The U.S. had a second exhibition Sunday, this time against China, and posted a victory impressive not just for scoring margin but also for how well the U.S. played together. Following an effortless first-half performance, Team USA displayed mid-Olympic form in routing fellow Group A denizens China 106-57. By those standards, at least, each could and did claim success.
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For Team China, the game was more of a master class in basketball.
While Team USA was heavily favored, Coach Mike Krzyzewski paid serious attention towards whether his athletes played like a team and worked together.
“When you’re out there right now, you don’t even think about the fact that we are teammates”, Green said. On Sunday, he led all scorers again with 19 points in just over 18 minutes.
The game was in Los Angeles, so the crowd was likely filled with Lakers and Clippers fans – conference rivals who are assuredly extra sore at the Warriors.
Jordan got the exhibition off to a rousing start with a blocked shot on China’s first possession and an alley-oop dunk on the other end for the Americans’ first points.
“I really want Chinese to win but definitely U.S. will win”, a Chinese fan said.
Krzyzewski said he didn’t mind the sluggish offense in the early minutes but he didn’t allow it to fester. Another group stage loss to Lithuania followed and after beating Spain in a quarter-final, the United States men fell 89-81 to eventual champion Argentina in a semi-final. DeMar DeRozan, DeAndre Jordan, DeMarcus Cousins and Kyrie Irving all scored in double figures for Team USA, who led by 13 points after the first quarter and never looked back.
The only area the US will need to improve upon from Sunday’s performance is its point guard play. (Redick), and J.J. said he’s as good as teammate as you’ll ever have and one of the best guys.
Krzyzewski’s team is intent on becoming stronger and more cohesive in the three exhibitions before its Rio opener.
Oftentimes, a “super team” fails to meet expectations during their first stretch games together. Players believe there’s more growth possible.
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The US haven’t lost a game since the 2006 world championships, winning 65 straight games. “We’re getting used to new rules, a new basketball, getting ourselves acclimated”. We shared the ball even better. “It’s huge to be able to play on the National Team and represent your country”.
