point bombing isn't it.

Instead, the Americans need to stay aggressive offensively, pounding the ball into the paint and drawing fouls against opponents.

There's a chance that as we move forward into the medal rounds, the Americans dial it back on the threes, recognizing how well they're shooting from two in these Olympics.

There's also a chance that their hubris continues blinding them.  They can get away with slow starts against Tunisia and Nigeria, but what happens if an opponent opens a double-digit lead against them, like Brazil did in exhibition play? More threes?

It's a minor wart, no question about that.

But, as Michael Phelps learned in his record-tying 200-meter butterfly race on Tuesday, even the slightest misstep can mean the difference between gold and silver in the Olympics.

If the Americans keep playing with fire from three-point range, they're only increasing the chances they'll get burned in one of these games.