I don't know if you are joking or not but before their last two matches, they were hail as a defensive juggernaut team. Defense is not their main problem. I can assure you of that. Both Serbia and Australia were scoring below 100pts and around the same mark they scored against Team USA of 2012 and 2014. So no, it is not about the D. It is about the inefficient ways at which Team USA are scoring the ball which is by iso and one guy trying to do too much. Even Paul George came out and said they need to play team ball. In basketball, it is the offense that dictate the defense. When you play good offense, guys are more in tune to play defense, as a result you have excellent offense and defense being played. Right now, they are struggling to score easy basket due to the offense which upset the high caliber defensive players to put more effort on the defensive end.
Curry is an all star but he didn't become elite until 2015 season. Like I said, the only reason Team USA are struggling is because the top US players pull out. What funny is even with a B team, they are still going to win the gold medal. Of all the Olympics sports, basketball is almost a guarantee gold for the US.
I think you are the one that's joking....Seems to me, not only you don't know how Basketball is play in international level, but also, your "Statistic" is not really anything in the level of people keeping statistic, if you are very keen on statistic, you will not say this
Both Serbia and Australia were scoring below 100pts and around the same mark they scored against Team USA of 2012 and 2014. So no, it is not about the D. It is about the inefficient ways at which Team USA are scoring the ball which is by iso and one guy trying to do too much.
Let's go over the statistic.
Of the last 3 games Team US played
- 2 pt FG % is 17/48 (35.4% v AUS) 20/35 (57.1% v SER), 25/36 (69.4% v FRA)
- 3 pt FG % is 17/39 (43.6% v AUS) 7/20 (35 % v SER), 10/27 (37% v FRA)
- FT % is 13/18, (72% v Australia), 33/42 (78.6% v Serbia), 20/27 (74.1% v France)
- TO is 9 (v Aus) 12 (v Ser) , 13 (v FRA)
- Offensive Rebound 21 (v AUS) 9 (v SER), 8 (v FRA)
- PFT/2nd Chance Point 0/23 (v AUS) 16/9 (v SER) 15/11 (v FRA)
On the other hand, the % against team USA
- 2 pt FG% is 26/45 (57.8% by AUS), 21/35 (60% by SER), 36/54 (66.7% by FRA)
- 3 pt FG% is 7/21 (33.3% by AUS), 10/25 (40% by SER), 5/19 (26.3% by FRA)
- FT% is 15/18 (83.3% by AUS) ,19/25 (76% by SER), 10/13 (76.9% by FRA)
- TO is 17 (by AUS), 16 (by SER), 13 (by FRA)
- Offensive Rebound 8(by AUS) 8 (by SER) 11 (By FRA)
- PFT/2nd Chance Point 9/4 (by AUS) 15/10 (by SER) 20/20 (by FRA)
Final Game Result
- US 98 - 86 AUS
- US 94 - 91 SER
- US 100 - 97 FRA
Now, before you look at the stats, let's go over how Basketball is played.
You score by making a play, and you make a play by either from opponent turnover or dead ball. So to understand how a game being played, it's important to see how one stats go against your opponent stats.
To Score : basically you either
1.) Score unchecked, open (which mean either you have a good play or opponent bad D)
2.) Score being checked by your opponent (good play)
To Miss a Score, you either
1.) Unpressured Mistake (You missed for whatever reason)
2.) Pressure by your Opponent (Opponent good D, including your offensive foul)
To make a shot, you can only be in 1 of the 4 situations
1.) From Sideline (either after opponent made a score or out of bound)
2.) From Turnover (opponent offensive foul, steal or pressed mistake)
3.) From a good Defence (opponent failed to score succumbed to your team Ds)
4.) Second Chance play (Offensive Rebound)
A Good offensive game traditionally have the following stats
1.) High FG %
2.) High FG attempt
3.) High Offensive Rebound
4.) High FT attempted (coming from high offensive attempt)
5.) High Second Chance Point
A Good defensive game traditionally have the following stats
1.) Low Opponent FG%
2.) Low Opponent FG Attempt
3.) High Defensive Rebound
4.) Low Opponent Offensive Rebound
5.) High Opponent Turn Over
Now's looking at stats between USA vs Australian, USA vs Serbia and USA vs France.
US team have a high FT% on games vs France and Serbia, low 2 pts FT on Australia, suggest the US team have a good offensive over against both Serbia, and France. At the same time, the US team have made a similar shot attempt (55 vs 60 on Serbia, and 63 vs 73 on France) suggest the offensive end is similar outlook between US and Serbia and France. On the other hand, Serbia and France make about the same % and attempt than in the US, suggest that US team was not defensively strong. Offensive rebound saw US slightly edged ahead of Serbia (8 vs 7) while trailing France (8 vs 13) suggest US are on par with Serbia on defensive end, but worse than France in defence (being unable to block out France Offensive rebound) while the last stat suggest that US edge ahead with FT attempts, both time twice the number than Serbia and France, suggesting more offensive play (both in and out of motion) on the opposite court.
In an outlook
- High FG%
- High FT attempts
- Medium to High offensive rebound suggest US play Offensive ball game
- High Opponent Offensive rebound
- High Opponent FG %
- High Opponent Score
Suggest US failing in defence.
The only match I would say US failing in offense is against Australia.
When you look at the game, you will see US weren't chasing the opponent, most Australian, Serbia and France are uncheck, while the game focus on more running style play with the US team, they are playing on what we called "Trading Basket" This would only works when they missed a lot (either your good D making them miss or their lacking of offensive power) However, facing Australia, Serbia and France all 3 with high shooting percentage, you won't get much out of trading basket.
And finally, again, I did not say the Team USA cannot do defend, they can, they just did not play defensive ball game in all 5 matches, all 5 matches are what we called "Run and Gun" style match, you will see if you bother to watch the game itself.
And no, just because curry was not a MVP nor he did not have the ring on his hand in 2014, that does not mean he is not a star player, You cannot become elite overnight, you have to have substance before you become elite, saying curry wasn't elite in 2014 does not mean he is not one of the best person in NBA, you like stats, right? Go back and check Curry stats, in 2014/2015 season.
I'm shocked, another Nihonjin wannabe?
