Team USA struggles in preview of Warriors’ ‘superteam’

In a preview of what to expect from the coming season, Team USA’s Warriors struggled.

The past couple of games for Team USA against Australia and Serbia were not typical domination by USA basketball standards. They won against Australia by 10 points and were even or leading by a couple baskets. The team won against Serbia by only three points and nearly gave up the tying three-pointer to Serbia’s best shooter.

This was a cause for concern not just because the last two games were so close, but also due to the lack of ball movement and isolation basketball played. Now, this begs the question: will these USA slow starts and lack of ball movement be a preview of the Warriors’ “superteam”?

The answer should be that it shouldn’t be a preview of the Warriors’ superteam early on.

Here’s why:

For one thing, the Warriors will have better chemistry than what Team USA has had in group play. In the past two games, there was much isolation basketball and not much ball movement. With Coach Steve Kerr at the helm, that should change dramatically because of his offensive system of ball movement and man movement. The “Fearsome Four” of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant should be able to distribute a reasonable number of shots between them and they seem like unselfish players. These Warriors players (except Durant) also have played together longer than the USA team.

Another reason that these USA struggles should not be a preview of the Warriors’ superteam because of the coaching that the USA has compared to the Warriors’ coaching. Coach Krzyzewski is a much different coach than Coach Kerr. Krzyzewski is a no nonsense, serious type of coach, while Kerr is a more let-the-players-play and a fun, smiling coach.

Also, the lineup shuffling that Krzyzewski and Kerr are different. Krzyzewski starts several offensive players, but not many defensive players. He starts Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, and DeMarcus Cousins. Thompson is an elite defender and Durant is an underrated defender. Irving and Anthony are not superb defenders. Cousins is not the rim protector that DeAndre Jordan is. Now, it’s not fair to compare the coaches, but I feel like Kerr would put in another defender into that lineup such as Paul George of the Indiana Pacers for Carmelo Anthony. Kerr would also mix and match his offensive and defensive players.

The struggles of the USA team should not be a preview of the superteam because there are some different players on the USA team than on the Warriors. Although the Warriors would have four of the best players in the NBA, the Warriors’ coaching staff would not have to manage the egos of twelve of the best players in the NBA. It will still be difficult to manage the egos of four of the NBA’s best players, but the system that Kerr has these guys buying in is a little bit different than what the USA team has been preaching.

Although, there will be some bumps in the road early for this Warriors team, hopefully, it is not as bad as the Team USA struggles in these 2016 Olympics.