Team USA notes from their two pre-World Cup wins against Slovenia & Spain and a few thoughts.
- Team USA moved to 3-0 in exhibition play over the weekend, defeating Slovenia (no Luka Doncic) and Spain by double digits, as starters Jalen Brunson & Anthony Edwards looked very determined. Jalen is such a great player for young people to model their game after because he’s not crazy athletic and has to battle for space every possession. Then there’s Ant-Man…who has the natural gifts to go along with the skills that we all dream of.
- Mikal Bridges’ development as a scorer continues to grow, and even though I don’t think he’s a top 3 option on this team (Brunson, Edwards, Brandon Ingram), there’s no doubt that Bridges could have a couple games leading USA in points.
- It didn’t take long for USA’s Josh Hart (missed the Puerto Rico matchup) to make an impact. His rebounding, passing, and defense are going to produce a huge difference in winning close games.
- USA could have problems defensively at some point with talented big men & scoring guards, and a team that plays fast like them. Spain’s Santi Aldama and Willy Hernangomez had nice games vs. USA down low while Puerto Rico’s Tremont Waters made some isolation plays from outside against the Americans as well. Not to mention watching how fast Josh Giddey pushes the pace for Australia, the past success France’s Rudy Gobert has had vs. the US, the scoring ability right now of Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander & RJ Barrett, plus other talented players like DR’s Karl-Anthony Towns, should make this a tough World Cup for head coach Steve Kerr. I’ve seen a few times where USA players (particularly Jaren Jackson Jr.) want to take on a defensive challenge, but there’s gonna have to be more guys with that dog mentality to win Gold. Also I don’t think USA should ever slow it down offensively, I’ve noticed their opponents come back so far when the pace is matched/sped up more.
