Over the last few weeks we have watched the USA men’s basketball team play five exhibition games and look solid, winning all five games, but showing some apparent flaws in back-to-back close calls against South Sudan and Germany.
As such, there were some genuine questions about this USA squad coming into the first game of the Olympics group stage against a talented Serbia squad that won the silver at the World Cup a year ago without Nikola Jokic. Those questions were quickly answered on Sunday afternoon in Lille, as the Americans made quite the statement with a 110-84 win over Serbia, led by their two veteran stars as LeBron James and Kevin Durant were sensational, combining for 44 points in the win.
The first game gave us plenty to think about, and here we look at four takeaways/questions going forward
Kevin Durant and LeBron James are still outrageous
Not sure how anyone’s first thought could be anything other than this, but it remains worth pointing out how absurd it is that these two guys are still doing it at this level. Durant is on the Carmelo Anthony tier of guys who just dominate in international play, as his ability to score 1-on-1 is amplified playing on a team where you just can’t double off of anyone. In the first half, Durant wasn’t just cooking off the bounce but was a flamethrower from deep, and when he’s doing that there’s really just nothing you can do. Scoring 21 points on 8-for-8 shooting in under nine minutes of action is a hysterical first half stat line, and Durant’s one of only a few guys on Earth that could pull that off. We weren’t sure exactly how KD would look after missing the entire showcase schedule with a calf strain, but it’s safe to say he’s feeling good and remains one of the all-time matchup problems for defenses.
And then you have LeBron, who was in full control of the game when he was on the floor and looks like someone hellbent on reminding the world that, despite the Lakers not being a real factor for a title in recent years, he’s still That Guy. The physicality allowed by FIBA officiating can bother some guys, but I think it only serves to make James more dangerous. He eliminates most of the grifting from his arsenal and simply reminds every opponent that he is bigger and stronger than them when the Americans absolutely need a bucket. The scoring power stands out, but you can also tell he just loves playing on a team with this much talent around him, where his decision-making as a passer is almost always rewarded.
If Team USA lets it fly from deep, good luck
During the exhibition slate, Team USA was . Their 32 attempts against Serbia are the second-most attempts they’ve taken in a game (the most was 36, again against Serbia), and while they won’t hit 18 in every game, they were consistently creating great looks from beyond the arc. In their two close calls against South Sudan and Germany, they put up 7-for-28 and 6-for-17 performances from beyond the arc, which allowed the math game to close the gap. I think at times the Americans physical advantages can work against them when it comes to their play style, as there can be a feeling that they should be able to take other teams inside and dominate at the rim. The problem is, with more contact allowed, it’s not always as easy to do that as it would seem, and the best way for a less talented team to hang around is to trade threes for twos.
I’ll be interested to see if they keep this up against other teams, as this has been a trend to let it fly in two games against a slower, but bigger, Serbia team. That’s not to say they need to chuck pull-up threes, but when they’re flowing offensively they can create good looks for some of the best shooters in the world — especially now that KD is back in the lineup. Some of this goes to the next takeaway, which is they look way better when they can get up-and-down the floor and use their athleticism to put the opposing team on the back foot. That shows up the most in transition, but it’s also pushing off misses and creating mismatches to attack early in the clock, springing shooters free as the defense scrambles to get set.
Will Joel Embiid remain the starter all Olympics?
Joel Embiid played just 11 minutes in this one, and the Jokic matchup would, in theory, be when the United States would want to deploy their biggest center. However, there’s just no way around the fact that this team just looks better with Anthony Davis or Bam Adebayo at center, allowing them to run up-and-down the floor and run less of their offense through Embiid post touches. It is, simply, a matter of fit. Embiid is at his best when things revolve around him, and on Team USA that’s just not the case. This team is at its best pushing the pace, and Embiid prefers to do the opposite.
It’s not all that dissimilar to why Derrick White is on this team (and heavily in the rotation) and Jaylen Brown is at home (and not happy about it). At some point, you need to establish a hierarchy and have guys buy in to their role, who can thrive off the ball and with others making decisions for them on a team with this much talent. Embiid, for all his gifts, just looks uncomfortable being asked to take on a secondary role that he’s never really been asked to play.
In a game the U.S. won by 26, Embiid was a -8, largely due to the slow start as they tried (as Dwyane Wade highlighted on the broadcast) to get him involved and going early, leading to some stagnant offense. They came to life when he came out of the game, and that’s been a bit of a theme. This is a team that can overcome that and probably still win every game, but how long do they want to put themselves behind the 8-ball with slow starts because they’re not running their most optimal lineup?
The biggest difficulty in coaching Team USA is ego management, and I’m sure USA Basketball made quite the pitch to Embiid to get him to choose the Americans over France — which, he hears about from the French fans every time he touches the ball. I doubt we see a change in the group stage, as they should be able to cruise from here, but I do wonder if there will be a matchup down the road in the knockout and medal rounds that leads Steve Kerr to not being willing to tempt the fates with a sluggish start.
Speaking of ego management…Jayson Tatum DNP?
It wasn’t real hard to figure out who would be at the bottom of the pecking order of the rotation by the time the exhibition slate had closed, as Tyrese Haliburton got phased out of the lineup in favor of Derrick White’s defensive acumen. For a team that needs to push the pace, getting stops is of vital importance, and they have no shortage of shot creators or facilitators on the roster. However, because Kevin Durant was not part of the process all the way up to the opener, we didn’t know who would get squeezed out of the wing rotation. The answer, for Sunday, was Jayson Tatum, who had played at 14-21 minutes per night across the five exhibition games.
After the game, Steve Kerr said this was the choice for this game with Durant coming back and Tatum would have a chance to “make his mark” another time.
Kerr admits Tatum was a straight up DNP-CD. “I went with the combinations that made sense. That was for tonight. He handled it well. He’ll make his mark.” #Celtics #Paris2024
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) July 28, 2024
I will say, I feel like the DNP was better than giving him three minutes as a victory cigar at the end, as I think that would’ve hurt more. How he factors into the rotation going forward will be interesting, because Durant obviously showed his value to this team with his perfect first half. We’ll see how Kerr gets him involved, because Tatum certainly didn’t seem all that enthused on the bench — a contrast to Tyrese Haliburton who seems to have embraced his current role as “bench vibes guy”, popping up as the first one to greet guys and celebrate. That said, the rotation can’t be everyone and it’s not abundantly clear where the Tatum minutes come from.
Perhaps they pull back on some of the two-big lineups and that opens up a few minutes at the four. Maybe they look to give LeBron a lighter load over the next two games to keep him fresh for the knockout round. But I think Jrue Holiday’s minutes are etched in stone and Derrick White has quickly established himself as the other trusted “glue guy”, playing most of the minutes Holiday doesn’t. That leaves Devin Booker and Anthony Edwards, who both played quite well in this one and might just fit what they’re looking for a bit more. I do think in the next couple games you could see some of those two’s minutes going to Tatum, but I’m not sold on this being a one night deal for Tatum being at the end of the rotation (or out of it all together).
For a guy who just won broke through to win a championship and felt like he truly established himself as a top star, that’s perhaps a tough pill to swallow. But like with Embiid, fit is everything on Team USA and he’s not going to be taking KD and LeBron’s minutes in big games, which doesn’t leave a lot for him.