Team USA – Gold Standards

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If there’s one thing that was remarkably evident in these Olympics, it’s that the game of basketball is alive and well in all corners of the globe. From the infectious, budding culture of Australian basketball, to the gritty flare of the Argentinians, the tough and heady Spanish game, or a global star from a country (Slovenia) with half the population of Los Angeles, the future of the game is in good hands.

What a beautiful thing it was to watch the best players and coaches in the world represent their countries in some high level basketball-chess for a couple of weeks in search of Gold. 

In the past couple of weeks we’ve looked at some of the philosophies and tactics of many teams in the tournament (which we’ll relink to below), and today we’ll dive into Team USA and the terrific coaching job done by Gregg Popovich and his staff to ultimately walk away with a well-earned Gold Medal. 

Below we’ll look at a few key elements and tactics that helped lead Team USA to success including:

• Creating Space through Pace
• Unselfish Screeners: Bam and Draymond
• The Holiday Effect

As always, a full, detailed breakdown video of all these elements (and much more) is included below, free for SG Plus members. 

Space Through Pace

The NBA and FIBA are entirely different games, and it can be a difficult adjustment in a short amount of time for NBA players to get used to the increased physicality and spacing that FIBA rules allow for. With three key players competing in the NBA Finals (Booker, Holiday, and Middleton) and only a small window of practice time to prepare for the Olympic games, Coach Popovich and staff did a great job of evolving a simple but effective style of play that allowed the U.S. to play freely, together, and maximize their individual talents. After their opening loss to France, Team USA, as Jeff Van Gundy stated in his recent podcast interview with Fran Fraschilla, could have been “the most improved team in the tournament.”

And it started with creating space through pace after missed or made shots with a quick throw ahead pass…

Zooming In: With FIBA rules allowing teams to pack the paint defensively, the U.S.’s ability to get the ball out of the net and up the floor quickly after a made basket allowed them to play through more space as the defense was in transition. For the most part, the U.S. had the player closest to the ball after a made basket take it out of bounds while the rest of the team sprinted lanes up the floor. 

Not only did this made shot break allow for easy baskets in the way of backcuts (like above), but it allowed the U.S. to play in Isolation with greater space (a style many of the U.S. players are comfortable with). Here’s a look at the throw ahead to Tatum where he can operate quickly with limited backside help…

And if the ball was thrown ahead and a “2-Man Game” presented itself, Team USA could flow quickly into that too…

Zooming In: Overall, this simple, yet effective philosophy by the U.S. let them play to their individual Isolation strengths while at the same time minimizing the physicality and decreased spacing they would face in a typical half-court FIBA possession. 

Unselfish Screeners: Bam and Draymond

For the most part, the U.S. traded off playing two undersized, non-shooting bigs at the center position in Bam Adebayo and Draymond Green. The more you watch the U.S., the more respect you have for both of those player’s unselfishness in the way of giving themselves up as screeners. Both Bam and Draymond were pivotal to the U.S.’s success in the half court as they consistently found ways to free up the U.S.’s more gifted scorers for easy looks.

Referring back to the Pace and Space philosophy above… Pace is not solely created by the speed of moving the ball up the floor after a made or missed shot, but also through the speed in which players connect one action to the the next in a half court setting. That point is highlighted by how quickly and unselfishly Bam and Draymond acted as connectors within the U.S.’s offense by way of screens and DHO’s…

First, the “Quick Toss”

Zooming In: This action is not new to Draymond, as he’s executed it for years with Steph and Klay, and Bam has used it more and more frequently with the Heat as well. It’s an almost impossible action to guard in real-time because of how quickly they flow into it after a pass. Just the slightest turn of the head or flat-footedness from the defender and it’s an easy shot or downhill attack for the offense.

Random Flares

The other tactic both Bam and Draymond executed well in the half-court, was the use of random, off-ball flares. Here’s a look…

And another…

Zooming In: Especially in the Gold Medal game against France, these Random Flares were effective, in part, because of Rudy Gobert’s Drop Coverage in the paint. With Gobert sagging off of either Bam or Draymond, it 1) allowed them to get a clean screen on any unsuspecting defender watching the ball or giving help, and 2) gave the offensive player receiving the pass off the flare plenty of airspace to either shoot, drive, or make the extra pass since Gobert had such a long closeout.

