This one was over at halftime
There would not be a tight game with South Sudan this time: the US pulled away early, building a 26-14 lead in the first quarter and then going up 55-36 at the half.
South Sudan played the US more or less even in the second half but it wasn’t enough to get back into it and the US won 103-86. There was a lot of celebratory dunking and flashy passing because the US basically knew it wasn’t going to lose and there was no need to be cautious. Steve Kerr’s admonition about appropriate fear expired in the first half.
Jayson Tatum’s DNP-CD in the Serbia game was put to rest as he started, finishing with just four points but grabbing five boards and handing out a pair of assists.
Kerr also started LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Devin Booker and Stephen Curry but the leading scorers came off the bench: Bam Adebayo had 18 while Kevin Durant followed his superb outing against Serbia with 14. Eight of those came from the foul line.
If there are criticisms of the performance, you can start with Curry shooting 1-9 which is bizarre by his standards, or Durant shooting 2-5.
But Team USA shot 52.9 percent overall and hit 13-30 for their threes for 43.3 percent.
The biggest worry for us is a cold shooting night for the US and the other team. In an offensive battle, that’s all it takes to lose.
Fortunately, the US is still using what we might call the K-Factor.
When Mike Krzyzewski took over coaching Team USA after Larry Brown drove the ship on to dry land in 2004, he built a team that did what we saw his Duke teams do for decades: attack on defense.
And while this might change someday, as of today, no one can match the US in the open court. And if the team uses its athletic advantage to press and turn the other team over and also limits three point shooting, it’s a formula for consistent success.
South Sudan shot 37.9 percent on threes, which is not bad, but they also turned the ball over 19 times. Wenyan Gabriel alone had seven turnovers. Carlik Jones had four. The US ate that alive.
In that environment, you can afford to have the greatest shooter in basketball history go 1-9.
In other news, Khaman Maluach got in for two minutes and had two fouls, which is not surprising. He’s 17 and he’s played basketball for 4-5 years. He’s also 7-2 and it just takes time for someone that size to grow into that body. And that leaves experience out of it. Did you ever see the movie Madame Sousatzka?
It’s about a piano teacher who discovers an immensely talented prodigy and they have an argument about when he’s ready to move into high-level competition. He feels ready but she doesn’t think he is. He moves on and takes his lumps.
That’s somewhat similar to Maluach. He’s 17, out of a backwater basketball wise, and suddenly he’s playing against the best players in the world. If he’s a 17-year old prodigy, LeBron James is a Ph.D with 15 years of tenure.
Maluach is the future for South Sudan but in the present, he’s not ready to take these guys on. His time is coming though. His time in Durham will dramatically accelerate his development and in a few years, he’s likely to be facing off with Victor Wembanyama and one of the few players on the planet who can do so.
The US is off until Saturday when they play Puerto Rico. That has a lot of resonance. In the 1976 Olympics, Puerto Rico very nearly upset the US and most Americans have no idea of the passion of basketball on the island. We may be thinking about Saturday but down there, people are excited as hell about it and the team will be too. The US might roll again, but don’t think for a minute that that won’t be an intense game. It’s going to be lit.
