Team USA took care of the Lithuanian national team 77-61 in Madrid, Spain, earlier this evening despite trailing by one point at half-time. It was their first true test of adversity and thanks to a big run that extended between the third and fourth quarters, they were able to overcome it despite a strong effort from the Lithuanians.
“I think it’s one of the those experiences when you’re going through it you don’t want to be going through it, but after you go through it, it’d a good thing to go through it,” Coach K said after game about facing a real challenge for the first time. “First of all, the environment. It’s just a different environment, the international game. Just how you warm up. I don’t think we warmed up as hard as we need to warm up, and we didn’t start off the game fast. These are all learning things,”
“These guys are really good players but Lithuania was more ready at the start of the game. It’s a good thing our defense was pretty good throughout the whole game or else we could have been down big in the first half. It reminded me of Beijing and whenever we let a team get close we didn’t convert in transition, whether it be a blocked shot, missed dunk, a fumbled ball, those give life to a team and we have to cut down on those type of things. There are about 30 less possessions in a 40 minute game than a 48 minute game; we have to adjust to that.”
Russell Westbrook, who took home player of the game honors, was the guard that stepped up and stood out during tonight’s game as opposed to Derrick Rose and Chauncey Billups in previous competitions this summer. Westbrook had been getting very limited playing time before Team USA moved onto Madrid but today he showed why he deserves a case on the final roster for the World Championships in Turkey and may very well have set that in stone. He finished with 12 points, five rebounds, and four assists for the game, including two three-pointers (shocking considering he shot 22% from three last season in the NBA).
“I try to guard every night and try not to pay attention to what’s going on with the cut and who is getting cut and how many minutes they’re playing,” Westbrook said after the game.
Westbrook was explosive on the drive and with his leap to rebound the basketball which resulted in a few blow-bys and some even more impressive rebounds that he pulled down over Lithuania’s big men. Russell was also very active on the other end of the floor where he picked up his man for the length of the court and used his strong upper body to make simply bringing the ball up the floor a tough task. Westbrook’s ability to do just that has been Team USA Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski main point of emphasis with Russell and it has surely paid off.
“We know we can always feed off his energy,” team leader Chauncey Billups said of Russell. “He’s going to come in and pick guys up for us and push the ball. He’s an athletic freak, and we need that.”
If we are to view this as Westbrook’s coming out party and his way of guaranteeing himself a spot on the final roster, that means the battle for the 12th spot will likely be between Stephen Curry and Eric Gordon. Curry hurt his ankle earlier this week but played well in his brief three minute stint today (five points, two makes on two shots and a three). Stephen said he is at 80% right now. Gordon didn’t have his best day going just three-of-eight from the field but again he was one of the catalysts of the USA defense and came up with three steals. His physicality on that end of the floor is something that Curry cannot match simply because of the way he is built. Its unfortunate for Curry, but if he is sent home it may be just because Jerry Colangelo and his staff don’t want to take any risks with his ankle.
Moving on to other parts of the team, Kevin Durant continued his struggles against international competition this summer by going just four-of-14 from the field (he’s now 14-for-38 from the floor and 0-for-7 from 3-point land). He did finish with 15 points but seven of those came at the free throw line and another four came on wide open dunks late in the game. When the US was struggling to find any offense, ideally the time you’d want Durant to take over or at least smooth things out with a couple of buckets, Kevin was missing shot after shot. Its not a big deal at the moment, but as I’ve said before with the country expecting big things and the overwhelming belief that he is the best player on the team (don’t get me wrong, he is), this is the first time Durant has had pressure on him really. Even if you want to count his first playoff experience last season, Kevin has struggled in big moments thus far. I’m expecting this to change but its worth noting at this point that his summer hasn’t been very fun.
“I just gotta keep working, continue to keep doing better and staying positive no matter what,” Durant said.
Meanwhile, Rudy Gay has been the team’s best scorer for most of the summer. Today, Gay played 18 minutes off the bench and shot six-of-12 from the floor for 14 points. He could have very easily had 16 points and gone seven-of-12 from the field but Rudy slipped up on a fastbreak and failed to throw it down (the slippery floors were a point of anger for several players). Rudy’s double-digit scoring output is just another example of his scoring abilities and I think you can make a case that he is Team USA’s most consistent scorer based on his performance this summer.
“Before you come out here, one of the things you have to do is that you can’t worry about, you don’t know what sets you’re going to run,” Gay said. You don’t know what’s going to go on and you really don’t know if you’re going to make it. I had to make it my point to myself to be in the best shape and try to do all the things that I need to do and I made the best of it.”
Team USA will play the Spanish National Team tomorrow evening (afternoon in the USA), the second to last exhibition game for Team USA before the Worlds being on August 28th. It will likely be Team USA’s toughest competition prior to the tournament (and likely during it) but the guys are ready.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Team USA center Tyson Chandler said. “It’s going to be big time, playing on their soil. We know their fans are going to be excited. We know their team is going to be excited playing in front of their home crowd. We couldn’t have scripted it any better for ourselves to go into the World Championship.”
“We know we can always feed off his energy,” American guard Chauncey Billups said. “He’s going to come in and pick guys up for us and push the ball. He’s an athletic freak, and we need that.”
