Maybe the U.S. men’s basketball team doesn’t have such a sizable disadvantage in the post.
In their first real test, facing Brazil’s three NBA big men — Nene, Tiago Splitter and Anderson Varejao — in an exhibition game at Verizon Center on Monday night, the U.S. stood tall.
With Tyson Chandler the only center on the U.S. roster, coach Mike Krzyzewski is forced to play small forwards Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Andre Iguodala and Kevin Durant in the post.
“This was another test for us as far as playing against a team with three or four bigs out there,” Anthony said. “We did a good job in containing them and keeping them off the boards.”
While Varejao had 12 points and 13 rebounds, the U.S. held Nene and Splitter to a combined 14 points on 5-for-12 shooting. Brazil outrebounded the U.S. 38-30, but the undersized Americans held their own down low.
“I thought they did a terrific job. They battled,” Krzyzewski said. “When they have to play a big like that, there is a lot of physicality that when you get to the offensive end of the court, it has its impact on you.”
Anthony, James and Durant — maybe the three best scorers in the NBA — now must focus more on battling for rebounds, playing post defense and doing the dirty work.
“There is like a little bit different concentration than it would be if you were guarding the three and chasing somebody,” Krzyzewski said. “You can get hit. You can get hit in the mouth. I mean, nothing illegal or anything, but playing big guys like that is much more distracting.”
Against Brazil, the 6-foot-6, 207-pound Iguodala even spent time guarding the opposing center.
“Iguodala is a great defensive player,” Krzyzewski said. “We can put him on anybody on the court, and he’s going to do a great job on them. I thought he covered the bigs well. He can cover a five. But if he fronts them, then we’ve got to give help on the help side.”
Brazil’s big three posed little problems on Monday night. But Spain’s Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol and Serge Ibaka could be a different story in London.
– Jeffrey Tomik
