USA Puerto Rico

[Variant]

USA pulls out the win 111-101 over Puerto Rico. PR made it close most of the first half, fell behind 20 in the second, but doggedly kept the US from really blowing it open by shooting great from 3pt land and absolutely abusing all US guards getting to the hole at will.

US looked good at times, not so good at others... clearly very beatable if they can't figure out how to close off the paint and cover the 3. When the full court press was working, the US extended the lead. For the majority of the game however, PR was not really affected by it (other than maybe getting fatigued) and this takes away the US's primary means of getting points. Any team out there that can handle the press will give the US trouble.

Offense showed some signs and it's nice to have Joe Johnson and Hinrich both of whom are reliable shooters.

Was frustrated at times with Wade...

 

[acisking]

The game def. highlighted the main weakness of USA - team defense (especially on the perimeter). Arroya and Ayuso were smoking Paul and the others the entire game. Still though, I think the team def. has potential to improve and cme through with the gold.

As an aside, what happened to Brad Miller as he was the only player on the whole roster that I did not see even play a minute the whole game?

 

[VF21]

We play China next, and Yao is expected to play. I suspect Coach K may have been giving Brad a breather, since he'll probably see major minutes against Ming.

 

[d0rkus]

i thought it was a re-run and expected brad to play some in the 2nd half.
but does anyone have the schedule of the games and what channel it's going to be on?

edit: nm i found the link, http://usabasketball.com/seniormen/2006/06_mwc_training_schedule.html

it's on sunday morning 3:30am PST

 

[Variant]

It was an up and down game with a lot of guard play, not really suited for Brad's abilities.

I sure wouldn't mind seeing USA run some pick and roll with Brad though... seriously, I'm not sure if they have even one offensive play

Look for Brad to play well against Yao though... he'll hit at least three three's!

 

[Kings113]

A few things to be looked at and improved upon, which Coach K will of course. Overall a solid victory, was never really worried about PR.

 

[Rome]

Man I love the way Howard grabs those rebounds and throws it down big time. That kid is very special and will amaze the league even more during these next few seasons.

 

[Kings113]

Indeed, Howard's damn good right now, and will be a fantastic player in a couple years or so.

 

[Sac.Kings]

Not the best showing from the US. If they play like this against better teams they will not only lose, but get blown out. I think they gamble too much on defense. The offense will come, but their defense is good one minute and nonexistent the next.

 

[HndsmCelt]

Not the best showing from the US. If they play like this against better teams they will not only lose, but get blown out. I think they gamble too much on defense. The offense will come, but their defense is good one minute and nonexistent the next.

Yup all these wins just can't be good...

 

[Sac.Kings]

Yup all these wins just can't be good...

There is a difference between winning in a dominant fashion and winning just because the other team is not as good as you individually. They can't keep on relying on themselves individually because when they face a REAL team, they will lose, like in the olympics. Korea, China without Yao, and Puerto Rico are teams that should be beaten with ease. Beating China and Japan is hardly impressive. Their defense will be the key and if they let teams like PR cut 20 point leads like its nothing, i don't even want to see how they do against the best teams in the tournament. A lot of the U.S. wins came against weak teams that were either too young or were missing key players like China. Beating PR by 11 is not impressive IMO. Only Battier seems to really want to play defense and guys like Lebron just dog it on D and don't bother telling me he can't play any defense because he sure as hell can when he tries.

 

[SacTownKid]

The US could very well have some trouble in this tournament.

 

[VF21]

Yup all these wins just can't be good...

Yeah, how dare they not play up to their full potential and still win?



They're still getting to know each other. I think there's progress being made and there are some things I really like, such as the extensive use of the bench.

I'm not convinced they're ready to win it all quite yet, but I'm impressed with the difference in attitude, the demeanor of the players and the coach, etc. This is a much better TEAM USA all the way around than we've seen recently, with the major emphasis on TEAM.

 

[funsc]

Simply put Howard, Hinrich, J Johnson, Melo, and Battier on the court.

 

[Kings113]

USA gon' roll China tonight.