USA vs. Mexico: TV Info, Live Stream and Preview for FIBA World Cup 2014
On the surface, all has gone as expected for the United States at the 2014 FIBA World Cup. The favorites captured Group C with ease, winning their five games by an average of 33.2 points and not allowing a single team to come within 20.
From a pure results-based judgement, the United States have rarely looked better. In reality, the U.S. heads into Saturday's Round of 16 game against Mexico with a treasure trove of questions in need of answering.
First, the shooting. The United States shot a paltry 34.4 percent from beyond the three-point arc in their first five games, ranking 13th among the 24 teams that took the trip to Spain.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Stephen Curry and James Harden, expected to be among the team's most reliable three-point shooters along with Klay Thompson, have struggled mightily from the field. Curry is knocking down a disappointing 37.8 percent of his shots overall and has at times consigned himself to a facilitating role out of frustration. Harden has been more effective on average but has made less than a quarter of his shots from the shorter FIBA three-point line.
The struggles from distance have led to some uncharacteristic offensive struggles. The United States trailed Ukraine 19-14 after the first quarter on Thursday and were down five points to Turkey at the halftime break before turning on the jets as the game went along.
"We've gotta start the games a little bit better, with a little more assertiveness, but other than that we've played well," Curry told ESPN's Marc Stein. "You've gotta remember, we haven't played together that long. This is a brand new team. So every game you gotta stay focused on getting better and getting more chemistry on the court."
| Saturday, Sept. 6 | 10 a.m. | ESPN3 | ESPN2 |
The slow build of chemistry was to be expected given the tumult of the Team USA camp in Las Vegas. Paul George's injury combined Kevin Love's early withdrawal and Kevin Durant's late departure to leave coach Mike Krzyzewski scrambling for late invitees and cobbling together a makeshift roster on the fly.
Concerns about point guard Derrick Rose's long-term health—and his less-than-stellar play so far—have only exacerbated the issues. Coach K was also left dealing with another scare on Thursday, as Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving crashed hard to the floor late against Ukraine. Irving confirmed he was OK on Twitter and is expected to play:
Picking up the slack for a lackluster backcourt has been the frontcourt duo of Anthony Davis and Kenneth Faried, who have been among the best players in the tournament.
Faried, the Denver Nuggets forward who has probably added millions of dollars to his upcoming extension in Spain, has been a never-ending source of energy and athleticism. He's averaging 13.2 points and 7.8 rebounds in only 22 minutes per game, all while shooting a ridiculous 78 percent from the floor. A bit of a surprise selection when invited to Las Vegas, Faried's energy and positive attitude has been infectious on this young roster.
“I just love to play basketball,” Faried told reporters this week. “Every time I step on the basketball court, you never know it could be your last game, so I like to play my hardest in every game. When you love the game like that it tends to reward you back.”
Davis, meanwhile, seems like a borderline lock for MVP honors if the United States take the gold. Held to a supporting role two years ago in London, Davis has been a two-way menace whose length teams cannot contend with. In group play, he averaged a little less than two blocks per game but altered plenty more and left opponents afraid to even go into the paint when he's within the radius of the basket.
Davis is also the team's leading scorer at 15.8 points per game and has accumulated only two turnovers in 103 minutes played.
''I think Coach K (Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski) has been a big part of that in pushing him to be a leader," Pelicans coach Monty Williams recently told John Reid of NOLA.com. "When you think about the names on this team, and you look at the impact on the game that he has, you seldom say there’s a better player on the floor than Anthony. That’s got to help him from a confidence standpoint.''
Add some solid (and understated) play from DeMarcus Cousins off the bench, and Coach K's top-three big men have been as good if not better than Spain. Given how much trouble he's had sorting out the Mason Plumlee-Andre Drummond pair, one has to wonder whether Krzyzewski would choose Damian Lillard, Kyle Korver or Chandler Parsons to improve on the anemic perimeter shooting.
Bright-side thinking for the United States forces an admission that it has plenty of time to work out the rough edges. Mexico, which went 2-3 in Group D to earn the fourth and final elimination-round spot, will almost certainly not pose an upset threat.
Guard Jorge Gutierrez is the only Mexican player currently on an NBA roster, though center Gustavo Ayon should latch onto a roster by training camp. Like many big men on the international stage, Ayon has parlayed his size and length into a stellar tournament. He is averaging 15.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting better than 60 percent from the floor. Ayon was the MVP of last year's FIBA Americas tournament, which qualified Mexico for the World Cup.
Sergio Valdeolmillos' team has been able to stay competitive by purposefully working the ball around and using most of the shot clock. Mexico has taken the eighth-fewest shots of any team while making by far the fewest free-throw attempts. Its scoring has also been top heavy, with Ayon, Gutierrez, Hector Hernandez and Francisco Cruz accounting for 50 of the team's 74-point average.
Given the preponderance of talented big men on the United States' roster, it should have little trouble forcing Ayon into the worst game of his tournament. Davis is too long, DeMarcus Cousins is too big and even the likes of Andre Drummond and Mason Plumlee have the athleticism to make his life difficult.
That would leave the game up to the perimeter players, which, well, you know where this is headed. Mexico, which deserves credit for making the World Cup for the first time in 40 years, has no shot at overcoming the insurmountable odds laid at its feet. The United States has too much talent, too much athleticism, too much everything.
For the U.S., Saturday's result will mirror the five which came before. It'll be about changing the process of these blowout wins that's most important for Coach K and Co. The United States can get away with 14-point first quarters against Ukraine and 35-point halves against Turkey, but the margin for error is thinning.
With co-favorite Spain looking like a juggernaut, it's time for the U.S. to start firing on all cylinders. If not, we might be looking 2006 deja vu in a couple weeks.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