Not only did these Random Flares set up the U.S. for clean looks or advantages, but it also laid the foundation for a “Flare Slip” against defenders who were playing a tighter coverage than Gobert. This Flare Slip is done here by Jrue Holiday and the defensive confusion it creates results in a Lillard Three…

The U.S. was not the only team to utilize the “Flare Slip” to great effect, as the Spanish NT did as well within their Elbow Split Action…

And to really drive home the point of this section, here’s a look at a possession where Draymond Green is doing a little bit of everything just discussed above, complete with a nice backdoor assist…

Zooming Out: With only a small window for training camp after the NBA season, and not having 3 key players arrive until (literally) the day of the first game against France, Coach Popovich and staff did a great job of figuring out a system that was simple enough for the U.S. players to plug into quickly, and with increased practice and game time, their offensive synergy improved mightily as the tournament wore on. 

And though the U.S. may not have as many sets end up on “Best of the Olympics Playbooks”, their Gold Medal run does provide food for thought on the difference between “what looks pretty on paper”, and “what actually works in a game.” 

To provide some stats to back up how effective the U.S.’s offense eventually became, here’s a look at some of the final stats and ranking from the Olympics, courtesy of InStat:

USA Final Offensive Stats

• Points Per Possession: 1.1 (1st)
• Field Goal Percentage: 50% (1st)
• Turnovers Per Game: 10 (2nd Best)
• Assists Per Game: 23 (3rd)

The Holiday Effect

It’s impossible to talk about the U.S.’s success without acknowledging the fantastic performance of Jrue Holiday on the defensive side of the floor. Fresh off of an NBA Title in which he played a pivotal role in anchoring Milwaukee’s defense, the NBA All-Defensive First Teamer showed in the Olympics why he may be the best on-ball defender in the world. 

The impact Holiday can have on an entire possession is amazing to watch, as he consistently blew up PNR’s, sets, and team’s favorite actions throughout the Olympics through relentless on-ball pressure alone. Here’s one look…

And where Holiday was really a luxury for Coach Popovich and Team USA, was in his ability to blow up a PNR and not allow the offense to get into any secondary actions. Team USA also had fellow Defensive First Teamer, Draymond Green, and Second Teamer, Bam Adebayo, to switch onto many PNR’s, but Holiday is so adept at staying in front and negating screens that the U.S. didn’t always have to switch. And, his pressure alone could force possessions like below, where France takes a tough shot after zero passess…

Zooming In: One of the things worth really watching, and it’s shown further in the breakdown video below, are Holiday’s feet while defending the ballhandler during a PNR. He does a phenomenal job of almost forcing the ballhandler to reject the on-ball, knowing he’s quick and strong enough to recover back in front of the ball on the drive like shown above. 

The other thing Holiday does particularly well, is “getting skinny” over a screen, then applying constant pressure as the ballhandler “retreat dribbles”…

Zooming In: Holiday’s constant pressure as the ballhandler tries to find space on a retreat dribble forces the offense farther outside their desired PNR spacing on the floor. Also, look closer at the GIF above to see how this ball pressure helps all the helpside defenders… France does some nice “45 and replace” action during the PNR, which can be tough action to guard if a ballhandler is in an operating area, but Holiday’s ball pressure makes these cuts unthreatening and easy to guard for Durant and Booker and this possession ends up in a shot-clock violation for France. 

It was a fantastic tournament to watch, and we’ll be diving into more specific playing styles and philosophies of other National Teams in weeks to come, but congratulations to Team USA, France, and Australia for medaling, and to the rest of the teams for giving us a great couple weeks of basketball.

Click here for our complete breakdown video of these Team USA tactics, out today on SGTV and free for all SG Plus members. Video also includes more actions from other countries in the Olympics as well: