Team USA Overcomes Typical Sluggish Start to Defeat Argentina, 105-78
Argentina jumped out to a 19-9 first quarter lead over Team USA and it looked like the 2004 Olympics all over again, but Team USA rallied and won going away, 105-78, to advance to a semifinal matchup against Spain on Friday. Team USA cut Argentina's lead to 25-21 by the end of the first quarter and then employed suffocating defense to build a 25 point second quarter lead before Argentina cut the margin to 56-40 at halftime. Team USA's lead hovered around 20 points for most of the third quarter before they made a late push to go up 87-61 heading into the final 10 minutes. Argentina did not get closer than 23 points in the fourth quarter.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski tweaked his starting lineup again, inserting DeAndre Jordan at center in place of DeMarcus Cousins. The other four starters were Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony, Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving. Doug Collins noted that part of the reasoning behind the change at center is that neither Cousins nor Irving defend the screen/roll very well, so having them on the court together "brings out the worst in both players." Collins also said that in order to win Team USA's top two priorities against Argentina would be to control the boards and to defend the three point line. Despite the shaky start, Team USA finished well in both departments, winning the rebound battle 54-43 and holding Argentina to 8-32 (.250) three point shooting.
Durant scored a game-high 27 points on 9-13 field goal shooting and he also had seven rebounds and six assists. George added 17 points on 8-14 field goal shooting plus a team-high eight rebounds. George easily had the best plus/minus number (28, seven better than Durant). Cousins scored 15 points in less than 14 minutes. Irving added 11 points. Anthony, who has been touted by some as supposedly the greatest U.S. Olympic basketball player, scored seven points on just 3-10 field goal shooting. Yes, Anthony has played on two gold medal-winning teams but
in Team USA's 118-107 win in the 2008 gold medal game versus Spain Team USA was outscored 49-38 when Anthony was on the court, which explains why Coach Krzyzewski benched him for the final 8:13 with the outcome up for grabs. In
Team USA's 107-100 victory in the 2012 gold medal game versus Spain, Anthony scored eight points on 3-9 field goal shooting in 21 minutes and he was again on the bench down the stretch while Chris Paul, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant made the key plays. If Team USA secures two more victories and Anthony wins his third gold medal he likely will once again be on the bench during crunch time of those contests while Durant, George, Irving or someone else does the heavy lifting.
Luis Scola led Argentina with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Manu Ginobili (14 points, seven assists), Facundo Campazzo (13 points, game-high nine assists) and Andres Nocioni (12 points, five rebounds) also scored in double figures. Argentina started three players with NBA experience (Scola, Ginobili and Nocioni) alongside point guard Campazzo and forward Patricio Garino. However, Ginobili is 39 years old while Scola and Nocioni are each 36 years old. Carlos Delfino, who once was a key cog in Argentina's attack, is still on the squad but at 33 years of age and dogged by injuries he is no longer the player he used to be.
Durant got Team USA off to a good start by drawing a foul and making two free throws but Campazzo abused Team USA's defense with three nifty drives to help Argentina go up 10-5. Argentina shot 7-9 from the field to start the game, while Team USA opened 3-13 before making four straight shots. Durant single-handedly kept Team USA in the game, scoring 13 first quarter points as Team USA slowly woke up defensively, enabling Team USA to turn a 19-9 deficit into a 25-21 advantage by the end of the quarter.
In the second quarter, Coach Krzyzewski deployed a more defensive-minded squad, inserting Paul George, Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry into the lineup alongside Cousins and Durant. Cousins dominated the smaller Argentina team in the paint, while George and Butler wreaked havoc on the perimeter and Team USA extended the lead to 36-21. The score was 36-24 when Anthony returned to action. With George smothering Campazzo, Team USA was up 47-27 at the 4:10 mark when Anthony went back to the bench after committing his third foul. Anthony had scored two points on 1-5 field goal shooting.
Team USA took a 56-31 lead when Durant punctuated a beautiful crossover move with a jumper but while Team USA's bench players danced and the players on the court celebrated, Argentina hustled down court and Ginobili passed to Campazzo for a layup. Argentina closed the half on a 9-0 run in the last 1:52. Careless Team USA plays like that did not change the outcome of this game mainly because Argentina is an older team that lacks the necessary size and depth to compete with Team USA for a full 40 minutes but Eddie Johnson recently said something great on NBA Radio: "If you mess with the game, the game will mess with you." Team USA does not have the proper respect for the game and for the opposition. They might get away with it and win this tournament anyway but if they fall behind by 10 to Spain it will not be quite so easy to come back--and if they give up nine points to Spain in less than two minutes they will be flirting with disaster. Durant scored 18 points on 6-9 field goal shooting in the first half and Team USA's bench outscored Argentina's bench 28-7.
