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Paul George: Australia's hoops team 'has a knack for being a little dirty'
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It wasn’t a straight shot to the bow, but it wasn’t far off. In the wake of Team USA’s close-throughout win over previously-unbeaten Australia in the preliminary round of Men’s Basketball’s turn at the 2016 Olympics, a new starter and prominent figure from Team USA wanted to get in a little “I’m not saying, I’m just sayin’ I’ve heard things …”-styled dig at the losing team.
Here’s Paul George, who missed five of seven shots in his first Olympic start with his crew, following the win:
“It was an adjustment for us. The game kind of got out of hand early with the physical play.
“We knew that coming in – this team has a knack for being a little dirty.”
George said the US team rose to the physical challenge after emerging from halftime.
“I thought the second half we did a good job of just matching them,” he said.
“We were doing the same stuff they were doing and we got hacked for it. We’re fine playing physical, that’s our game in the NBA, but if they going to allow us to play that way they got to play it both ways.”
So Australia isn’t dirty full stop … they just have a “knack” for it.
Sorry, Paul, but of paramount importance is Australia’s “knack” for not being China or Venezuela. And despite needing to work up a comeback win over Serbia, Australia didn’t enter its third game of the preliminary round with a 2-0 record because of some sort of “knack.” This is a formidable basketball club with heaps of NBA experience, led by a center in Andrew Bogut who saw his (former) 73-win Golden State Warriors fade without his presence down the stretch of its 2016 NBA Finals defeat.
The reason Team USA nearly lost to Australia, and the reason Team USA will have a hell of a time playing them the next time ‘round, is because Australia preys on Team USA’s relative unfamiliarity with each other. Team USA might be good buddies and the roster is filled with unselfish players that aren’t looking to pad stats, but they’re not a “team.” How could they be?
Credit Team USA Basketball for putting together this oft-paraded pipeline of late cuts that introduce future Team USA starters to the “culture” (and what a lovely, shoe-selling “culture” it is) early on, but none of this claptrap and column fodder supersedes what each and every Team USA opponent (terrible-to-great) has already – experience playing alongside each other.
This is why Greece back-screened the helpless 2006 Team USA squad to pieces, and why Mike Krzyzewski told then-guard Kirk Hinrich to treat Vassilis Spanoulis like he was Stephen Curry. It’s all unfamiliarity first (both in terms of Team USA’s chemistry, and in scouting from the coaching staff), excuses (“we didn’t have Kobe!”) later.
Australia nearly shredded Team USA to pieces with the same sort of reverses and ball movement that continually catches the Americans asleep at the wheel. And because All-Stars are loath to call each other out, the problem always has to be on the other side … right?
It isn’t. Australia is a great basketball team, and while their team excursions and off-court holidays might play a small part in the spark, the main reason they’ve been so successful thus far is because they play off each other so well. Something Team USA, through all manner of blowout wins dating back decades now, really hasn’t ever had. Such is life, when you start practice a few weeks before the proceedings start.
Knock them down a peg for being a little brusque with their screens, but it wasn’t a “knack” that nearly put Australia over the top in this one.
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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
