Watched the USA-Greece game today. Team USA's defensive guard play was pheneomenal. Greece is a team that usually takes care of the ball, but the U.S. defense on Diamontidis was too much, forcing him to turn it over seven times.In addition, Greece's best scoring threat -- Spanoulis -- was hounded by Team USA's athletic wing players, primarily K. Bryant.
In the past, Team USA has had some trouble defending against pick-n-rolls, but against the Greeks they seemed to have solved the dilemma. The defensive anticipation and ball pressure of D. Wade and C. Paul was terrific, and L. James got into the passing lanes to force turnovers.
Coach K even played a little zone defense in this one.
The key was Team USA's second quarter defense, which created opportunities on the other end as the Americans got several easy baskets and outscored Greece, 31-16.
Surprisingly, the U.S. struggled from the foul line -- again.
After getting out-rebounded by a small Angola team in the last game, Team USA did a better job in this game, though Greece had as many boards as the Americans (38).
D. Wade continues to play great basketball and Chris Bosh had his best game thus far, connecting on seven of his eight shots from the field and grabbing five boards off the bench. Seeing Bosh and Wade come off the bench has to be tough for opponents to take.
[Here's the box score from the game.]
Spain is next for the U.S.
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