NEWSLETTER
The games still don’t count, right?
Team USA Suffers First Olympic Loss Since 2004, Snaps 24-Game Winning Streakhttps://t.co/1Ph9qjJTho
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) July 25, 2021
• I woke up early and rolled out of bed to watch Team USA obliterate France behind a 20-point Zach LaVine showing that included a poster dunk over Rudy Gobert. What I got was a stomachache-inducing loss where LaVine scored 8 points and Team USA dropped its first Olympic game since 2004. Now, to LaVine’s credit, he was not terrible. The guy knocked down half of his shots, he hit a big 3-pointer midway through the 4th quarter, and his playmaking was crisp. With that said, I would have liked to see him step up a bit more. Who the hell knows what roles are being established behind the scenes and what head coach Gregg Popovich is trying to preach. But when Kevin Durant is 4-12 (and in foul trouble), Damian Lillard is 3-10, and Jayson Tatum is 2-9, I want to see LaVine turn up the offensive aggressiveness. The team should encourage that too. After all, he was one of only three players to average at least 25 points per game while shooting 50+ percent from the field and 40+ percent from downtown this season (KD & Kyrie Irving were the other two). Tell that guy to go get his.
• I could not believe my eyes when I looked down to see Team USA’s final shooting clips. A 36.2 percent performance from the field and a 31.3 percent performance from behind the arc is straight-up horrendous. I mean, Durant’s effective field goal percentage ranked in the 92nd percentile this season. Zach LaVine’s ranked in the 90th percentile, and Damian Lillard’s ranked in the 80th percentile. Tatum was the league’s 11th-highest scorer, and Bam Adebayo shot 75 percent at the rim this season. I just don’t understand how buckets can be so hard to come by for this team. Like … how can a team go on a 16-2 run to finish off this roster? HOW!?
• Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to discredit any other national teams (especially France, who is very good). Many of them have more experience playing together, thus more chemistry. Not to mention, there is more global talent than ever before. The game continues to grow in popularity overseas, and that is something we should all celebrate as lovers of the game. Still, Team USA has superior talent. Simple as that. Yes, this is a team game, but it’s mesmerizing (in all the bad ways) how hard it has proven to be for some of the most talented players in the world to play that team game.
• Maybe we just need to let guys hoop. As dumb as that sounds, perhaps Gregg Popovich is just overthinking all of this. I’m not saying play more isolation basketball, but try to attack the basket and try to dominate off the pick-and-roll.
Kinda don’t love the offense for Team USA. Feel like Pop is trying to fit an international style offense into an NBA-centric team with its spacing, and the players are not super used to finding those lanes and angles. Not making it hard on opposing teams’ defenders in space.
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) July 25, 2021
• If you need some better basketball to watch, the women’s 3-on-3 squad has been elite.
i pledge allegiance to the REAL USA basketball team pic.twitter.com/vaUMNIs6hr
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) July 25, 2021
• Spotrac broke down the offseason finances for each NBA Team, and it’s a good reminder of where things stand for Chicago heading into free agency. While the organization may not have the most cap space, they do have flexibility. The question is how flexible do they really want to be? I think it is easy to suggest they look for as many fresh faces as possible, but we also have to remember this front office is trying to build a sustainable product. AKME does not want to open as much cap space as possible only to handcuff itself to some bleh contracts. This is why the decisions for Tomas Satoransky and Thaddeus Young are so important. Those guys are still two serviceable bench pieces. If you dump one or both, it better be to add a high-impact player that can make up for the absence of both.
• This feels like a good time to, once again, remind you to keep an eye on August 1st:
August 1st Is a Very Important Day for the Future of the Chicago Bullshttps://t.co/YD6DQD9Ev7
— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) July 21, 2021
• This should be good!
Ahead of Woj & Lowe on ESPN: KIA Mock Draft Special with @mike_schmitz, @dalencuff, @KendrickPerkins and me at 1 PM ET. pic.twitter.com/8IKOtYK9xd
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 25, 2021
