That’s what Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski came up as part of a list of things that are going to be challenging for the Americans during this five-game exhibition tour before they head to Rio de Janeiro for the Summer Olympics. Krzyzewski is finding it hard to disguise his early optimism, praising his team’s work in their brief practice time together.
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Krzyzewski believes the American team will excel at defensive switching because of its abundance of versatile players. Team USA definitely dropped the bomb on China, beating them 106-57 in front of a packed crowd at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles.
“They all impressed me because I like when people play hard and they play together”, Krzyzewski said.
The Americans haven’t lost a game since the 2006 world championships, winning 65 straight games.
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.
On his first shot, Thompson hit a 25-foot jump shot for a 3-point basket. “It’s a matter of us just coming together as a team and players coming from our individual organizations just trying to play together as soon as we can”.
Four-time Olympian Carmelo Anthony was the only holdover in the Americans’ starting line-up from Las Vegas while Krzyzewski works on chemistry and coordination.
Both teams had early shooting struggles, but the Americans took charge with impressive speed late in the first quarter. He quickly found his outside stroke with 14 points and four assists in the first half, and Cousins overpowered the Chinese down low for 12 first-half points on the way to a 55-29 half-time lead.
Yi Jianlian, now plying his trade in the Chinese Basketball Association after playing for four teams in five NBA seasons, led China with 18 points and seven rebounds. He spent five seasons with four National Basketball Association teams before heading back to the Guangdong Southern Tigers.
Zhou Qi, the towering 2.17m (7ft 1in) 20-year-old drafted in June by the Houston Rockets, was limited to two points in just under 19 minutes off the bench.
China connected on just 30.9 percent of their shots, and 26 Chinese turnovers led to 36 USA points. Exciting guard Zhao Jiwei scored 14 points.
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The United States and China meet again Tuesday in Oakland, a game with subplots beyond Olympic prep as the first “home game” for new Warrior Durant before he begins play at Oracle Arena in the fall, and also a return for Harrison Barnes after he went from Golden State to Dallas as a free agent.
