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Team USA are currently preparing to win their fourth gold medal in a row in the 2020 Olympic Basketball tournament later this month. The 12-man side, filled with All-Star NBA talent, was announced at the end of June and was in training camp last week prior to their exhibition friendlies in Las Vegas before traveling to Tokyo.
Their first friendly came against a Nigerian side featuring NBA stars such as KZ Okpala, Gabe Vincent, Josh Okogie and Precious Achiuwa. After a thrilling encounter, the Nigerians took away a historic 90-87 win, something few teams have been able to do to Team USA in basketball history.
In the aftermath of that loss and in the build up to the 2020 Olympic Basketball contest in Japan, we take a look at the strengths and weaknesses of Team USA.
Strengths and weaknesses of Team USA ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Strength - Scoring depth
Team USA basketball has an immense plethora of serial scorers heading into the 2020 Olympics. Not only do they have this year's runner-up for the NBA scoring title, Bradley Beal, Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, Zach LaVine, Jayson Tatum and Devin Booker will all be competing for their country. All six took more than 15 field-goal attempts during the regular season and connected with over 45% of them.
Beyond the standout shooters, there is also the Milwaukee Bucks pairing of Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, who are both shooting above 40% throughout the playoffs.
Realistically, throughout the Team USA roster, every player scores the rock at a high-rate and can rack up points on any given night. Except perhaps for Draymond Green, who will be facilitating the shooters and leading the side on the defensive end as he did for the Golden State Warriors.
Weakness - Size in the paint
Team USA's loss to Nigeria was exceedingly rare for the men's basketball side. Over the last three Olympic seasons - including exhibition games - they had a record of 39-0 prior to the game on Saturday night. Of course, the loss means little to the U.S.'s gold medal hopes, but it does allow for some analysis into their weaknesses.
The first being the team's lack of size in the frontcourt. Some in the media raised their eyebrows when the roster was announced, seeing that Bam Adebayo was the only out-and-out center. Although Kevin Love and Kevin Durant can play in small-ball lineups and support in rebounding the ball, Team USA grabbed just 34 boards to the Nigerians 46 in the game.
This was a weakness identified before any exhibition was played and the result was exactly what some thought would happen.
Now, of course, Team USA can easily outscore their opponents in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, what European teams, often the most dangerous opposition, lack in scoring and ability, they can make up for by having aggressive and dominating bigs in the paint.
It will be interesting to see the adjustments coach Popovich and his team make in the upcoming friendlies to make up for their lack of size.
Strength - Big-game experience
Part of the surprise that Team USA lost to Nigeria was not because of their vast level of talent, but also the championship and playoff experience those players possess. The roster has six NBA rings, while their coaching team has 13 between Popovich and Steve Kerr and five NCAA titles won by Mike Krzyzewski as the head coach of Duke basketball.
That is what often sets the national team apart in tightly-fought encounters and why they are expected to win gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Seven of the players have been to the NBA Finals in the last five years while 75% of them competed in this year's postseason.
They know what it takes down the stretch to win a basketball game and have the clutch shooters to achieve the top prize.
Weakness - Playmaking
For all their scoring talent, ironically Team USA's other big weakness could come on the offensive end in the way of shot creativity. Damian Lillard is arguably the only true point guard and even he prioritizes getting to his spot to score 20+ points a night.
Every other player on the roster is a good passer at the very least and will be able to get others involved while also finding their own shot. However, it could be interesting to see how a team of stars gel when most of them are used to being their team's primary scorer without having to create as much for others. Kevin Durant has shown he can do it for the Brooklyn Nets, and so too has Khris Middleton.
Besides those two, it is arguably Draymond Green and Bam Adebayo that could be the other main facilitators on this team, although they may not see as many minutes or touches of the ball as others.
Strength - Defensive versatility
Should their scoring somehow falter or their guards prove to be a liability on defense, Team USA has the ability and roster depth to trot out a stifling defensive five that can halt any national team. Such a five would include Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Draymond Green, Kevin Durant and Jrue Holiday - three of whom were voted into the NBA's Defensive Teams of the Year.
These players have the ability to guard a number of positions and where their lack of size could be a weakness in the paint, Team USA will have plenty of athletic defenders who won't be caught out in pick-and-roll switches.
Bam Adebayo in particular has developed his defensive game to being an elite rim protector but also somebody who can switch onto a smaller guard such as Kyrie Irving and Devin Booker as he did in the regular season.
Then you have leaders such as Draymond Green and Kevin Durant who know what it takes to get it done on defense in the most-important pressure situations.
Also Checkout: USA Olympic Basketball Team Schedule
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