Team USA led 76-55 when Anthony sat out for good at the 4:21 mark of the third quarter after collecting his fourth person foul. Coach Krzyzewski went with the defensive-minded lineup that blew the game open in the second quarter and Team USA closed out the quarter with a mini 11-6 run to extend the margin to 87-61.
It was apparent by this point that Argentina had given all that they had to give--they are an older, undersized team that lacks depth and it just was not conceivable that they could outscore Team USA by 26 points in 10 minutes. Just looking at the final score, Team USA's victory seems impressive but Argentina's ability to effortlessly build a 10 point first quarter lead against Team USA's starters is a warning sign that Team USA should not ignore; if Argentina had the depth and youth of a decade ago they could have pushed Team USA throughout this contest and very possibly pulled off the upset.
Considering the strength of the opposition, this was Team USA's best overall performance so far in the Rio Olympics but we still saw too much sloppiness, particularly from the starting lineup in the early going. Spain has better size and depth than Argentina. If Team USA starts sluggishly versus Spain in Friday's semifinal game, it will not be so simple to wear Spain down. Team USA's starters must play better defense and Team USA's offense should not be so dependent on Durant alone, because if Team USA utilized the ball and player movement that other teams showcase against them then Team USA could get scoring contributions from a variety of players.
Labels: 2016 Olympics, 2016 Team USA, Argentina, Carmelo Anthony, DeMarcus Cousins, Facundo Campazzo, Kevin Durant, Luis Scola, Manu Ginobili, Paul George
posted by David Friedman @ 10:55 PM
Team USA Wears Down Argentina to Reach Gold Medal Game
Argentina again battled Team USA very hard for the first half but ultimately Team USA wore down their proud and gritty rivals; Team USA's 109-83 victory sets up a rematch of their
2008 Olympic gold medal victory against Spain. Kevin Durant led Team USA with a game-high 19 points on 7-14 field goal shooting, adding four rebounds and two blocked shots. LeBron James again showcased his all-around skills, contributing 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Carmelo Anthony scored 18 points with six rebounds and three assists. Kobe Bryant contributed 13 points and four rebounds in just 19 minutes, while Kevin Love produced nine points and a game-high nine rebounds in only 16 minutes. Manu Ginobili paced Argentina with 18 points, while Carlos Delfino and Luis Scola had 15 points each. Team USA only forced 11 turnovers as Argentina reacted well to Team USA's pressure defense but Team USA created many extra possessions because of their 46-29 rebounding advantage.
Team USA beat Argentina
126-97 in Group A preliminary round play but Argentina only trailed 60-59 at halftime in that game and the semifinal round matchup on Friday followed a similar course. Scola opened the scoring with a jumper and he answered Bryant's three pointer with a jump hook to put Argentina up 4-3. Bryant responded with a driving, two hand reverse layup/almost dunk that gave Team USA the lead for good but the score was competitive well into the third quarter. Bryant exploded for 11 first quarter points as Team USA jumped on top 18-6 and seemed to be on the verge of breaking the game open but Argentina countered with a quick 9-0 run. Team USA only led 24-19 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter repeated that pattern; Team USA pushed the margin to 41-29 but Argentina struck back to trim the difference to seven, 47-40, by halftime. Delfino led Argentina with 13 first half points and NBC's Doug Collins explained how he scored most of them: Argentina's half court offense is based on using a middle screen/roll action to either create a layup for the screener (who "slips" the screen and cuts to the hoop instead of standing firm and making contact) or if the defense rotates to the screener (Scola in most cases) then he passes to the weak side corner for a wide open three pointer. Team USA consistently has trouble defending that kind of action and that is why some of the better FIBA teams can stay close for a while--but what eventually makes the difference is Team USA's depth; opposing teams either have to run their starters into the ground or else bring in reserve players who are not nearly as good: either way, the opposing team runs out of gas at some point in the second half. This is what will most likely happen in the gold medal game on Sunday, the main question being how long can Spain keep the game close; Spain's best chance to pull off the upset is to stay within striking distance until the last five minutes and hope that Team USA hits a dry spell.
Ginobili's three pointer brought Argentina to within 47-43 early in the third quarter and Team USA only led 59-51 after Ginobili scored a layup on a nice inbounds play but Team USA closed the stanza with a 15-6 run that included back to back three pointers by Durant--who had 12 points on four three pointers during the third quarter--and seven points by James. Team USA completely shut the door with a 9-0 run to open the fourth quarter, punctuated by an Anthony three pointer. Anthony later made three straight three pointers to extend the lead to 93-64; he was the third different Team USA player to score at least 10 points in a quarter in this game.
