Reaves played well. USA couldn't put together a real defensive stretch & had too much Iso Ball on Offense. Germany played tougher & just scored easier off of ball movement & 2nd chance points. Will be cool to see USA vs CAN. I think Serbia would've beat USA pretty easily, TBH.
Not sure that's a fair assessment. Team USA always struggles with a lack of organized Offense simply due to the limited time they're together. This Team had a real Size problem. This game was lost on the 25-8 second chance points discrepancy. Ingram being a no show for USA all tournament didn't help either.
Think both AR and Hali got targeted hard on defense by Germany, which they exploited very well. The lack of big man was a big weak spot for this team, but it's going to look wildly different for the Olympics. Guess we'll see USA vs. Canada after all.
I didn't like Kerr's coaching here but man JJJ needs to step up. Reaves definitely got targeted by Schroeder but not having any rim protection behind him makes it really tough for anyone to guard Hedgehog. Real mistake also just keeping the ball in Edwards hands as de facto PG - dumb 3 point shot and the TO off the jumpstop were brutal. Reaves was cooking on offense as well. Would have really preferred having Halli or Reaves initiate and getting Edwards on the move and off the ball where the defense couldn't set up the trap on him and he doesn't have to make as many decisions
Never liked the roster and here we are. JJJ didn't do enough. Ant was trying to do too much. Oh well. Glad Reaves played well overall.
Those shots by Little Fatso were precisely why I am not as impressed by him as many. He is a bit dumb, imo, and Kerr didn't have the gonads to stop him...
I think the level of basketball is really high right now. There's 6 to 7 teams who can be really good at basketball. USA can't just pick whatever players and make it work. They have to start picking guys to match other teams strengths and schemes. Most European teams are long and strong physically, you have to play with a big 4 and a strong 3. You can't play small ball with European rules, at least not the majority of it. USA lost these 2 games against Lithuania and Germany because they get outrebounded (LIT 18 offensive rebs) and beaten at the boards (GER 25 2nd chance pts)
2 point wow, looks like it was a decent one to watch. Overall, if box score watching, it didn't seem much defense was played. Both teams scored well. 5 rebound difference may have been the key.
The problem USA is gonna have in International play is.. Who are our skilled Big Men..? AD, JJJ, Bam..? Team USA's gameplan is to put so many scorers on the floor, that size doesn't matter. Edwards was the only go to guy on this roster. I think they expected Ingram to be one of their leading scorers too..
