2016 Rio Olympics: 10 things you should know about Team USA Men's Basketball
The 2016 Olympic Games are (almost) here, and that means that Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and nine NBA players who don’t play for the Golden State Warriors are in Rio de Janeiro, staying on a 514-foot cruise ship.
Here are 10 things to know about this version of Team USA:
1. Wait, they’re staying on a cruise ship?
Yes! It’s called The Silver Cloud, and it has 196 cabins. Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams will be staying there. It sounds extremely comfortable, especially compared to the athletes’ village where the regular world-class athletes have to sleep.
Longtime USA Basketball PR guy Craig Miller told the Associated Press in February that the team doesn’t stay in the village because “we don’t feel it’s the best way to prepare for competition.” Counterpoint: The last time they stayed on a boat was 2004 in Athens, and that was a disaster — they lost three games, including an embarrassing, 19-point defeat at the hands of Puerto Rico, and left with a bronze medal.
“We was stuck on a boat,” Carmelo Anthony said of the experience, via the Washington Post.
2. Melo is the elder statesman here
Carmelo Anthony is the only player on this roster who was a part of that 2004 nightmare. In fact, he is the first American men’s basketball player to be selected to four Olympic teams. Say what you want about his NBA teams’ underwhelming playoff track record; he has been a wildly successful international player.
At 32 years old, Anthony is the oldest player on Team USA, and he has comfortably accepted his role as the grumpy uncle.
Don’t worry, Vanessa Carlton. It’s not that he hates your song, he just hates early mornings.
3. The summer of Durant continues
You can’t get away from Kevin Durant right now. Everything else that happened in free agency was dwarfed by his decision to join the Warriors, and now he’s the best player in the Olympics. Will the people who called him weak for going to Golden State now cheer for him because he’s leading their country to a gold medal? We’ll find out!
Also, this will be a preview of sorts for what’s to come with the Warriors. It’s not just that he’s playing on a super-duper team, it’s that he’ll be asked to play great defense, push the ball and make quick decisions. This is the perfect tune-up for his next challenge.
4. Where’s LeBron, where’s Steph?
This isn’t the Dream Team. You could argue that a team full of American stars who aren’t playing — let’s go with Stephen Curry, James Harden, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Gordon Hayward, John Wall and Paul Millsap — would be better than the group that went to Rio. Anthony and Durant are the only members of Team USA who have played in the Olympics before, and four of the five members of this year’s All-NBA First Team are staying home.
It’s ridiculous to be upset about this, though. Nine of these 12 players were All-Stars last year, and Kyrie Irving surely would have been if he was healthy. Team USA is loaded with scoring, speed, athleticism and defensive versatility. Which leads us to …
5. Are they going to throttle everybody?
Absolutely! I mean, sure, a series of injuries could potentially mess things up, but it’s hard to envision another scenario where most of these games are not blowouts. Team USA will enter the Olympics as enormous -1600 favorites to win a gold medal (you have to bet $1600 to win $100), and that sounds about right.
Argentina isn’t the force it used to be. Spain is missing Marc Gasol. Paul George would be the best player on any of these other teams, and he’s essentially going to be a 3-and-D guy here.
6. Who’s their best competition?
Nobody scares Team USA, but Spain is full of skilled, smart players who know how to play together. France might be able to give them a good game, too. CBS Sports’ Zach Harper has looked at this subject in detail.
7. The defense might be better than the offense
Think about where the NBA’s trend toward length, quickness and being able to guard multiple positions. Now think about Durant, George, Green, Thompson, DeAndre Jordan, Jimmy Butler and Harrison Barnes all on the same team. Coach Mike Krzyzewski can have these guys basically switch everything, especially when Green is at the 5 in a souped-up Death Lineup. There’s enough playmaking on the wing to get away with going without a point guard, so Coach K could conceivably use lineups featuring five guys 6-foot-7 or taller.
Anthony, Irving and DeMar DeRozan will look significantly better defensively in this setting than they do in an average NBA game, as they have less offensive responsibility and will play fewer minutes. Expect Team USA to pressure opposing teams relentlessly and try to get out in transition as much as possible.
8. If there’s a weakness, it’s passing
Look, I’m searching here. This team is stacked. Unless Coach K puts Jordan at point guard and tells Durant to play left-handed, there shouldn’t be any problems. But there is a noticeable absence of pass-first players. In 2012, Team USA had Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Andre Iguodala. In 2008, they had Paul, Williams and Jason Kidd. This is different.
While Irving and Kyle Lowry are two of the best point guards in the world, they don’t play the same way as Jason Kidd. Since LeBron isn’t in Rio to play point forward, either, there will be a team-wide emphasis on moving the ball more quickly than normal and avoid reverting to one-on-one play … even though one-on-one play will be effective.
9. This is Coach K’s last ride
Back in October, USA Basketball announced that Gregg Popovich would take over as the head coach of Team USA after these Olympics. Bad news for Duke haters: if you’re going to watch the games, you are going to hear a lot of people raving about the job Krzyzewski has done with the national team over the past 11 years.
When Coach K came aboard, the program had gone completely off track. As well as that Athens debacle, they failed to even medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis. He has played a huge role in turning things around by getting stars to want to represent their country and play as a team.
10. When is everything happening?
The group stage starts on Saturday with Team USA facing China at 6 p.m. ET. It will then play every other day against Venezuela, Australia, Serbia and France. The knockout stage starts on Wednesday, Aug. 16, and the gold medal game will be played on Sunday, Aug. 21. Get ready for highlights, or at least near-highlights:
