Team Argentina won their two FIBA World games this weekend by a total of six points.  Normally when a team takes two close games back to back it is due to solid execution on both ends of the court.  However, this isn’t what happened with Team Argentina, as they ended up winning despite poor execution on the offensive end.  In both games Argentina suffered a key turnover late when they were looking to put the game away, forcing the defense to step up.

Poor Execution On Offense

Game 1 vs. Germany

Up by one with 47 seconds left, Argentina wants to run some clock and get a good look at the basket.  Argentina’s point guard dribbles the clock out for 12 seconds before they get into their offense.  When they do, they decide to run a pick and roll with Luis Scola as the screener/roll man:

As the PG comes off the screen with Scola rolling the German defense switches.  Mismatch for Argentina right?  Well, no, because Germany just doesn’t switch once, they essentially switch twice.  The German PG, passes Scola off to a bigger help defender, then picks up the open man.

However, good German rotation isn’t the only reason for the turnover.  Argentina shoots themselves in the foot pretty bad here.  Even with the good double switch, Scola still gets the ball in very good position.  However, he isn’t able to complete a move because Hernan Jasen inexplicably cuts into the lane right as Scola starts his move.

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Going into the FIBA World Championships, I thought if Kevin Love could find a way to get some minutes, he could make a positive impact for Team USA because he seems to be your prototypical International-style big man.  Love crashes the boards hard, passes well, and is a legitimate threat from the outside.  He hasn’t been playing a ton (only 13 minutes in each of the two games), but he has made his presence felt.

Rebounding

Kevin Love is a very good rebounder in the NBA, and we shouldn’t be surprised that this skill carried over to the FIBA Worlds, but at this pace?  Love has grabbed 21 rebounds in his 26 minutes of play, which comes out to an insane 31.5 rebounds per 40 minutes (h/t J.E. Skeets via John Schuhmann). How is Love able to grab so many rebounds? By simply outworking and outsmarting his opponents:

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Here, when the shot goes up, Love simply outworks his man to get past the boxout and get himself in good position for the offensive rebound.

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The FIBA World Championships started on Saturday, and one of the major themes from the first day of games was the importance of post position for offensive players.  There were two performances that illustrated this point very well.  They were Ante Tomic’s game against the United States and Yi’s game against Greece.

Good Position Before The Catch

Getting good position in the post before the catch makes everything easier for the player posting his man up.  Getting closer to the basket before even getting the ball, limits the amount of moves a post player needs to make.  Also, it allows for an easier attempt because the post player is closer to the basket.

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Here, Ante Tomic (#11 from Croatia) is allowed to set up on the block before he gets the pass, and with Tomic being 7’2″ (According To DraftExpress) that position is all he really needs.  After making the catch, Tomic only needs two dribbles to set himself for the turnaround jumper.  Push Tomic another five feet out, and that is a tough shot.  But at his size and position on the court, he is able to get off an easy shot.

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