USA Basketball took three quarters to figure out a Turkish team that slowed the tempo and took Coach K's squad out of its game.
The rest of Team USA could use a little bit of Kenneth Faried's relentlessness. The forward led the United States with 22 points and eight rebounds in a testy 98-77 victory against Turkey on Sunday. It was far from the 114-55 blowout against Finland a day prior.
USA's second win in the FIBA World Cup was filled with lessons stemming from a smart gameplan on the part of the Turkish squad.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski's squad trailed 40-35 at the half. Even against the USA's pressuring defense that forced turnovers with ease, Turkey hung close as the ball stuck in the United States offense. The Americans' sleepiness showed most on blown coverages on two inbound plays and once again by getting cherry-picked by Turkey in the fullcourt.
USA trailed in the rebounding department 21-12 at the half, and though the guards began to break down the Turkish zone, turnovers on bad passes were as common as field goal makes.
Krzyzewski implemented a fullcourt defense to start the second half, and the USA finally began getting into its early offense much more decisively. Things started going the Americans' way.
Davis, who was limited with foul trouble in the first half, finally got involved, scoring 11 points in the first four minutes of the third quarter. The Pelicans forward finished with 19 points and six rebounds as he and Faried combined to shoot 19-for-25 from the floor, many of which came in the second half as the pace finally tilted in the Americans' favor.
Some of the damage came like so.
Still, things were testy for the United States through the third despite the change in schemes. Turkey, carrying a growing confidence from the first half, continued breaking down the Americans off the bounce in the third quarter. The United States defense held strong in the paint but Turkey kept itself within six points heading to the fourth by targeting corner three-point looks -- they hit five corner threes in the third.
The United States continued pressing and opened the fourth with a flurry, scoring 10 straight to break the game open.
The Americans shot just 37 percent in the first quarter and were tied with Turkey at 16 apiece. A baiting zone defense by Turkey collapsed well and forced USA to take nine of its 19 field goal attempts behind the three-point arc -- only one of those shots went in. The only offensive success for the USA came in the fullcourt, and Turkish center Omer Asik bullied the Americans in the halfcourt.
USA fixed its turnover issues in the second half and found easier looks, but there will be plenty of lessons to take from the win. Avoiding complacency might be one. Another could be how to adjust on the fly -- faster.
from SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1nh3iby
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