Should USA Basketball Be Worried?

USA Basketball has been challenged in its last three Olympic games. Should the team be worried heading into the knockout stage of the tournament?

The U.S. Men’s National Basketball Team made it through group play by winning all five games of the preliminary round, but the last three were all close contests.

Australia (4-1) gave the U.S. a hard-fought battle, leading 54-50 at halftime.

It was back and forth for the next two quarters, but the U.S. led by four points with 1:58 remaining.

Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant came through down the stretch for the U.S. to seal the 98-88 victory.

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Although the U.S. stepped up when it needed to, the Boomers were right with the Americans.

The toughness of Australia’s frontcourt, including Andrew Bogut, Aron Baynes and David Andersen, makes for a hard-nosed team that is not intimidated by any opponent.

The backcourt duo of Matthew Dellavedova (leading all players in assists in Rio) and Patty Mills (second-leading scorer in Rio) has played as well as any in the field, making the Aussies a legitimate threat to win a medal and potentially face the U.S. in the gold medal game.

If the two teams meet in the gold medal game, fans can expect another great match.

The next game for USA Basketball was more of a surprise, as a young Serbian team took the Americans down to the wire and had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer.

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Serbian shooting guard

missed a wide-open three-pointer which would have tied the game at the buzzer and the U.S. was fortunate to avoid overtime.

Even if the game would have gone to OT, there was little chance of Serbia winning, but the fact that it was that close in the first place is disappointing for a juggernaut team like USA.

The U.S. did not show the defensive intensity and effort necessary to remove all doubt earlier in the game and let the Serbs hang around long enough to have a chance.

America’s offense in the game was stagnant, as there was not enough ball movement and too much standing around, watching guys play one-on-one.

Paul George admitted that problem himself after the game and told NBC Sports:

"“It’s so easy to guard us. Teams are just loading up and watching us play one-on-one.”"

However, a win is a win and the team got the job done.

Sunday’s match against France was an opportunity for the team to relieve any doubts in its capabilities.

French point guard Tony Parker was “nursing a toe injury,” and given the game off to rest, making a U.S. blowout even more of a realistic possibility.

The U.S. was in control all game long, but rather than take France out of the game early and stamp its foot down, America let the Frenchmen hang around.

The U.S. showed much better ball movement than in previous games, but the lack of defensive intensity was still a problem.

France cut it to a four-point game with 5:29 remaining and although the U.S. began to pull away, it was a six-point game with 31 seconds left.

The French strategy to decide against intentionally fouling the U.S. was somewhat confusing, but France would get the ball back with seven seconds remaining and Thomas Heurtel drained a meaningless three-pointer to result in a final score of 100-97.

The U.S. defense allowing 97 points to France and 91 to Serbia is obviously not quite what fans were expecting from the team labeled “the best defensive team in U.S. Olympic history” by some writers and analysts.

The team has not played up to expectations, but has done what it needed to do through five games.

Heading into the quarterfinals, the games will really start to matter. The U.S. could be setting itself up for a rematch against France in the semifinals, should the French advance, and fans can bet that Parker will be on the floor in that contest if the two teams meet again.

Whoever ends up facing the U.S. the rest of the way, the competition will be tough. Every team is playing in a do-or-die game. Every opponent brings its best game against the U.S. hoping to make history and pull off an upset, but in the knockout stage, the pressure will be on for both sides.

The Road to a Gold Medal

Some of the teams in Rio have been in this situation before.

Aside from Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, no one on the USA Basketball roster has played in the Olympics prior to Rio.

Teams like France, Lithuania, Spain, Australia and Argentina each have several veteran players who have been through these situations before.

Their players have more continuity and familiarity with one another, spending more time in practice and sharing a longer history of international competition over recent years, and in some cases, even a decade or more of experience together.

Take Argentina, for example. Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola and Andres Nocioni are part of “the Golden Generation” of their nation’s basketball history.

The team stunned the U.S. in 2004 and went on to win the gold medal. Most of the players on Team USA were in high school or younger at the time, but Anthony remembers it all too well.

Although Argentina’s age is one of its flaws, Nocioni just scored 37 points in a double-overtime thriller.

Scola is averaging 16.8 points (eighth in Rio) and 8.8 rebounds (second in Rio) at the age of 36. Somebody forgot to tell him he’s washed  up.

Argentina will be fired up in front of thousands of fans who have made the trip to neighboring Brazil and will continue to have a strong home court advantage throughout the remainder of the tournament.

If these two teams square off, will the U.S. stay mentally poised and not collapse in the heat of the moment?

There are several other teams who can give the U.S. a good challenge in the knockout stage.

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Spain has a veteran bunch of talented players, led by Pau Gasol and Ricky Rubio, who are beginning to hit their stride in the tournament.

After losing its first two games, Spain has won two in a row, including a blowout victory over a tough Lithuania team. Spain is starting to click at the right time and perhaps the team overcame some miscues and got the ‘hiccups’ out of the way early.

Spain has faced the U.S. in back-to-back championship games, losing by 11 in 2008 and seven in 2012.

The U.S. is looking less impressive this year than those two teams and although Spain is without an important player in Marc Gasol, its players must recognize that other teams in the field have given America a tough fight and if those teams can, why can’t Spain?

Lithuania might be the most dangerous team in the field.

Although the blowout loss to Spain was embarrassing, there are various factors that would suggest that Lithuania did not bring its best effort in the game because the team knew it could avoid a quarterfinal and semifinal meeting against the U.S. by finishing in the first or third seed of Group B.

Call it tanking. Call it strategy. Whatever name people want to relegate to Lithuania’s horrible game against Spain, the team is in a great position to end up facing the U.S. in the gold medal game, assuming both make it.

Lithuania has a great mix of young players along with experienced veterans. Everyone on the team distributes the ball and different players step up in each game.

The team is well-disciplined, bolstered by a fearsome frontcourt with tough players, and has sharpshooters who can knock down outside shots.

The team chemistry and experience together is a definite advantage the Lithuanians would have against the U.S.

It’s clear that the U.S. is the most talented team in the field by far, but talent alone is not always enough. Lithuania played the U.S. in 2012 and was leading with under six minutes to go, but the Americans rallied back to win by five.

Many of those same faces are on the 2016 Lithuanian Olympic team. The U.S. has mostly young, new faces, who weren’t there for that game and are still learning on the fly through Olympic competition.

Lithuania is possibly the biggest threat to the U.S. after four games of group play, but we’ll have a better idea of what to expect when it plays its final game of the preliminary round on Monday against Croatia.

So should USA Basketball be worried?

Should the U.S. be worried?

“Worry” might be a bit too strong of a word to describe a team that is 5-0. The team has shown the ability to hang on and close out down the stretch. Perhaps there is another level the team will get to when the games become more meaningful and significant.

The talented, star-studded roster will be pushed by the level of competition. Coach Mike Kryzewski knows what he’s doing and won’t allow his players to get away with a lack of effort when the games matter.

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There are plenty of positives for USA Basketball, which is still without a doubt the best team in the field.

However, “concerned” might be a better word to describe the situation.

We’ve seen in less than 10 days that the U.S. is not invincible. Three teams have already proven to be formidable opponents. Team USA’s flaws have been apparent.

Will the team step up and correct its mistakes? Will Anthony and Durant guide the young stars to a gold medal? Will an unexpected young player rise to the occasion?

The real test is yet to come. The meaningful matches are about to tip-off and we’ll see if the U.S. can put all doubters to rest.

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Let the games (really) begin.