Team USA escaped with a narrow three-point victory over Serbia in their Rio Olympics group stage game on Wednesday. In the game prior to that, they came back to beat a strong Australia team by 10 points despite being down for much of the game.
Following the 94-91 victory over Serbia, Paul George spoke on NBC Sports Network about the team's recent struggles:
“We just have to start getting some movement. We're relying on our natural talent so much. It's so easy to guard us. Teams are just loading up and watching us play one-on-one.”
Certainly the main criticism this Team USA has faced is that they aren't playing cohesively as a unit so much as individual stars. Compared to other nations, the U.S. basketball team seem to be playing selfishly.
In some respects that critique is reasonable since this group had less than 10 full practices together before the Olympics whereas other national teams play together for much longer periods of time. However, when considering that Team USA will always have the best five players on the court against any opponent they play, it is certainly concerning.
George knows that team ball will propel the Americans to new heights beyond their physically imposing defense and transition play:
“Teams are going to try to muddy games up, they are going to figure out ways to slow us down. If we can get easy transition baskets to give us a little breathing room, a little separation, that's what this tournament is about. As good as we are in the halfcourt, that's not going to win enough games for us.”
Team USA will play France in their final group stage game on Sunday before advancing to the playoff round.
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