Lamar Odom (R) of USA vies with Tiago Splitter (L) of Brazil during the preliminary round group B match between Brazil and USA, at the FIBA World Basketball Championships at the Abdi Ipekci Arena in Istanbul, on August 30, 2010. AFP PHOTO / MUSTAFA OZER (Photo credit should read MUSTAFA OZER/AFP/Getty Images)
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Team USA is filled with hyper-athletic and versatile players, but the squad’s greatest strength is not its speed, its leaping ability, or the varied skill sets of its players. Above all else, the Americans’ greatest asset is their depth. While a team like Spain may have as many as eight NBA-caliber players, the American squad is loaded with NBA talent at every position. Even without the likes of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, et al on the roster, Team USA has more talent from top to bottom than any other squad in the tournament.
Yet thus far, in games against Team USA’s most skilled opponents, Mike Krzyzewski has turned to a top-heavy rotation heavily dependent on its starters. It’s an understandable tactic for most NBA and NCAA teams, but given how talented this roster is? And more importantly, how roughly congruent every non-Durant talent on the roster happens to be? It’s ludicrous.
It would be one thing if those on the floor for Team USA were playing particularly well together, or were in some sort of offensive rhythm. That certainly wasn’t the case against Brazil though, as the U.S. team committed turnover after turnover, botched their pick-and-roll coverage frequently, and lacked any fluency whatsoever on either offense or defense. Some players performed better than others, but aside from Kevin Durant, no one on the court made themselves essential.
Tiago Splitter was able to post and score over Lamar Odom easily, while Team USA’s greatest Splitter deterrent, Tyson Chandler, collected dust. Odom grabbed rebounds but little else, while Kevin Love, a far more accomplished rebounder and a more efficient scorer than the version of Odom that showed up on Monday, sat on the bench. Chauncey Billups clanked another shot and Derrick Rose lost control of his dribble, all while Curry and Gordon, two perfectly capable two-way guards, watched with fresh legs.
What’s a bit more distressing: this isn’t the first time Krzyzewski has used such a rotation. He did the very same thing against Spain. In an exhibition game. In the match-ups with Spain and Brazil, Team USA’s starters averaged 158.5 out of a total 200 minutes. Against Croatia and Slovenia, the starters averaged just 100 minutes.
Now, it’s easy to point to the lopsided differential in both of those contests (particularly in comparison to the close games against Spain and Brazil), and explain away that discrepancy as a garbage time byproduct. However, in doing so, you’d be ignoring the way in which Team USA has built leads in the first place. Though Rose, Billups, Iguodala, and Odom have all played well at times, they didn’t run up the score early and then rest while the subs finished the job. Krzyzewski’s squad has been most successful when relying on a deep rotation to build and maintain leads throughout the game.
Forget about the starters’ endurance. This is about Team USA having the best lineups on the floor to give them the best chance to win every game. Sometimes those lineups will feature Billups and Odom, albeit likely for shorter stretches. At other times, it may be Love or Gordon in a particularly good rhythm. Everything should be fluid with Team USA’s rotation, because Durant aside, there are no standouts to demand floor time.