On July 19, the U.S. men's national basketball team played its last warm-up game before going to Tokyo, and the U.S. men's basketball team finally defeated its old rival and 2019 World Cup champion Spain 83-76.
The prettiest one of the game's air relays came from Kevin Durant and Zach Lavin. Damien Lillard made a long throw to Durant after a steal, and Durant threw the ball high and Lavine overtook two defending Spanish players on the gas. About 6,000 spectators held their breath for team America's counterattack.
However, unexpected contingencies occurred again. On July 20, Shams reported that Zach Lavin would not travel to Tokyo with the U.S. men's basketball team today because of triggering a health and safety agreement. The U.S. Basketball Association hopes LaVine can lift the restrictions later this week to join the team in Tokyo.
After Bradley Beale left the U.S. for coronavirus reasons, LaVine became the team's starting point guard, scoring 13 points in the game and shooting 3-of-5 from three-point range. In the second half, the dunk king was very itchy and staged a two-handed dunk. Newcomer Kelden Johnson was full of energy, and he received a wonderful pass from Lillard in the first half of the quick attack counter-attack, pulled the ball to the back of his head with one hand, and took off. In this pass, Lillard, wearing the No. 6 jersey of the U.S. team, is like LeBron James wearing the same jersey.
This is the impression that the world is familiar with the U.S. men's basketball national team. Steals, dunks, air picks, three-pointers, and some superstar performance moments. In the final of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games and the semi-final of the 2016 Olympic Games, the Spanish team and the United States team played each other consecutively, which can be described as a real chess opponent on the stage of the international competition. Bryant has praised Spain more than once as a great team, an outstanding opponent. On the 19th, the stadium in Las Vegas even sounded a noisy "U-S-A-" cry.
It feels so good to win against Spain.
After winning the warm-up finale, Lillard delivered a testimonial, saying: "We are working towards becoming a team. I think we've been improving every game since we came to Las Vegas, and in tonight's closing game, I think we played the performance we expected, ready for the Tokyo trip, and we look like the U.S. men's basketball team. ”
In the first half, the U.S. trailed by nine points. By the second half, the U.S. stars had shown their shooting ability and began playing the kind of basketball coach Gregg Popovich had envisioned when he selected his players. The U.S. team shot just 26 percent from three-point range in the first half of the game, and by the fourth quarter, the three-point shooting percentage had risen to 33 percent, and as LaVine hit three consecutive three-pointers, the U.S. team completely pulled the score away.
"Every day we're improving," said Popovich, who will be leading a team that has only 6 training sessions and 4 warm-up games across the Pacific tomorrow. "Less is more. For this team, rebuilding the wheels is the worst thing. ”
From losing to the Nigeria men's basketball team in the first warm-up game to losing to the Australian men's basketball team, the United States team suffered two consecutive losses in the warm-up game. Although the U.S. team has a small number of training times and a quarter of the players miss the game, the fact that the NBA All-Star Team loses to the NBA's ordinary players or even marginal people is always a shame. Then two more players left the squad, and Jeramie Grant was quarantined for two days because of a COVID-19 health and safety agreement.
If Devon Booker joins the army after playing the NBA Finals with Chris Middleton and Judy Holliday, their competitive form must be the best, and the wonderful combination of the pair who were still playing against each other in the previous two days may change the whole team and bring significant improvement to the team.
Currently, in five Finals games, Booker is averaging 30 points per game, Middleton is averaging 25.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, and Holliday is averaging 17.6 points per game while contributing to the highest series 9.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
If these three can come to Tokyo in a healthy physical and mental state, then the U.S. team will get a guard who is the best defensive team in the NBA, a shooting guard without dead ends. The addition of Holliday and Booker will inject energy into the U.S. team's lack of backcourt. Ricky Rubio scored 23 points in a warm-up game, and Heat guard Gab Vincent scored six three-pointers over Lillard's head a few days earlier. With Holliday, see which other team has the backcourt to make waves?
Booker could have replaced Beal as the new scoring threat, and Middleton could replace Jason Tatum or Durant as the final killer. Tatum suffered from knee pain, with just 3 of 10 shots in the warm-up game, and Durant also had bad hands (5 of 13 shots), and the U.S. team may be much less stressed when it comes to similar situations after Middleton joins.
As we all know, this year's NBA schedule is special, and the previous Finals ended in June. If the Finals reach a tie-7, Booker and the three of them may not be able to play in the first game. Therefore, there is no guarantee that the spirit or body of these three people will be directly competent for their tasks on the American team.
According to Popovich, the players who play the finals will arrive in Tokyo on July 24, but if the Bucks win the championship directly at home, they may leave early.
The United States was once again snatched up for rebounding in the match against Spain. Spain scrambled for 42 rebounds, while the U.S. team had just 29. In 4 warm-up games, in 3 of them, the United States was behind the rebounding team. Marc Gasol and Paul Gasol scored 25 free throws, while the U.S. team had just 13 free throws.
Under FIBA's rules of the game, the height of the inside line is an absolute advantage. Even with center Javier McGee, the U.S. team still lacks enough height and confrontation in the lineup. At present, the U.S. team does not have enough personnel to play the signature fast-paced attack and defense that former head coach "Old K" has implemented in the past three Olympic Games, at least until reinforcements arrive. Kyrie Owen, James Harden, and Paul George, each withdrew for their own reasons. They sometimes have a slow pace in warm-up matches, which forces them to rely on the instincts of their stars to attack with unfamiliar teammates.
The U.S. team still needs to do enough on the outside and front to keep the Olympic men's basketball gold medal in the United States.
"I think it's good to go through difficulties. I feel like we're going to get stronger when we're going through a tough situation. In the face of difficulties, either you become stronger or you are crushed. Our players choose to regroup after going through a difficult situation, there may be disappointment, but they choose to look forward. Life is like that. Popovich concluded at the final press conference.