Tue Aug 05, 2008 3:00 pm EDT
Team USA wrapped up its pre-Olympic exhibition schedule with an 87-76 win over Australia this morning, er, night. Here's what they're saying out in the ether about the game ...
The City: "One thing the Aussies did not show was any fear of the US. The Boomers are known to be a bit chippy and were not afraid to knock people around or jaw with the Americans after someone hit the floor. The final numbers of the game tell a rather disturbing story. The US hit only 20 percent of their 3-pointers and let Australia shoot over 48 percent. Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant, two of the leaders of the team, combined to hit seven of their 24 shots. What's worse is that the US showed impatience on both ends of the floor. They did not follow the Australians off the ball and as a result of an intricate Australian offense gave up many open shots."
A Stern Warning: "The opening of the match was not unlike the 2004 Olympic encounter between these teams, where a very tight first three quarters culminated with a fourth quarter run-away by Team USA. Team USA played full-court defense today right from the get-go, with Jason Kidd closely manning CJ Bruton. With the athletes at their disposal, this is clearly the best move. However Australia did not get too flustered by this and Bruton's experience allowed him to navigate the press well. Eventually coach Brian Goorjian made the decision to bring in 19 year old Patrick Mills for a change of pace at the point and he did not disappoint. Mills' speed certainly took away from one of Team USA's strengths and he did surprise them en route to the basket on more than one occasion."
HoopsVibe: "Why was the score so close? After all, 'the Aussies' were missing Andrew Bogut. [Two reasons:] [1.] They forgot about the middle. Too often, Team USA played without a center or simply went away from Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard even though the duo shot a combined 7-for-7 from the floor. [2.] The Australians lack Team USA’s individual talent, but they have excellent national development programs with the country’s Institute of Sports known as AIS. Elite teenage athletes are sent to AIS to hone their craft and train. Their senior national team would’ve balled together for years and, as a result, had on-court chemistry to burn."
Ross Siler, Salt Lake Tribune: "So far, the U.S. has put up points only when its players are turning steals into dunks and hitting from the outside. Not only weren't the Americans coming up with steals Tuesday, they stood and watched as Australia hit one cutter after another for layups. I think it's also fair to ask if trying to split minutes between three point guards is hurting the U.S. Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Deron Williams combined for five points, eight assists and six turnovers in 49 minutes Tuesday. After five games, I'm still waiting to see anything out of Kidd. We're constantly reminded that he's the only U.S. player to have won a gold medal before. But Kidd had no points, three assists and two turnovers in 15 minutes against Australia."
Dime: "Is something wrong with Kobe? While 'Melo, LeBron, and D-Wade all seem to really grasp how to play on this All-Star team in the international system, Kobe looks clueless at times. It's not just that he's trying to go one-one-one too much, it's that he doesn’t even seem to be looking for anyone else. Once Mamba stepped off the floor, the Americans went on a 7-0 run."
The Starting Five: "The first Dream Team never saw anyone who belonged on the court with them. Basketball wasn't an international sport in 1992. It wasn't the big commodity across the world that it is now. International players weren't flooding the NBA ranks. Michael Jordan wasn’t the biggest thing on the planet yet. Moreover, the European basketball league–did it even exist? This Dream Team is going to face serious competition. They will see their teammates in these Olympics. We're talking about all-stars like Yao Ming and an MVP like Dirk Nowitzki. These aren't your Mom and Dad's international basketball players. These are serious contenders. And yet, for whatever reason, I feel as if this Dream Team is going to do away with team ... with relative ease. No disrespect to the Argentina's and Spain's of the world, but with Mike Krzyzewski at the helm, and the best players in the world finally on the squad, this team can't lose. They just can't."
Ball Don't Lie is an NBA blog edited by J.E. Skeets. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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37 Comments
1 - 24 of 37
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It's time to put away the faux patriotic ra-ra nonsense, before we get embarassed on the international stage again.
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Anyways, it's a good wakeup call for the Americans. While they should be beating all these teams, it shows that they still have to be competitive because the international teams are just as good. Overall talent wise these guys should be better, but under pressure I would hate to see them revert to an iso-frenzy of NBA style play, which quite frankly doesn't work and gets them burned in international play. They don't have a real offense so to speak but with their talent they shouldn't need it. However, they can't get complacent and have to start moving off the ball more. And as said so many times before, they have to stop ball hawking. Either their perimeter man defense is really sloppy at times, they gotta tighten that up, and then get better help if there's penetration. Drive and kick, that's international ball in 3 words (2 if you don't count the and).
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and when you seriously think about it, do you think this team can lose.... even on there worst performance this past year, they still pull out a double digit victory, makes you wonder huh...
the main focus and Kobe said it perfectly is defense... Melo needs to put in a more concerted defnsive effort.... and even though d wade gets a couple of those fast break highlight steals... He gambles way too much.. most of the time the other team will score off of a broken play, or a man gambling on the ball...
Kobe does play one on one, but thats his nature, they did not fair to well when he was not playing 1 on 1... team was just out of synch and he tried to give em a boost... I never complain about a guy going one on one, if he has a strong defensive effort... either way a "w" is a "w"
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Paul is way too over rated and this is why: around 5 of his league leading 11 assists per game last NBA season came from David West's midrange jumper. the other assists came from peja and mo pete's 3s...and oh by the way, chandler gets to dunk every now and then..CP has the talent around him...
ever wonder why the NO bench don't get decent minutes? because they can't shoot(except for pargo)..and because they can't shoot CP won't get the assists...that's why they get benched.
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CP3 is a lousy perimeter defender & is undersized at 5-11. He'll get toasted by the
big Greek guards again as in '06.
Kidd or Williams. CP3 & Melo are the 2 worst defenders. More minutes to Prince too.
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I tell you this though... you can blame the world for getting angry and catching up to us based on the 2000 sydney olympic team.... That U.S team showed complete disrespect toward there opponent during those olympics, unlike the 92 dream team.... the 2000 eam looked to embarass there opponent, and make a mockery of the world.. the world soon got revenge though..... Now we have to build up
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On the eve of training camp in late July, the U.S. Olympic basketball team gathered in the Carmichael Room of the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. Once Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski delivered messages about beginning the final leg of this journey to Beijing, Team USAs managing director and coach turned the meeting over to the players.
Across the room, everyone had a chance to speak. Jason Kidd. LeBron James. Kobe Bryant had the final word. As Colangelo remembered it, the best player on the planet told his teammates, We all complain on our teams, that I want to play with this player or that one. Well, here weve got them all. This is how its supposed to be. We dont have any excuses.
Amen, Krzyzewski said, and so ended the meeting that started the final preparations for an Olympic team that tries to undo years of international tournament failures and embarrassments.
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Just because these international players aren't playing in the NBA doesn't mean that they can't play. They're fundamentally sound, their big men can all shoot the ball and they're all brought up with a team first mentality...and now their athleticism is catching up as well.
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That said, the US are still heavy favorites based on their individual talents alone.
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Just because these international players aren't playing in the NBA doesn't mean that they can't play. They're fundamentally sound, their big men can all shoot the ball and they're all brought up with a team first mentality...and now their athleticism is catching up as well.
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