Yesterday was too close for comfort … beating South Sudan by one point (thanks to LeBron) … not great. I would say … at least it was an exhibition game … but Team USA was trying to win and struggled. I would also say … it was good to be battle tested and recognize losing is possible in the Olympic format (i.e., shorter games where opponents tend to have more continuity and defined roles and the whistle isn’t as favorable as the NBA), but we already knew this (Team USA has had some close ones over the years and did lose a game, despite not having the absolute best of the best, in the last Olympics). I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer here ... it’s just that this team has been called the Avengers and, through four exhibition games, struggled against South Sudan and came out very slow against Canada (and I don’t think Canada went all out as SGA and Murray played less than half the game). All that said, I fully expect this team to lock-in and bring home the gold but am hoping to see a more solidified rotation once the Olympics begin.
Look, I get it. It’s not easy to establish rotations in a short period of time and having so much talent actually makes it more difficult to choose optimal lineups. As expected, the coaching staff has tinkered with the rotations during the exhibition phase. However, after four games, I think some players’ roles are more defined than others and fall into three buckets: core-all weather, tactical, and wild card.
As of now, I think there are four core all-weather players who have shown they can impact the game in a variety of ways and are complementary to others … this list includes: LeBron (doing LeBron stuff), Curry (shooting, passing, and spacing), Davis (two-way monster), and Holiday (ultimate defensive playmaker who contributes nicely offensively as well). In short, I generally feel good when these players are on the floor and it doesn’t have to be all at once. Although, I would love to see Davis play more with LeBron (which seems obvious given their connection as teammates) and Curry.
After the core all-weather group, there are more tactical players who can swing a game with their strengths … this list includes: Durant (assuming he’s healthy ... with his top-notch scoring), Tatum (certainly an all-weather guy in the NBA but think he’s best for this team when he’s attacking the rim), ANT (the two-way energy can add some real juice when things are stale), and Bam (bringing his defensive versatility and securing rebounds to start the transition).
Lastly, we have the wild cards (i.e., Embiid, Booker, Haliburton, and White). I just don’t know what I’m going to get here (though I wouldn’t be surprised if Embiid or Booker scored 20 in any given game). Perhaps it’s less so the case with White given he’s on the team as a true role player but I don’t foresee him coming in unless there’s a legitimate defensive issue like there was against South Sudan.
So, what does this all mean? In short, more often than not, I would feel pretty good about any lineup that mixes the core all-weather and tactical players. This doesn’t mean the wild card players shouldn’t play (as they’re going to and think we’ll need Embiid in a big way if we play France), but their minutes might better used if more situational in nature. At the end of the day, the games are only 40 minutes … so, in a tight one, having solidified lineups will be crucial.
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