2) Over-eager perimeter defense and poor switching
For some inexplicable reason, Team USA has chosen to guard the perimeter at the expense of the paint. There were innumerable occasions when a Team USA player had to choose between falling back into the paint or sticking with a player on the perimeter, and they chose the latter in the match vs Australia.
See Andrew Bogut's easy ally oop at 8:07 in the first quarter. See DeMarcus Cousins choosing to switch to Andrew Bogut of all people on the perimeter on a switch and leave Patty Mills wide open for a layup at 9:17 in the 2nd quarter with nobody in the paint
We had DeAndre Jordan looking at the perimeter while a 7 foot Bogut sneaks behind him with his limited vertical for an ally-oop. Andrew Bogut again found himself all alone in the paint as two Team USA players ran out on the perimeter with 43 seconds left in the second quarter.
With 6:02 remaining in the 3rd quarter, Bogut was all alone in the paint again as Irving strayed on the perimeter on a switch. Unbelievably, Team USA continued to rush out to guard the perimeter and kept leaving players open for easy finishes inside.
In the NBA, players are accustomed to rotations among their teammates. They know that if they rush to the perimeter, the man behind them will switch. But this USA squad doesn't have that level of understanding among its members.
All this illustrates is that Team USA has a long way to go before it can consider itself a lockdown defensive squad. It takes time for teams to gel and get on the same page with regards to team defence. But if Team USA can be so easily exploited on defence, it doesn't bode well for their medal hopes.
Guess the Lakers players!
