LeBron Saved America (Again) As Team USA Narrowly Beats Germany In Their Final Olympic Tune Up Game
Before these practice games started I considered Germany the toughest challenger to Team USA in the Olympics. Partly because of what we saw in FIBA last summer, but also because they're a team that has a great mix of NBA talent and team chemistry. You watch them play and they look like a real unit, plus the Wagner Bros and Dennis Schroder always seem to go up a few levels in international competition.
Well after another nailbiter in which Team USA was on the verge of another disaster, that take seems pretty fair. Germany will be a tough ass out should these two teams meet in the Olympics, and frankly if they didn't run out of gas at the end of today we're having a much different discussion.
Instead, I'd like to take this opportunity to address how insane it is that LeBron James is still very clearly Team USA's best player. Make no mistake about it, with this game in the balance with around 3+ minutes left, LeBron saved America. Again. On Saturday it was the game winner vs South Sudan, and today it was him doing literally everything down the stretch to secure this win
He got essentially every rebound, he had virtually all the points down the stretch, and he did it the exact way he's been closing games for over two decades. To this day, even at age 39 when LeBron decides he's getting to the rim there's nothing a single defender on this planet can do about it. What this win reminded us and the rest of the world really is that at the end of the day, we have LeBron and you don't. You're not going to get this type of effort for a full game, but when he locks in and decides enough is enough? LeBron is still the most unstoppable basketball force on the planet. We're putting our NBA biases aside for these Olympics and there's no denying it. He's still a monster and Team USA loses back to back tune up games if not for LeBron.
That's a wild statement to say in 2024, but it's the truth.
A few other things that stood out in this final tune up game before the real thing starts later this week
- If there's one thing these practice games showed, it's that Team USA still plays like a collection of talent as opposed to functioning as a team. That was pretty clear today going up against a team in Germany that has played together forever, and it's the exact thing that is going to get Team USA in trouble in Paris. Enough of this isolation offense where everyone stands around and watches someone dribble. Steve Kerr, please wake up out of your coma, we as a nation are begging.
Even with all these natural passers on the roster, it's almost as if when you combine a bunch of #1s onto a team, players don't really understand how to run an offense. Another game of high turnovers and low assists, another game of stagnant offense with no player or ball movement. That's the type of shit that closes the gap when there's a big time talent difference, and it showed up in every single tune up game.
- This was easily the best Joel Embiid has looked, so hopefully he can build off it. I am someone who feels as though if the entire internet is going to roast him when he struggles, we should acknowledges when he plays well. This looked much more like the Embiid we're used to seeing
so it was good to see him finally play well. Still some issues defensively, but overall this version of Embiid will be more than good enough.
- It's almost like nobody watched the 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics and the success of Mazzulla Ball. In no world should Team USA be outshot from 3P by a total of 45-17, especially when we JUST SAW South Sudan give them problems with this same approach. It's pretty simple if you ask me, teams are going to throw up as many 3PA as possible to try and close the talent gap, and if 2024 taught us anything it's that if you don't match 3P volume/production, you're going to get beat.
I thought Stever Kerr knew this? Isn't that what Golden State is all about? Serious question, is he even paying attention at this point?
- While the 2nd unit has had its moments, it was pretty awful in this game. Jayson Tatum was pretty awful in the second half, Anthony Edwards refuses to understand that he's allowed to pass to a teammate, and as a unit, they couldn't stop turning the ball over in the 3rd quarter.
This was the lineup where it felt like the ball movement was really nonexistent in the second half when Germany made their run, so I'm thinking once the real games start we're going to have to see more staggering of lineups as opposed to full line switches.
- Another game where Team USA looked way slower to the ball/playing with way less energy than their opponent. Maybe this is all because it was a practice game, but Germany played much harder in my opinion. We know the Basketball Gods usually reward whatever team plays the hardest, and I kept getting vibes that Team USA thinks they are going to be able to just show up and win because they're Team USA. That's the most obvious way to suffer an embarrassing loss, so let's hope that doesn't happen.
- Just remember, Kevin Durant is coming. He's pretty good.
- Given the fact that according to sum this is the greatest basketball team ever assembled, it's not the best sign that they've been unable to truly blow doors off their opponent in these tune up games. I'm talking wire to wire domination. That's the expectation whether it's fair or not, and maybe they're saving that level of play for Paris, but it's certainly not going to get easier. If anything these tune up games have given the rest of the world confidence. It may end up not mattering, but this has not been the Dream Team level of destruction I think we all expected to see.
But hey, 5-0 in the tune up games is still 5-0. Could have been worse for sure, but thankfully LeBron James exists. It would be nice to not have to rely on a 39 year old just to beat these teams, but whatever. A win is a win.