are you watching the angola game?

KOBE!! is still having trouble finding his rhythm.

why?

break it on down.

Basketballogy – I’m impressed by Spain too. They play smart and they play together. I think Argentina is the wild card. I agree with your All-Star comment. Hopefully we’ll respect opponents like Greece, Spain, and Argentina and defend them straight up rather than gamble at every opportunity.

— Tsunami, great observation about Williams, Paul and Kidd and the half court. The thing is, Kidd is Mr. Point Guard Triple Double, and if the opposition slows the game down, Team USA will need every rebound it can get to stay alive.

And Coach K (and all assistants) keep talking about how Team USA needs to quit gambling on defense, but it just doesn’t seem to sink in deep enough to last the whole game. At times, especially when they have a sizable lead, Team USA starts to treat the game like an All Star exhibition and they start going for highlights rather than sound play.

— To all, Spain is looking awfully scary to me. Greece should have given them more of a fight, but Spain dispatched Greece without sweating almost. And Argentina gave Lithuania a very respectable run for their money.

Team USA seems to have plugged the holes it discovered in previous FIBA competition: chemistry, pick and role defense, outside shooting, etc. Hopefully they didn’t over correct and make new problems, particularly with rebounding.

I liked the 1 handed alley-oop dunk by Bron off the Wade feed.

This one play in the first half I saw LeBron block the ball with two hands near the backboard, come down with it, throw a 3/4 court chest pass that hit Wade in the gut on the run adn Wade didn’t even have to slow down or dribble before jammin it home with 2.

I do agree that they will have to adjust in the half-court if a team makes the USA slow down. That will happen if USA loses the battle of the boards.

Team USA overplays on defense too much. Wade and Kobe just reach reach reach and it’s not going to hurt them against China (much) but it will against Lithuania Spain and Argentina.

Deron Williams and Chris Paul are great half-court players, Jason Kidd is not. Those guys should get more minutes as the competition increases.

If Redd plays more, probably Jason Kidd should play less. They’ve been playing Kobe at the 3 a lot, and there is no sense sitting someone that plays very effectively at a forward spot, seeing as Team USA is undermanned on bigs.

— Brandon – Interesting point, I think you are right about them shooting international 3’s in a more natural flow like off the dribble, but the problem with that is that style of play tends to slow down ball movement and make Team USA easier to guard.

As you know, international basketball doesn’t isolate as much as NBA does, and has much more ball movement. That means the majority of 3s are catch and shoot, and not set up with the dribble.

They just need to quit psyching themselves out about it.

The best way to do that is with film, I think.

Have staff put together a highlight reel of catch and shoot 3s over the course of the exhibition, and show it to the guys before practice, after practice, in the restroom, etc. Let them see how easy it is for them to be successful and they’ll calm down about it.

Basketballogy – I think Team USA’s struggles from beyond the arc are because Kobe and company are treating it like an NBA 3-pointer by squaring up. As crazy as it sounds, I think they would hit the shot with more accuracy if they shot it off the dribble like a mid-range jumpshot. I thought Kidd played well too.

dusty – Thanks.

tom, did KOBE!! play in the fourth at all?

I think they’ll need Michael Redd more against tough opponents who will make them score in the halfcourt. He’s such a great shooter, and he always shoots with confidence, like he knows it’s going in. You sacrifice a bit on the defensive end, but somebody has to hit that shot.

On another note, did you guys see that swimming relay tonight? I usually find swimming all kinds of boring, but that was an absolutely fantastic finish.

58 percent of Team USA’s points came from transition. That’s my first worry. If opponents slow down the pace, care for the ball, and rebound, they are more than half way there to defeating Team USA.

Because people tend to give offense more attention, I’m sure there is a lot of buzz over Dwayne Wade’s “perfect” game, but as you guys have pointed out, he certainly had his share of defensive lapses. THIS is what Coach K keeps talking about: gambling on defense. Wade gets his glory from gambles; he needs to do his role.

Quick observations:

- I didn’t think Team USA’s chemistry was quite what it has been.

- Deron Williams is impressing me to no end, on both ends of the floor.

- Kobe Bryant is playing small forward more than shooting guard.

- I thought Coach K played Kobe longer than I would have. The game was well in hand, and they have what, 8 games in 9 days? Plus add the time zone change, and the fatigue of being mobbed everywhere they go… and Kobe played very late into the NBA season… I’d have rested him most of the 4th quarter.

- The best pass of the game belong to Jason Kidd. The old dog ain’t dead yet!

- When Yao opened the game hitting a 3 pointer, I got worried. Karl Malone was automatic from that range, as is David West. If a 7′6″ guy gets that shot, who’s to stop it? Bynum on Mihm’s shoulders?

- Team USA, especially Kobe Bryant, shoots 3’s like they are thinking, “I hope I don’t miss,” rather than thinking, “Gottcha!” This international line shouldn’t be a problem for Melo, Bryant, James, Williams or even Paul.

- It was great to see Bosh earning his minutes. I hope Boozer was taking notes.

- I couldn’t believe the moving screens; it was criminal. I thought I was watching the Spurs!

Defensively, they’re very intense, but they’re overpersuing on almost every play, looking to aggressively deny or jump the passing lane to get out in transition. That’s all well and good, but if you don’t do that in a disciplined way (and often they weren’t today) a good passing team will eat you alive, and all the top international teams are good passing teams. There were a few times I saw the Chinese team capitalize on the US playing the passing lanes too aggressively, but not nearly as often as a team like Greece or Spain will.

As a side note, Yao looked really good for a guy coming back from a broken foot. I was surprised at how mobile he was on some of the plays he made.