So this weekend I got a chance to catch two USA basketball games on ESPN2. The first was against Canada, the second, I came in the second quarter, against Brazil, the last two (of four) games of pool play.
Keeping in mind the propensity of Team USA to start out on fire and then as a tournament wears on begin to fall apart, I have to say that I'm really impressed with this particular team.
Team USA finally has a true to life, honest to goodness, point guard in Jason Kidd. When he is in and out of the game its almost night and day and he barely ever attempts a basket. He's always pushing the ball, outletting to streakers, finding guys on baseline cuts, swinging it to the open shooter, the guy has really taken the reines of the team and executing the game plan perfectly. Carmelo is still lighting it up: I think the way Larry Brown treated this kid in Athens '04 really shook his confidence and he's decided to go for broke in International competition. Anthony is focused and determined every second he's out on the court and from what I saw the Team's go-to guy when they need a basket. Kobe has been quite impressive, especially his defense. Leandro Barbosa had been averaging 27 ppg in the tournament until Bryant got put on him, he had 4 points on like 1-7 shooting. His defensive intensity is being matched only by Tyson Chandler who seems to block everything in his area; if he learned to block the ball to teammates rather than out of bounds, the scores might have been even more lopsided. From the Canada game, I could see Tayshaun still doing all the smart things and Coach K has called him the most astute student he's been around. Unfortunately I didn't see him against Brazil because he sprained an ankle before I tuned in. Of the Centers, Amare's been a monster, just unguardable. He still finds so many ways to get his shot off in traffic and while being hammered that its plain unfair to any frontline.
LeBron, Chauncey, Deron Williams, and Dwight Howard really haven't been impressive at all. Deron and Howard are too indecisive, which just goes with being young, but Howard's had the experience and really needs to turn the corner. LeBron pounds the ball too much and Chauncey hasn't found the mark at all.
In conclusion I'd like to thank the good lord for Michael Redd and Mike Miller. Thank you Jerry Colangelo and Team USA for realizing that you NEED THESE PLAYERS on your team and they need heavy minutes. Miller has shot around 37% from range, which sounds bad since the 3 point line is about 21 feet in international play-Miller's been launching from about 27 feet in deep perimeter. He's so dangerous from their that he's opened up cutting lanes for the athletes and room to work for the bigs. He's also passed very well and is actually hustling defensively (not with much tangible success, though).
From the games I watched though, its been "The Michael Redd Show". I read that he's shooting around 50% from three point range, I didn't see him miss even that often across the two games I saw. His release is just so quick and he can light it up from anywhere behind the line. He's second on the team in scoring at about 19 ppg and with him on board, it'll be hard for the really good teams to just pack it in.
I didn't see it yesterday, but apparently they got their first real test and beat Mexico only 127-100. So I guess its plausible they could struggle against the really good teams Argentina, Spain, Greece, Italy, and Serbia. But if J Kidd, Carmelo, Kobe, Amare, and especially Miller and Redd bring their A game, I don't see anyone beating this team. Not in this tournament, nor the Olympics next year.
