I'm fully aware it's warm up games, but it's a bit telling that USA seems to be in very close games against these countries. They're 5-0 but they could absolutely drop a game or two.
They could in the Olympics and it wouldn't be a surprise. Remember they lost to Nigeria and Australia in the preseason games in 2021, then they lost their first game to France in the Olympics. These losses no longer shock people the way they did 20 years ago. They can't just use overwhelming talent and athleticism to overwhelm teams that used to be afraid of them the way they used to, so it will be interesting to see how quickly they can gel together, understand their roles, for some of them to be more selfless and play within themselves, understand what the pecking order is and become cohesive. I think they are too good not to eventually figure it out, it depends how quickly they can do it.
I don't think they care how close these games are, or if they lose some...they're more interesting in building that chemistry and connectedness while playing under FIBA rules because they have such little time before the games start mattering.
But that's part of the problem as I see it. They aren't trying to overwhelm teams with their athleticism and physicality. They don't always play tough physical on-ball defense. They don't always go bully-ball inside and take their time. They don't drive hard but under control.
There's a lot of tentativeness, passivity, and general soft play. I mean, Daniel Theis was outplaying many of Team USA the other day. That's not a talent issue.
I suspect this goes back to knowing how to play the right way. If you are confident in knowing where to be and what to do, it frees you to play really hard. I watch team USA, and I often think they don't know where to be and what to do.
