Team USA’s Offense Looking Better
Against Angola, Team USA scored 121 points nearly doubling up their opponent. There were a lot fast break opportunities and a lot of dunks, but that isn’t what impressed me about their performance. What did was the ball movement and patient that Team USA showed in the half-court. This is something that Team USA hasn’t been doing throughout the tournament, so it leads me to think that Team USA is finally starting to “get it” on the offensive end. That’s a good thing, considering the road to the World Championship gets much tougher from here on out. A perfect example of Team USA’s newfound offensive efficiency is this possession late in the 2nd quarter.
Watch this possession and you will see all the things that work against the zone combined into one play. You have a screen against the top of the zone, a nice drive and kick, quick passes around the perimeter (forcing the zone to rotate), and an open three point shot. 12 seconds come off the clock as Derrick Rose knocks down the three. So how is this play different than some of the stuff Team USA did earlier (and struggled)? The passing. In previous games, you would see one pass and a shot (and the offense staying on one side of the court). On this possession, you see five passes going from side to side, using the whole court. This forces the defense to rotate and opens up a ton of lanes and shooting opportunities.
Here is another solid possession from Team USA, this one coming against man to man defense:
Previous problems Team USA had was a lack of movement, with everyone waiting for the man with the basketball to make a move and do it all on their own. On the above possession, you see a lot of off the ball movement, a pick and roll, and a pump fake that sucks the defense in. The result is a wide open three pointer. Those are the kind of shots Billups can knock down.
