It's A Great Sign That Team USA Mostly Played Like Shit And Still Had No Problem Kicking Canada's Ass

Ethan Miller. Getty Images.

Despite this being an exhibition game, I think everyone was excited to see Team USA vs Team Canada on Wednesday night. Partially because it was our first look at the 2024 Super Duper Team, partially because of what happened between these two teams back in FIBA when Canada beat the US for the Bronze medal, partially because Dillion Brooks did what Dillion Brooks always does and talked his shit only to be stuffed in a locker

and partially because it's the dead point in the sports calendar and we as a society need to obsess over something, and what better opportunity than a fake basketball that ultimately means nothing? Those are the exact games you overreact to!

So with that in mind, let's have a look at how Team USA did. Don't let that final score fool you, this was your pretty typical ass whooping on the hardwood

The thing is, I'd give this like a C/C- Team USA performance at best. I don't think they played particularly well, which I suppose is to be expected since they all just got together a few days ago. That's the whole point of these exhibition games, so there are of course going to be some growing pains. Plus KD and NBA Champion Derrick White weren't there, and considering a huge part of the offensive approach will be playing through a guy like KD, on some level you have to take what we saw with a grain of salt.

At the same time, what this game provided was a reminder that this team is going to be completely terrifying once things start to click. Again, Canada isn't exactly a pushover team. There's real talent on that team, an NBA champion, an MVP candidate, shooting, rebounding etc. Team USA even spotted Canada an early 11-1 lead before they decided to show up and once they did? It was a wrap.

One thing that became pretty clear right away is that the younger generation seems poised and ready to take over this team. The game didn't really swing in Team USA's favor until the second unit came in led by NBA Champion Jayson Tatum/Anthony Edwards/Anthony Davis/Bam. Tatum and Ant injected an immediate two way spark, and then both AD and Bam's defense was the finishing touch. What we got was an early look at just how terrifying Team USA is going to be defensively, and this wasn't even factoring in an All NBA defender that didn't even play. 

Jrue Holiday had SGA and really the entire country of Canada in hell, Haliburton managed to use his length and create turnovers, and then god forbid a player got into the paint or at the rim, the combination of AD/LeBron/Bam/Tatum was simply too much in terms of rim protection. Team USA finished with 9 blocks and 11 steals while also controlling the glass on both ends. SGA finished just 3-10, Jamal Murray 2-8, Dillion Brooks 3-8, Andrew Nembhard 0-5, Lu Dort 0-2, the list goes on and on. The versatility and size that Team USA is going to be able to throw at the rest of the world essentially makes them scheme-proof, and again, they're also adding Kevin Durant and Derrick White to the mix. 

Sadly, it wasn't all good. The offense still looked gross for a large portion of this game. Guys not really knowing what to do or where to go, holding the ball for a split second too long before making their initial move, no real ball movement, it looked exactly like what you would expect a first game to look like. Mostly gross. Their bigs couldn't stop turning the ball over, with 15 TOs as a team not exactly being what I would call ideal. 

It also was a rather disastrous debut for Joel Embiid. Not only did he foul out in about 2.5 quarters, but he also had 2x the number of TOs (4) as FGM (2), looked super slow and definitely not in shape. At least that's my hope. My hope is that he just has to get into basketball shape and will actually be a whole lot better once the real games start. Because the Joel Embiid we saw in this game?

That guy was almost unplayable, and I find it hard to imagine Joel Embiid will be unplayable for this team. Granted he's been sitting at home for a while so you think he'd take his offseason seriously and get into shape, but he has to figure out how to adapt to FIBA basketball or else there are going to be some issues, 

Between the foul baiting which isn't going to be rewarded in FIBA, the cheap shot, poor defense and carelessness with the basketball, he was easily the worst big of their rotation. 

At the end of the day, Team Canada is ultimately just another team. I wouldn't put them in the "threat" category just yet against this version of Team USA talent based on what we saw in this exhibition game, and Team USA should only get better from here.

A better test in my opinion is on the horizon. We see Australia on the 15th and then it's time for Jokic and Serbia on the 17th, and let's not forget about Germany on the 22nd. With that in mind, I'd like to see Steve Kerr run a Steph/Ant(while KD is out)/LeBron/Tatum/AD lineup because to me of the players available, that's easily your best five.