Team USA's excellent three point shooting during the Olympics has turned a lot of heads but it should be noted that the numbers are a bit skewed by blowouts against inferior teams and by garbage time minutes when good teams conceded defeat, thus enabling Team USA reserves to pad their stats; the biggest key for Team USA is pressure defense, because this not only can create easy baskets but is also wears down Team USA's opponents: Argentina never succumbed to the pressure in terms of committing a lot of turnovers but the pressure nevertheless took its toll on Argentina's starters. During the postgame show, Doc Rivers praised the defensive versatility of James and Bryant, noting that the skills of those two players enable Team USA to effectively utilize a small lineup; starting center Tyson Chandler had just four points and three rebounds in 12 minutes: while many pundits declared that Team USA is too small, I have consistently said that Team USA is built for speed, not size, and that any time Team USA is challenged at all Coach Krzyzewski's response will be to pull Chandler and go small.
The final test for that theory will be the gold medal game against Spain, a team that features a huge frontcourt with Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol and Serge Ibaka. From a size standpoint, Team USA cannot match up with those guys--but Spain's bigs will also have to guard LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony, while Spain's perimeter players will have to contend with Bryant, Chris Paul and Deron Williams (Russell Westbrook might miss the game after spraining his ankle versus Argentina). Spain has the necessary talent, guile and toughness to make the gold medal game interesting for the better part of the 40 minute contest but Team USA should prevail--though it may take a great fourth quarter performance by James, Durant or Bryant to seal the deal.
Labels: 2012 Olympics, 2012 Team USA, Argentina, Carlos Delfino, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Manu Ginobili
posted by David Friedman @ 2:49 AM
Team USA's Depth Overwhelms Argentina
Team USA finished with a 5-0 record in Group A play after routing Argentina 126-97 but, for the second game in a row, Team USA faced a serious challenge in the early going before using their speed, defensive pressure and depth to eventually prevail. Argentina also
battled very hard against Team USA during Team USA's pre-Olympic exhibition tour, so Argentina's competitiveness in the first half was less surprising than
Lithuania's ability to stay close with Team USA for the entire 40 minutes. Kevin Durant led Team USA with a game-high 28 points. He shot 9-12 from the field, including 8-10 from three point range, and he also had four rebounds and four assists. Chris Paul had an outstanding all-around game: 17 points on 6-7 field goal shooting, seven assists and no turnovers. LeBron James contributed 18 points and five assists despite being limited to 22 minutes because of foul trouble. Reserves Kevin Love and Andre Iguodala each finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Kobe Bryant continued to struggle with his shot but he inched into double figures with 11 points and he remains a strong presence on defense. Carmelo Anthony scored just five points on 1-6 field goal shooting and since his primary value is his ability to score Coach Mike Krzyzewski only used Anthony for 12 minutes. Manu Ginobili paced a balanced Argentina attack with 16 points, six assists and five rebounds. Five of his teammates scored between 11 and 13 points, led by Carlos Delfino (13 points) and Andres Nocioni (12 points). Facundo Campazzo had eight points and seven assists in a game-high 37 minutes as he had to play virtually the entire game because starting point guard Pablo Prigioni sat out due to kidney stones.
Team USA jumped out to a 14-8 first quarter lead but Argentina answered with a 7-0 run keyed by five points by Ginobili. Team USA then responded with an 8-2 burst but Team USA could never get much separation throughout the first half and even trailed again on several occasions. Argentina would have won the first quarter if not for a buzzer beating three pointer by Durant that made the score 34-32 in Team USA's favor. Team USA never led by more than six points during the second quarter and only had a 60-59 halftime edge but in the third quarter things quickly fell apart for Argentina as James scored seven points in a 12-5 run that foreshadowed the 12-2 run that essentially ended the game; that second streak featured eight points by Durant, concluding with his back to back three pointers. By the end of the third quarter, Team USA had cruised to a 102-76 lead and they were content to essentially match baskets with Argentina during garbage time in the fourth quarter. The tide turned because a fresh, deep Team USA squad shut down Argentina's fatigued starters and then capitalized by either scoring in transition or else creating good shots in the half court offense with crisp ball movement as Argentina's defensive rotations became less precise.
