Team USA’s win over Australia provides more questions than answers

Team USA’s win over Australia provides more questions than answers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Team USA Men’s Basketball was favored by more than 20 points for Monday’s exhibition game against Australia in Abu Dhabi. They were lucky to escape with a 98-92 victory that leaves plenty of questions on their road to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

How does a group of the NBA’s very best American players barely survive against an improving Australian team that isn’t expected to compete for the gold? Some of their main issues were the same ones that plagued the Warriors this past NBA season.

Turnovers were a major problem for Team USA’s slow start against Canada on Wednesday night in Las Vegas. Trailing 21-14 after the first quarter in their eventual win over the Canadians, Team USA had eight turnovers and only three assists in the first quarter. That issue seemed to be cleaned and wiped away early Monday against Australia.

In their second exhibition game Monday, Team USA only had one turnover in the first quarter. Coach Steve Kerr’s decision to switch the starting lineup – replacing Devin Booker with Anthony Edwards and Jrue Holiday with Boston Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum – worked in his favor. Edwards was Team USA’s leading scorer in their first game, giving them 13 points off the bench. He then came out on fire in the starting lineup against Australia, scoring 11 of Team USA’s first 19 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting.

At halftime, it looked like Kerr could experiment and it wouldn’t matter. Team USA was up on the Aussies 32-21 after the first quarter and outscored them 21-16 in the second quarter, giving them a 53-37 lead through the first 20 minutes.

Their 16-point lead then was nearly erased during a disastrous second half. Turnovers were a mess. Twelve of Team USA’s 18 total turnovers came in the final two quarters – seven in the third quarter and five in the fourth. Warriors fans are wincing at those numbers.

An Edwards free throw gave Team USA a 24-point lead with, 65-41, with seven minutes remaining in the third quarter. Edwards completely cooled off in the second half,…

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Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-07-15 20:04:00

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