US needs more from reserves at worlds
August 31, 2010
ISTANBUL (AP)—The last U.S. basketball team was so stacked that DwyaneWade(notes) was the sixth man. Chris Paul(notes) and Chris Bosh(notes) were also part of that secondunit, one good enough to beat any starting five in the world.
When Mike Krzyzewski looked down at the bench he has now Monday, it suredidn’t seem he liked what he saw.
After the reserves faltered, the U.S. coach stuck with the starters fornearly the entire second half to pull out a 70-68 victory over Brazil that keptthe Americans unbeaten in the world championship.
Krzyzewski and his players said they learned something from their first testin this tournament. But was one of those lessons this: All these youngsters onthe U.S. roster can’t be trusted when times get tough.
“I don’t know if they tensed up, but they honestly didn’t play as muchtonight as they did in the last few games,” veteran guard Chauncey Billups(notes)said. “But they’ll have more opportunities and they’ll do a better job nexttime.”
After Group B’s off day Tuesday, the reserves should get plenty of time inthe Americans’ final two group games. They face the bottom two teams in thepool, starting with Iran on Wednesday before closing against winless Tunisia.
Things should become more difficult with the arrival of the knockout round,which means the starters are going to need some help. Krzyzewski believes allhis players now see what it takes to provide it.
“We’ve only been together for a few weeks. I don’t know until you’re inthese situations if we’re going to have the character to win when you can’t hita shot, when someone is playing such good defense,” he said after the game.“Tonight I found that and that’s a good thing. That’s a really good thing tofind out about our team.”
Krzyzewski made his normal early substitutions in the first half, but thesubs struggled to defend Brazil’s pick-and-rolls. Realizing the game was goingto be won with defense, he had starters Billups, Kevin Durant(notes), Derrick Rose(notes),Lamar Odom(notes) and Andre Iguodala(notes) on the floor for at least 15 minutes apiece afterhalftime to win a thriller.
“Wow what a game USA vs Brazil. Way to find a way to get that W y’all. Keepit going,” LeBron James(notes), a starter on the Olympic team, wrote on his Twitterpage.
To do so, the guys who were on the floor realize they’ll need the ones onthe bench. After all, depth is supposed to be one of this team’s strengths.
“We just have to take the last two games again one at a time try to getsomething done,” Iguodala said. “Give everybody some key minutes in the nexttwo games and everybody get their confidence where it needs to be going into theelimination round.”
The Americans are inexperienced internationally beyond Billups, Odom andTyson Chandler(notes). They’re still adjusting to the nuances of the game, such as thetraveling violations they’ve repeatedly committed.
The entire Olympic team had competed previously and was well-versed in FIBAplay. The current group lags far behind a team such as Brazil, which playedtogether last summer while winning the regional qualifier for the worldchampionship.
“It is a different team. It is a lot of young players, I think the firsttime that they come to the world championships,” said Brazil guard LeandroBarbosa(notes), citing everything from the ball to the calls as differences from theNBA game.
“I think that causes a little problem for them, being different games. Soin that situation, we’ve got a little advantage, so it’s good for us.”
Neither of the remaining pool opponents has the talent to exploit that. Themain interest in the Iran game comes from local journalists trying to hype itbecause of the political tensions between the countries, but Krzyzewskidownplayed that.
“This is a sporting event,” he said. “We have respect for Iran. Iactually played in Iran in the 1970s when I was on the U.S. Armed Forces team. Ihave great feelings for their country. They’re sportsmen and so are we. We’llhave a great game.”
It shouldn’t be close, but another might be later in the tournament. TheOlympic team never had that concern, but these Americans say they don’t mind.
“We can’t worry about how much we win by, winning the same fashion as otherUSA teams. All of that’s out the window,” Billups said. “All we need to do isget wins. Win every game we can and we’ll worry about everything else later.”
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