FIBA teams that have some NBA talent on their rosters and the right game plan are capable of challenging Team USA for extended stretches but Team USA's depth--including a trio of MVP caliber wings (LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant), an armada of All-NBA caliber point guards (Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Russell Westbrook), plus several other All-Stars--is very daunting to face even in a 40 minute game that is eight minutes shorter than an NBA contest. The overall team statistics in blowouts featuring extensive garbage time are often skewed but the consistent pattern we have seen is that Team USA starts slowly--forcing jump shots and playing spotty defense--while their opponents are fired up and efficient in the early going, using screen/roll actions to create open shots while packing the paint on defense and enticing Team USA to shoot long jumpers. Eventually, Team USA either wears down the opposing team's starters or else exploits their inferior bench players to break the game open by clamping down on defense and scoring in transition; Team USA's three pointers that come in transition or as a result of drive/kick plays are good, rhythm shots--Team USA needs to refrain from taking contested three pointers early in the shot clock with little or no ball movement. Despite the gaudy shooting numbers that Team USA has posted in the Olympics, including a .458 three point percentage, Team USA's foundation is the pressure defense that creates open shots.
Durant led Team USA in scoring during Group A play (18.6 ppg), Kevin Love topped the squad in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and Chris Paul averaged a team-high 5.8 apg. Team USA's next game on Wednesday is a quarterfinal round elimination showdown versus Australia, which finished with a 3-2 record in Group B.
Labels: 2012 Olympics, 2012 Team USA, Argentina, Carlos Delfino, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Manu Ginobili
posted by David Friedman @ 1:31 AM
Exclusive Interview with ESPN's Fran Fraschilla, Part II
Part II of my exclusive interview with Fran Fraschilla begins with the ESPN analyst revealing his thoughts about Team USA's roster composition. It is worth emphasizing why Fraschilla disagrees with those people who think that Team USA should have added another big man to the roster; he explains that FIBA play is more physical than NBA play, particularly on the perimeter, and that consequently it is vitally important to have many versatile players who can guard multiple positions on the perimeter. Fraschilla concludes, "I think that it is even more important to defend the perimeter than it is to defend the paint because the most dangerous players in this tournament are drivers, slashers and three point shooters--guys like Ginobili." I have been saying repeatedly for years that the main reason that Team USA failed to win the gold medal in several recent international events was that their perimeter defense broke down. That is why the addition of perennial All-Defensive Team guards Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd to the roster is a vitally important upgrade.
Friedman: "I look forward to a potential USA-Greece matchup with Kobe possibly guarding Papaloukas. Kobe loves challenges and Greece is a team that embarrassed Team USA and I think that would be interesting. To me, it would almost be like when the Dream Team was playing Croatia (in the 1992 Olympics) and Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen wanted to show something to Toni Kukoc because the Bulls were wooing him with so much money. I mean there are different reasons involved in this case, but a lot of times great competitors find a reason--or invent a reason--to go to another level. Kobe is so highly motivated anyway it is almost ridiculous to even say that he could be more motivated but I think that he would take a game against Greece particularly personally as yet another opportunity to show why he is the best player, why he is different from the players who we sent over in previous years who did not win. Getting back to Team USA in general, what do you think of the roster composition? Do you think that we have enough bigs? Would you tweak the roster in any way?"
Fraschilla: "That’s a great question. I’ve thought a lot about this. You could make the argument that they could use another big--although the point is somewhat moot now that (Tyson) Chandler injured his toe and will not be able to practice with the team--except that my feeling about international basketball is as follows: the game is played from outside in, whereas in the United States in college and the NBA the game is played from inside out. What I mean by that, Dave, is so much of international basketball is predicated on the three point line and you’ll see a guy--and I know you’ve seen this--drive to the rim and it looks like he’s going to get a layup and all of a sudden he throws the ball back behind him because he sucked five defenders into the lane and then someone knocks down a three. I think that the way they’ve constituted this team with a lot of versatility on the perimeter and guys who can guard multiple positions--LeBron, for example, can guard the two, three or four, Wade can guard the one, two or three, Williams and Kidd are in that 6-3, 6-4 range, Tayshaun Prince can guard four and maybe five spots--you go down the line and I think that the way that the game is played they’ve got an ideal roster. The international game, as you know, is more physical than the NBA right now because (in the NBA) they won’t let you get away with any hand checking out front. What these guys found out in 2006 is that the international game is more physical and it is particularly physical out front. I think that the way that this lineup is constituted with the versatility and size on the perimeter it’s going to bode well. Strategically, here is the issue. American basketball has always taught to defend from the paint on out: that means on a drive you provide help, you take away the drive, you allow the kickout (pass) and then you contest the shot. You cannot play that way in international basketball. You have to play your man straight up and the other three guys on the perimeter just cannot leave their men or it’s suicide. So it really puts a premium on one guy defending the basketball so that his teammates on the perimeter do not have to help. That’s what I mean by the international game being played from the outside in. That is the biggest concern that I have, because if we get sucked in because in high school, college and the NBA we are taught to defend the paint, that is where I think that we can get in trouble because the three point shot is the equalizer in international play. We almost have to allow the ball to get to the rim so that people don’t get the open three off the kickout, which is counterintuitive by the way."
