The United States Olympic team struggled last night to beat Brazil in a tune up for the London Olympics last night 80-69.
The pace of the game was controlled by the Brazilians and it seemed like the United States could never get the style of game they wanted to play.
One advantage that most of the International teams will have is they don’t play NBA basketball, which adheres to having room to move around and up and down the floor.
I think non-NBA style of play by the Brazilians, and most International teams, could have been trumped by the youngest kid on the USA bench.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s decision not to play Anthony Davis last night perplexes me. I am not being a biased Kentucky fan in that statement. I am looking at it from a basketball coach perspective.
Here are Coach K’s thoughts on not playing Davis last night:
[QUOTE]
Anthony’s a young guy. In a game like this, he’s 10 years younger than any of those big guys he’s playing against. He’s going to be a terrific player. I think the experience of being with this team as we move along as he gets accustomed, we have three more exhibition games, and five games of pool play.
“By medal round, I don’t know what type of experience playing time-wise he’ll get, but he’ll get a lot of experience just being with this team. Remember, he’s just been with us a couple of days. He doesn’t even know all the sets and that.
“But our emphasis is not on him. It’s on the guys who are going to play the majority of minutes.
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I understand that Coach K has probably forgotten more about the game of basketball than I know, but it is my opinion, and I am going to say it.
Anthony Davis could have changed the pace of that game last night with his defense.
Davis did an excellent job of creating transition opportunities last season blocking shots for Kentucky, which gave easy buckets and sped up the pace.
The United States finally pulled out the victory over Brazil, as they should have, but it would have been a whole lot easier if Davis’ defensive presence was in the paint to help control the tempo.
