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Five questions about Team USA at the 2024 Olympics: Who will take the last throw?
If Kerr has his way, that’s a superfluous question: In the best case scenario, Team USA is already leading by 20+ points in every final phase and the question of a final play, a final shot – and potentially bruised egos – doesn’t even arise. But it’s 2024, not 1992. The days when Angola was beaten 116-48 in the Olympic tournament are long gone.
Again, let’s take a look at the game against South Sudan. There, LeBron James had the ball in his hand shortly before the end, while Curry tried to get a free shot using a pick set by Davis. That didn’t work, so the King went to the basket himself and scored to make it 101-100.
There are two things we can learn from this: Firstly, even at the age of 39, LeBron still makes the decisions on the court in the decisive phase, as unbelievable as that may sound. And secondly: Kerr relies on the two-man game with him and Steph. “I like the two of them together,” he revealed a few days ago. “Steph and LeBron are basically learning how to play best together.” That makes sense: Curry does what he does best – tirelessly search for the free shot and thus distort the defenses in his direction – and James takes on the role of “Draymond Green 2.0”. A duo that is already almost unstoppable with the Warriors, but unlike Green, LBJ can not only play perfect passes, but also score first-class points himself. These two in tandem, flanked by shooters and a big man as a lob threat: good luck finding a suitable recipe for countering that.
So who takes the last shot is secondary. A post-up for Durant or an isolation for Edwards or Tatum would be just as good. But who will make the decisive pass is probably already clear.
2024-07-22 08:17:51
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