Friedman: "Doesn’t some of that have to do with FIBA’s trapezoidal lane so there is not as much post play as we are accustomed to seeing in America where we have the more traditionally shaped lane?"
Fraschilla: "Yes. The trapezoid affects international play and in particular this Olympics as follows: if you really analyze it, there aren’t a lot of post players in this tournament who you can throw the ball to and they will get a basket. You can put Yao in that category, you might put Scola at times in that category even though he is only 6-8, Schortsanitis when he is in shape and not in foul trouble is a factor inside, but there are very few guys who you are really going to have to double down on and force them to kick it back out. That is because of the trapezoid and also because of the way international play is constituted. That is why I think that it is even more important to defend the perimeter than it is to defend the paint because the most dangerous players in this tournament are drivers, slashers and three point shooters--guys like Ginobili. Guys like Diamantidis and Papaloukas for Greece. Calderon’s three point shooting. (Juan Carlos) Navarro’s three point shooting. It gets back to what we talked about earlier. The way that the team is constituted--minus a severe injury to one of the bigs--I think that they have enough bigs to handle the type of size that they are going to see."
Friedman: "I think that is what a lot of people are missing. It is a 40 minute game. If you assume that (Dwight) Howard will play 20 minutes, (Chris) Bosh and (Carlos) Boozer 10 minutes each, as you said these other teams do not have a preponderance of post players so if we add more and more post up bigs to the roster then those players are superfluous and they’ll be useless. What you really need to have is a steady stream of versatile perimeter players who you can shuffle in and out to keep them fresh so that they can play pressure defense and Team USA can run. We are probably never going to execute a half court offense in a FIBA context as well as these other teams do. Even with superior players we are not going to execute as well because we don’t practice this as much but if we can push the tempo, get stops and steals and score in transition--that is what Team USA’s game should be. To me, the last thing that they need is to put another post player on the team. Chandler was essentially useless—he was like the human victory cigar in the FIBA Americas tournament and he did not play unless we were up by 20 points. I don’t understand why there was such a clamor that Chandler should have been put on the team."
Fraschilla: "Yes and two years ago Brad Miller was basically a wasted roster spot as well. Here is the other thing strategically--because I know how much you love this--I always said as a coach that the first post defender is always guarding the basketball. For example, China’s backcourt is very weak, so when you pick them up right at the halfcourt line with guys like Kidd or Bryant or Deron Williams pushing that Chinese offense five, ten, twelve more feet away from the basket, that makes it that much harder to get the ball into Yao. That is why I always say that the first post defender is always the man guarding the ball. Secondly, one thing international teams are not necessarily accustomed to is the type of team that can switch (defensively) at three or four spots. Their offenses are very intricate and well executed with a lot of screens but the minute that you can switch back screens and down screens you present a lot of problems for a team that is a methodical, half court oriented team. Does that make sense to you?"
Friedman: "Yes and I agree with that. We’ll see what the ultimate results are but I think that this is the best team that the United States has sent into FIBA play since the 1996 Olympics for a lot of the reasons that you just described--the defensive versatility, the attitude, the preparation. Obviously, the competition is better than it used to be but just comparing the various Team USAs outside of who they are playing but just considering whether this is a roster that is prepared to win while playing the FIBA way I think that this is the best team we have sent out in a long time."
Fraschilla: "I think that the scary part is that even with everything that has been done right by Jerry Colangelo and the coaching staff the difference between Team USA and the other top four or five teams has shrunk dramatically since 1992. I think that’s a given. This team is going to blow through the preliminary round. Even when they play Spain, Spain’s new coach is not going to show all of his cards. They’ll take a 20 point loss to the U.S.--as long as they know that they are advancing to the medal round--in order to not show their whole arsenal, whether it’s a triangle and two defense or a two-three zone. The new coach of Spain, the coach of Greece, the coach of Croatia and the coach of Lithuania--these guys know what they are doing. My point is that there is going to be a stretch—probably in the quarterfinals or semifinals--where for five or seven minutes Team USA is going to face some adversity. There will be some FIBA referee calls that you scratch your head and wonder where they came from or they’ll be a couple threes that somebody hits with the shot clock running down. There will be two or three times during the competition that they will come up against some adversity and how they react will determine how smooth the road to the gold is. If you remember, they were up double digits against Greece in the first half and then they just fell apart once Greece figured out that they had no answer for the pick and roll."
Spain ultimately defeated Greece to win the 2006 FIBA World Championship. Spain just recently fired that squad’s coach--Pepu Hernandez--and replaced him with Aito Garcia Reneses but Fraschilla warns that despite this switch Spain must not be taken lightly.Fraschilla: "Everybody is saying that Spain is in disarray but they’re not. They hired a guy who is probably the most well known coach in Spain and he has coached five of the 12 guys who are on the roster, including Gasol and Rudy Fernandez. I’m trying to think of a good example--it’s like firing someone who is coaching Kobe Bryant and then bringing in Phil Jackson."
