Team USA got back on track with a 120-66 shellacking of the Iranian national team. Damian Lillard led the team with 21 points. They finish up group play on Saturday against the Czech Republic. A win will get them into the single-elimination tournament.
Here are a few thoughts from that game, as well as a couple of other draft odds-and-ends:
Tatum got to see the ball go in
Jayson Tatum again saw limited playing time coming off the bench. Assistant Coach Lloyd Pierce recently said Tatum’s move to the bench was just a matter of trying to better allocate resources for Team USA, though it’s also clear that Tatum has not been playing well.
He did finally manage to see a couple of 3-pointers fall in this game, both of which came in the fourth quarter when the game was well out of hand. He managed to finish with 14 points, the third-highest total for the night.
Hopefully for Tatum this is the beginning of a bit of a resurgence. He has looked off in these games, but finally seeing a couple of bombs fall, the second of which was a true swish that had to feel especially good, could be the thing a player like Tatum needs to start feeling it. He also worked pretty well out of the post, bullying his way to the basket to earn free throws and an assist on a kick out.
The Czech Republic will be a bigger challenge than the Iranians, throwing a more physical front at Tatum. It will be interesting to see if this late scoring burst will trigger something that helps Tatum pick his game up, even if it is as a bench spark plug at this point.
Team USA played better, albeit against much worse competition
As far as the team goes, they did play a little better than they did against France. They also shot a LOT better. Lillard shot 7-13 from deep in this one after shooting 3-9 in the Olympic opener. As a team, they shot 19-39 on 3-pointers (49%) after shooting 10-32 (31%) against France.
They did seem to play harder on defense and they did move the ball better, but the shooting did mask some of the similar mistakes that let Iran stay close in the early part of the first quarter. There were still defensive miscues that a better team would have exploited.
So yes, the Americans played better. I don’t want to take away some of the good screening and ball movement and better attacking against Iran’s zone defense in this game. It was a nice response to a disappointing loss.
Team USA CANNOT be fooled by their success
All that said, if Team USA sticks their noses in the air and proclaims “we’re back,” they will lose again, and that next loss means it’s time to go home.
Iran committed sloppy turnovers, like a pass to someone who wasn’t looking that ended up basically being an assist for a Devin Booker dunk. As much as the US team created opportunities, the Iranians were not able to prevent them from being created.
Team USA did what they had to do, including getting Khris Middleton going a little bit, but they are still not playing well enough to win gold.
OTHER NOTES
Yam Madar may, or may not be, an option this season
Austin Ainge, Boston’s director of player personnel, spoke briefly on Wednesday about the Celtics run-up to the draft. There isn’t any buzz around the draft this year considering the Celtics only have the 45th overall pick, but there is some interest in Yam Madar, the flashy and tantalizing guard out of Israel.
Madar is playing for the Celtics in the upcoming summer league, which has led to some speculation that he might be headed to Boston soon.
“Yam’s doing great. He had a great year, he improved on all the things we asked him to improve on,” Ainge said. “We’ve been in contact with him and his people all the way through and love the progress.”
Progress is one thing, but is there enough to not only earn a spot on the roster, but also entice the Celtics to pay whatever buyout they’d be required to pay to release him from his Israeli team.
Step one will be watching him in summer league. If he dominates, then that could be the sign that Boston should just bring him over. If he’s just okay, then another year of development overseas might be the better option
About that 45th pick ...
Boston doesn’t have a pick in the first round, but it doesn’t mean that they just sat back and drank smoothies at the Auerbach Center.
“We still evaluate everybody - we still have to be ready for trades on the clock,” Ainge said. “We’ll be evaluating these guys for their entire careers, so we still spend a lot of time on the first-round picks. But they will no longer come in for workouts. Usually if you’re outside their range - at the combine we were still able to interview lots of guys in that first-round range. A little of both but definitely reduced.”
The Celtics took every chance they got to talk to as many players as they could because no one knows when a trade might present itself or who might become a free agent at some point. Any chance to get in there and plant a seed that Boston could be a place they want to play in the future is a chance they have to take.
Meanwhile, there is the issue of the 45th pick.
“We’ll see what the future holds there,” Ainge said. “As far as stashing or drafting an international player who may continue to play overseas, it remains to be seen. We’ll see who’s on the board, what happens. It’s always an option, but there’s a lot of guys we like where it’s not an option.”
That’s as non-committal an answer as you’ll ever get.