The US team extends the unbeaten streak before the FIBA World Cup 2023: There are still worries before the big battle
After a remarkable victory over the world No. 1 team Spain, the US team entered the second important friendly match before the 2023 FIBA World Cup against Greece.
This is the opponent that coach Steve Kerr's team will face again in the group stage of the World Cup, so the US team played a very important match and considered this as an official match instead of a simple friendly.
Hit hard on Greece's absence of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo (knee injury), the US team entered the game quickly, strongly and effectively. The style of play is in the style of Golden State Warriors that coach Steve Kerr applied to the American football team.
Anthony Edwards once again led the offensive front for the US team to soon create a double-digit difference. The Greek team, despite having moments of upheaval, took advantage of the opponent's distraction.
But in the end, the army of coach Steve Kerr still showed the equality of 12 people. This player's mistake was immediately corrected by another player, they took turns playing attack and defense firmly throughout the 4 innings.
The match in the United Arab Emirates ended with the final victory of 108-86 belonging to the US team, extending their unbeaten streak to 4 matches.
With only a few weeks of training and training, coach Steve Kerr understands that time is not on the side of the US team to build and develop a new style of play. Therefore, he decided to apply the Golden State Warriors' "a few pages of strategy manual".
Through 4 friendly matches, it can be seen that the US team prioritizes using a small-ball formation. They may not be physically fit, but they will have a good cover for each other in defense, and in attack will be many lines of ball rotation, cutting and moving without the ball to find space to finish.
Among the 12 official members of the US team, coach Steve Kerr has used a 5-man squad to start in all 4 friendlies including Anthony Edwards, Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Brandon Ingram and Jaren Jackson Jr. .
“There was not much time to prepare and the World Cup was so close, we had to choose quickly. As for this group of five players, I like the stability and energy they bring," coach Steve Kerr said after the victory over Greece.
This will most likely be the starting line-up of the US team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup finals starting on August 25 in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan.
Despite winning the last 4 friendly matches, the US team has shown some weaknesses. There are points that have been improved such as long throw ratio or rebound contention.
This time, a new worry has emerged around the turnover metric. Confronted with a Greek team without Giannis Antetokounmpo, coach Steve Kerr's army was involved in 20 errors of losing the ball, giving the opponent 24 points.
The concentration of the players is also a question mark when they have moments of distraction, losing the ball 4 times in 6 consecutive attacks. At one point, the US team's 17-point gap was almost erased by Greece's 11-0 run.
The plus point is that the US coaching team always sees the problem very quickly and makes adjustments, thereby helping the whole team to fix the mistakes and regain the game. But at the FIBA World Cup, sometimes the opportunity to correct a mistake doesn't come.
“If we play at our best, I think we have a good chance of beating any team. To do that, concerns about rebound or turnover disputes need to be eliminated," coach Steve Kerr said.
“The opponent will be able to beat us if they force us to lose the ball a lot, taking advantage of our lack of concentration to get points. These things are very visible and easy to take advantage of, especially in a big arena like the World Cup."
The US team will rematch with Greece in the group stage of the FIBA World Cup 2023 Finals on August 28 in the Philippines. Before entering the tournament, the US has another friendly match against Germany in the UAE at dawn on August 21.