Friedman: "They brought in someone who is more than capable of doing the job, even if most Americans don’t know who he is."
Fraschilla: "That is exactly right. I have a healthy respect for international basketball and I am as patriotic as they come but what I have enjoyed the past couple years as a coach and as a guy who gets a chance to call basketball on TV is that we now in America have more of an appreciation for the game globally. We have exported the game—Dean Smith, Louie Carnesecca, Hubie Brown and all the great coaches who went over there and did the clinics and helped coach national teams--and it’s all come home to roost, in a way. It’s healthy, in a way, because in America I see a greater sense from the grassroots level on up--high school, college--that you need to be fundamentally sound. Look at the next wave of players--Durant, Oden, Kevin Love, Brandon Roy and go down the list--these guys are all trying to learn to play the game the right way, just like Team USA has tried to do the last couple years. I think that it is going to filter down to the lower levels--not completely, because there is still a lot wrong with the game at the lower levels--but I think that the fact that international basketball has caught up to us has been an eye opener and will have a positive effect on our game from the NBA level on down."
Friedman: "You mentioned scouting and player evaluation a couple different times while answering some of the previous questions. You have a unique perspective because you were a college coach for a number of many years and now you have the opportunity to watch so many different teams and players while you are coming up with material to use during broadcasts. Explain the methodology that you use to evaluate players. Say that you are watching a player who you have not seen before and who you don’t have a lot of background information about but you are trying to figure out just how good he really is. What key things do you look for in that type of situation?"
Fraschilla: "That’s a great question. I loved your stuff with Kevin Mackey (
A Scout's Eye View of the Game). We’re not close friends but I certainly am an admirer of his going back many, many years. I loved that stuff that you did with him. It’s funny, David, I think that the first thing is if you’ve watched enough basketball--and I grew up in New York in the playgrounds of Brooklyn and wanted to be part of basketball my whole life as a college coach and I’ve been lucky enough to be around the game probably for 35 years going back to when I was 15--you train your eye. That is the first thing. Anybody who evaluates--whether it’s college players for the NBA or high school players for college--I think that the first thing that you have to have is a trained eye. You have to know what you are looking for. In other words, it’s like the old story about the Supreme Court justice who said about pornography that he could not define it but he knew it when he saw it. I think that’s very similar to evaluating players; there are things that you see in a player instinctively that tell you that you have to watch this guy some more. So that’s the first thing: a trained eye. That comes from years of watching, coaching and being around really good players. I was lucky enough to coach 18 guys who played in the NBA. So, at every level you watch players and look for something that tells you that this guy is a little bit different; this kid has a good feel for the game or he’s athletic or his skill level is good and can get better. All those things are factored in right off the bat as you are watching somebody: you almost can tell ‘I don’t need to watch this guy over here anymore but I’m going to keep my eye on this guy because he may have something.’ The other thing I think is that being a former head coach when you look at players you are always looking at them from a coach’s perspective and asking, ‘Could this guy fit into a system? Could he fit into an offense or a defense? Could I incorporate a guy like that into my system?’ Or, if I was an NBA scout, having been a former coach, I would wonder if this guy could fit into the system of the coach of the team for which I was scouting. When I go to practice--I see about 50-60 college practices a year when I am calling these games--I look for attitude, coachability, basketball IQ, athleticism, skill level and it all becomes a combination of the above as to whether I think a guy can play or not. There are certain intangible factors and certain physical factors that have to be all added together."
On Wednesday in Part III of this interview Fraschilla offers his thoughts about statistical analysis and how it can best be utilized in the player evaluation process.Labels: 2008 Team USA, Argentina, Beijing Olympics, Fran Fraschilla, Greece, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Spain
posted by David Friedman @ 4:10 AM
Exclusive Interview with ESPN's Fran Fraschilla, Part I
Fran Fraschilla compiled a 175-100 NCAA head coaching record, earning 1995 NABC Coach of the Year honors and leading three different schools (Manhattan, St. John's and New Mexico) to eight NCAA or NIT Tournament appearances in nine seasons. Since 2003 he has worked for ESPN as a game and studio analyst, primarily on college and FIBA broadcasts. On Sunday I conducted a wide ranging interview with Mr. Fraschilla just before he left for Las Vegas to participate in ESPN's coverage of Team USA's five upcoming exhibition games. Part I of this interview includes his observations about why Team USA fell short in previous competitions, what will be different this time around and who he thinks will win gold, silver and bronze in the Beijing Olympics.
