London 2012 Olympics: Team USA Beats Spain 100-78 in Warmup

Team USA has the most weapons in the world, and sometimes we forget that.

As NBA fans, we pick apart players’ games and try to show why we don’t think they’re very good. It’s a method of critiquing that probably goes too far at times.

When you think of Carmelo Anthony, do you ever have to remind yourself that he’s still one of the best players in the world?

Even with the trade antics that happened in Denver, and even with his play in New York not exactly matching up with the attention he gets, it’s really hard to stop Melo when he’s cooking.

Against Spain, Team USA found itself dominated by Serge Ibaka early. Even without Marc Gasol stepping onto the floor, Spain was able to establish its presence and advantage inside in the first few minutes of the game.

But Carmelo Anthony got going, and there was nobody on Spain capable of guarding him when this happened.

Melo went to work with pull-up midrange jumpers. With the threat of his size and strength knocking guys away and his quick first step making guys play off of him, it seemed like Spain had no idea how to defend him. He created space and took advantage. He scored 23 of his 27 points in the first half, to help bring USA from what was looking like an early blowout to a blowout of their own.

Even though USA can struggle at times defensively (it never seems to put together a full game of defensive focus), the focus comes in large waves. Tyson Chandler was called for some questionable fouls early on, but instead of wilting under the lack of size, the American team rallied and ramped up the pace.

The key to countering the Spanish size was the way the U.S. attacked the ball. There was rarely a ball-handler on Spain that didn’t get harassed. The defensive pressure Team USA provides is a big-time weapon in these games. Sure, it can’t bang inside, but it can make it nearly impossible for you to get the ball inside.

The pressure on the perimeter led to passes without much strength or accuracy to them. When that happened, LeBron, Kobe, Durant and anybody else stalking the wings for the U.S. were able to pounce on the ball and turn it the other way.

There were times when the pressure didn’t work and the U.S. gave up plays inside. But it was the give-and-take of constant pressure designed to be high-risk, high-reward.

With Carmelo being the spark in the first half, Kevin Durant showed out in the first few minutes of the third quarter with 10 quick points. He did it with an assassin’s touch, firing away from long range whenever the Spanish players were foolish enough to leave him open.

The two-man game with LeBron and Durant seemed almost unfair, and could be a sign of things to come in the Olympics.

There’s literally nothing an opposing team can do against it.

Both LeBron and Durant have incredible playmaking instincts and showed it in this game. Spain or any other opponent can load up on that strong side, but then it has to live with being picked apart from the weak side.

And LeBron might have been the most important weapon of all. Not only did he finish with 25 points, but he also was predatory on defense and facilitated the offense beautifully all night.

For much of the night, Team USA was in control. Even when Spain went to zone for much of the third-quarter stretch when it cut the deficit to 12, the U.S. responded by creating more turnovers and turning them into scoring chances.

An interesting thing to note and keep in the back of our minds as the Olympics begin on Sunday is that the U.S. seemed to have its best success when it had a lineup of its best weapons.

It went small with a lineup of all individual weapons—including LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant. It had to go to this mainly because of Tyson Chandler’s foul trouble, but it ended up working.

These five individual weapons always had an isolation advantage, and they managed to play extremely well together. And that’s why the U.S. seems to have an advantage over every team that stands in its way of the gold medal.

In 2004, this was a team of individuals who didn’t know how to play with each other.

Eight years later, the USA still has the most weapons in the world, and Coach K knows how to use them. 

Posted in: London 2012 Olympics