If the 2012 NBA Finals showed us anything, it’s that teams
can indeed succeed by playing fast, up-tempo offense. LeBron James
and the Miami Heat did away with half court offensive schemes as much as they
could and utilized the team’s innate athleticism to score and ultimately win. It helped
that they were elite defensively as well, forcing bad shots and turnovers to
create easy fast break opportunities.
With the team’s current roster, USA basketball and Coach
Mike Krzyzewski have fully embodied that mentality. With injuries to big name
centers like Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum, the only two traditional big men
left on their roster are Tyson Chandler and Kevin Love. They aren’t perfect for
fast pace play, but both have certain skills that help the team when they’re
called upon. Chandler can get a ton of rebounds and get up in the air for alley-oops, and
Love is arguably the premier outlet passer in the NBA (he’s also ok at rebounding too). Like the Heat, Team USA is also a great defensive team, and
should capitalize on turnovers and blocked shots with relative ease. Just take
a look at some highlights from the USA’s most recent dominant win against
France:
But just as athleticism and speed are the team’s biggest
advantages, they can also be Team USA’s downfall. Because they’re forced to sacrifice
size for speed, skilled big men may pose defensive problems. The most glaring
mismatches are those created by Spain and Brazil. Spain’s Gasol brothers and
Brazil’s trio of Nene, Tiago Splitter, and Anderson Varejao are the types of
players that can score in the low post. If these types of teams can utilize
their size advantage, Team USA will have to find ways to adjust defensively and
stop them.
The other most intriguing aspect of this team beyond their
athleticism is their versatility. Even if their having trouble creating fast
break points, they can still slow it down and create their own shots in a more
traditional pick and roll offense. Chris Paul and Tyson Chandler are perfect for
this alternative play. Paul can also initiate set plays, or defer to gifted
one-on-one scorers like Kobe Bryant and Carmelo Anthony if they feel there’s a
mismatch. If they can combine all of these different strategies into a cohesive
offensive game plan, they’ll be very tough to beat.
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