Friedman: “What do you think of Team USA’s prospects in the Olympics this year?”
Fraschilla: “Let me give you some background. I am actually doing all five exhibition games for ESPN, so I will be at practice starting tomorrow (July 21). I think that we’ve gotten enough of a wake up call and enough of a slap in the face that this particular team has been put together with the idea that they will respect everybody that they play. When you think back to the World Championships in 2006, I think that Coach K did a great job in getting that first team ready to play until they played Greece, which as you know had a team that only had one marginal NBA player. Now that they have recovered from that loss, it is not just going to be the international teams that have NBA players that Team USA will have respect for. I think that it’s pretty obvious now that the world has caught up and, despite the fact that we have put (NBA players) on the Olympic team since 1992, this team is team oriented and will have a healthy amount of respect for everybody they play.”
Friedman: “When I watched that game with Greece (which I wrote about in a September 1, 2006 post titled
Greece Shreds Team USA's Defense, Wins 101-95 and in a September 2, 2006 post titled
Team USA Beats Argentina 96-81, Wins Bronze Medal) and then the aftermath of the game—and when I say aftermath I mean the postgame press conferences—what I found disturbing and what really bothered me is that when Coach Krzyzewski and some of the players were talking about Greece they did not mention (Sofoklis) Schortsanitis and the other players by name. By the end of that game even I knew their names and, frankly, I did not know who was on the Greek team before the game—but by the end of the game I knew their names and I had some idea what they could and could not do just by watching them. Even if they (Team USA) did not know about Greece beforehand I thought that it was very disrespectful—and kind of indicative of Team USA’s attitude—that they did not call the players by their names. Even if maybe they are difficult to pronounce, you at least try to do it. You don’t call these guys who just beat you by numbers and say, ‘Number five did this’ and ‘Number eight did that.’ I thought those statements in the postgame press conferences really gave me a lot of insight into why Team USA lost and I am interested to hear your thoughts about that.”
Fraschilla: “I could not agree with you more. I talked to a number of my European coaching friends after the game and, frankly, they were insulted on the one hand and also on the other hand they understood how a team with the talent of USA could get beaten—because of the lack of respect for a team that did not have NBA players on it and I really felt that that was the beginning of Coach K’s learning curve and he has admitted that they weren’t prepared for the type of coaching that exists at the international level and the type of talent that even non-NBA type players had. That particular Greek team had four or five guys who could easily be in the NBA right now but have chosen to stay in Europe and make, frankly, more money than they would make as the sixth or seventh man on a good NBA team. The other thing that came to mind is that we did a very poor job of scouting Greece. We didn’t really have any understanding of how to guard the pick and roll and how to defend the big guy inside—Schortsanitis is not a dominating player in Europe. He’s just a good, solid player. I could not agree with your analysis more but I also think that loss to Greece was the final slap in the face to get our country to understand that it is not just the Ginobilis and Nowitzkis who play great basketball around the world but it is also guys like (Greek players Theo) Papaloukas and (Dimitris) Diamantidis and a guy from Slovenia, Jaka Lakovic. There are so many good players around the world right now who are NBA-level players that we no longer can take anybody for granted.”
Due to a problem with the phone connection I did not clearly hear the word “insulted” from the preceding answer and when I asked Fraschilla what word he had used he repeated that sentence and then added some more remarks on the same subject. Fraschilla: “I found that to be not necessarily Coach K and those players being disrespectful but I thought that there was a breakdown in terms of scouting and preparation.”
Friedman: “That was what I thought while watching the game.”
Fraschilla: “Here is my point. We have all these NBA guys doing the scouting for Team USA and this is not to throw anybody under the bus but simply put if I had given Mike Krzyzewski the Greek scouting report I would have said that you have got to know that Papaloukas is one of the great playmakers in the world. In other words, I would not have said ‘number seven.’ It would be ‘Papaloukas is one of the best players in the world and is a great playmaker.’ Diamantidis, the lefty, is Europe’s version of Ginobili. Schortsanitis is a big guy and although he is young he is a very physical player down low. In other words, it is incumbent upon the assistant coaches and the scouts to make sure that Coach K and those players knew that these guys are legitimate players. There is no question that if you were playing for Team USA and I said that you have to be careful of (NBA players like Manu) Ginobili or (Luis) Scola or (Fabricio) Oberto or (Carlos) Delfino or if I told you about Spain and said that (Jose) Calderon is a very underrated point guard and we all know how good (Pau) Gasol is—there is no question that if I were to present the scouting report to Team USA that way then those guys would have had a healthy dose of respect for those players because they play in the league. They didn’t have that same respect for Greece two years ago but I think that’s all changed. I think that has all changed. I think that there is a humbleness and a selflessness about this team that tells me that they are going to play very, very well together.”
