Team USA will try to do something tonight that it has rarely had to do.
Earn a gold medal at the Olympics.
Their path to the gold medal game against France, the team that beat them in the preliminary opener, has not been easy. There have been double-digit deficits along the way and precarious positions from which the Americans have had to escape through actual hard work on the floor.
When Kevin Durant left the floor during their quarterfinal game against Australia, the NBC announcer said “where is Team USA going to go for offense with Durant off the floor,” as if four of the best scorers in the NBA weren’t still playing in the game. But that just highlighted how well the Australian team had been playing. They had put the Americans in a position to need Durant’s prowess to pull away.
We’ve seen Team USA get tripped up in the past, but this Olympics is different. Yes, the U.S. team still has superior overall talent, but this is no longer about throwing talented players out there and saying “go win a game.”
This Olympics is the greatest reminder yet that basketball around the world has caught up. The Australians had a 15 point lead and looked dominant as the United States rushed shots. If it wasn’t for Durant playing out of his mind, that lead might have doubled instead of get cut to three by halftime.
The Americans had to play forceful, purposeful basketball to pull away from the Boomers. This wasn’t just Durant being the best basketball player on the planet (though that helped a lot), it was about team defense and sparking fast breaks. It was about ball movement with meaning behind it, not just trying to thread passes through a sea of arms and players allowed to plant themselves in the paint.
The days of getting away on talent alone are gone, and the days of getting away with short preparation times are going away. We’ve seen this team struggle in the Las Vegas exhibitions mostly because they were trying to figure out who would fit in which role. In a lot of ways, they got lucky that Durant is as healthy as he is after his deep playoff run and is able to carry the squad like he has. They’re also lucky that the three players who participated in the NBA Finals were able to fit in as quickly as they have, especially Jrue Holiday.
There hasn’t been any ego-driven difference that could stall this team’s progression. Once it was clear Durant was “the man,” it seemed like players settled into their roles. That’s not always going to be the case with these Olympic teams.
USA Basketball is trying to address the lack of continuity with the USA Select Team, which is supposed to be a pipeline for players to be part of the international process for longer, and thus address some of those continuity issues. But it still doesn’t lead to the same situations we see in the American opponents.
Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, Nic Batum, and the rest of the French team have played together for a long time. Same for the Spanish and Australian teams that gave the U.S. trouble over the past couple of weeks. We saw in the exhibitions exactly what their cohesiveness could do to a team with talent but no chemistry. It won’t be long before those exhibition results become Olympic results.
International basketball is different than it was when the original Dream Team rampaged through Barcelona. Like the wind blowing seeds off a dandelion, that team’s dominance spread basketball throughout the world, inspiring players in countries that didn’t normally focus on basketball.
As the sport grew, so did their piece of the basketball pie. Great players have been found tucked away in smaller countries or in places no one really thought to look. More teams find themselves with NBA players on their rosters, increasing the global talent level. The ferver behind these growing leagues has only inspired even more young people to play, which means the available pool of basketball talent is the best it has ever been, and it’s growing.
There may even be a day where a league overseas challenges the NBA as the greatest league in the world. There are few limits on just how big basketball can get globally.
I love where it’s going, even if it costs Team USA its dominance. Team USA should beat France tonight. Losing would be an upset, but not as big an upset as it has been in years past. A French win may be unexpected, but it will not be shocking. That’s how it’s going to be from now on. The guaranteed gold medals are gone.
If the Americans are going to win gold, they’re going to have to actually earn it by playing good basketball.