Friedman: “How much of an impact do you think that the addition of Kobe Bryant and Jason Kidd—neither of whom were involved in Team USA’s recent fiascoes—and the attitude that they bring to how you practice, how you prepare and how you play defense has impacted the way that Team USA is going to perform? I think that practice, preparation and defense were three deficient areas for previous teams.”
Fraschilla: “I think that they are both going to have a huge impact. Kidd is 44-0 in international play for Team USA and Kobe Bryant may not only be the best player in the world right now—at worst he is one of the three or four best—but he also is one of the three or four most competitive players in the world. The interesting thing about Kobe Bryant is that he has already gone to Coach K and said that when you need me to I want to guard the other team’s best perimeter player. I think that’s a heck of a statement. People worry about the egos on this team but if you look at what they did last summer in the FIBA Americas tournament—and the competition will be greater, obviously, in the Olympics—Kobe Bryant was their best perimeter defender, LeBron James may be their best all-around playmaker and Carmelo Anthony might be the best FIBA player in the world right now because he has not only led Team USA in scoring the last two years but he is like the prototype international player: he is strong enough and powerful enough and quick enough to score inside and get to the hole off the dribble but he also has a terrific perimeter game. In a sense, he is the classic Euro four man so I think that he will play a lot of power forward in this tournament because he has the versatility that you normally see when you describe the international four man. All-around, he may be the team’s best international player.”
Friedman: “My question about that or the concern that I have expressed about Anthony when I have written about previous FIBA competitions is his defense. I don’t think that his defense is that great in the NBA and I don’t think that his defense is that great at the FIBA level, either. I think that we saw that in the game with Greece but even in some of the games that Team USA won in last year’s FIBA Americas tournament it seemed like a lot of times he didn’t quite know what he was supposed to be doing on defense or he wasn’t quite in the right position. He seemed much more engaged, shall we say, when he had the ball. He’s a marvelous offensive player and you can’t criticize any part of his offensive game--and that goes double in FIBA for all the reasons you enumerated—but what do you think of his defense? Do you think that his defense at the FIBA level as bad as I have said that it is? Do you have some defense to offer regarding his defense?”
Fraschilla: “No, I don’t. I think that he has always been an offensive player. If you look back at his history, he never really has had to play defense, whether in high school or when they played zone at Syracuse or in the NBA he’s in a situation when they don’t want their best player to get in foul trouble. I would say that of Team USA's top six or seven players he is most likely to be the weak link defensively but, you know, you can’t have everything. I watched Nowitzki today get blown by a couple times in the FIBA Qualifying Tournament but he probably averaged nearly 30 ppg in the tournament (Nowitzki scored a tournament-high 26.6 ppg in five games as Germany clinched a spot in the Olympics). You can’t have everything. If you have Kobe Bryant guarding (the top perimeter player) and you have LeBron James at 6-8 260 who can guard a two, three or four and Boozer and Howard go over 260 then when it comes to Carmelo you are not going to get everything out of him. You are going to get far more on the offensive end. I don’t think that there is any question about that.”
Friedman: “Based on what you know and assuming that everyone is healthy, gold, silver, bronze—what do you expect to see in the Beijing Olympics?”
Fraschilla: “I have been toying with this question the last couple days. Obviously, I think that USA will win it. I picked them to win it last time but I was also reviewing a lot of the stuff that I wrote two years ago prior to the World Championships and I think that I had USA, Spain, Greece and Argentina. I think that those are the four best teams in the world again right now—when everybody’s healthy. If I had to predict the three medal winners, I would say USA—and I don’t know how this will work out in the quarters, semis and finals.”
Friedman: “The seeding could affect this.”
Fraschilla: “Yes, the seeding could affect this but I think that the three best teams in the world would be USA, Spain and I am going to go with Greece over Argentina just because Argentina will not have (Walter) Herrmann, they will have a banged up Manu (Ginobili) and they won’t have Pepe Sanchez for the first time in a while; (Pablo) Prigioni, the kid who plays in Spain, will be the point guard. To me, Greece is the best team in the world in terms of playing together as a team. Their ball movement, because they have been together for a while, is just incredible. They are one of the best coached teams in the world. So I think that Greece is going to edge Argentina out (for the bronze medal). That is just a hunch.”
Be sure to check back on Tuesday for Part II when Fraschilla offers more thoughts about Team USA and discusses his methods of player evaluation.Labels: 2008 Team USA, Argentina, Beijing Olympics, Carmelo Anthony, Fran Fraschilla, Greece, Jason Kidd, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Spain
posted by David Friedman @ 5:27 AM
