Spain's 'big' edge on Team USA
It doesn't happen often, but Spain has a clear matchup advantage
By Chris Palmer | ESPN the Magazine
ESPN INSIDER
As Team USA heads into the London Games, their one glaring weakness is still an issue that will dog them throughout the Olympic tournament. Lack of size and depth up front hasn't made life easy for the talented USA squad despite a handful of blowout wins over lesser competition. Even before their weeklong Las Vegas mini-camp, several big men including Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum and Chris Bosh had already bowed out because of health reasons. Then they lost Blake Griffin due to a knee injury. But do they still have enough low-post firepower to capture gold?
In a matchup of the two best teams in the tournament, Team USA met the Spanish national team Tuesday in a friendly matching them against the toughest frontcourt challenge of the summer. It served as a perfect opportunity for Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love and the inexperienced Anthony Davis to gauge themselves against fellow NBA players Pau Gasol, his brother Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka.
Marc Gasol said Monday that the 1992 Dream Team would easily dominate the 2012 Team USA, but what about Spain? Are he and his frontcourt teammates better than their U.S. counterparts?
Though Team USA won Tuesday, it wasn't exactly the "bigs" matchup that had been anticipated. Marc Gasol sat out with a shoulder injury, while Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James dominated the game, leaving the USA bigs with sparse scoring chances. Ibaka and Pau Gasol scored in double digits, while Chandler got into foul trouble and Davis barely played. Love did grab nine rebounds, but overall it showed Team USA's weakness on the low blocks and in the paint. And if that weakness is properly exploited, the team might end up relying on James and other ball handlers more and more as the tournament goes on.
Scoring
Team USA's interior trio simply isn't designed to score. Sounds like an odd thing to say given that Love averaged 26 points per game last season and is one of the game's most versatile offensive players. But in this context it's simply not Love's role. Unlike his role in Minnesota, he won't have the ball in his hands or the green light, and will rarely get to use his outstanding 3-point skills save for the occasional trailer 3. And since the U.S. has such a size deficiency, Love will need to spend all of his minutes as close to the basket as possible grabbing rebounds and getting a body on anyone within arm's reach.
Most of Chandler's points will come from alley-oops, putbacks or from the free throw line and, quite frankly, anything he contributes is gravy. Davis played less than four minutes Tuesday and cannot be counted on for scoring impact.
Spain, however, is counting on a bulk of its scoring to come from its post players to complement team leader Juan Carlos Navarro. Pau's role will be very similar to his in the Lakers offense in actively looking for his feathery foul line jumper and sweeping drop-step runner. Younger brother Marc has seen ample back-to-the-basket opportunities so far in exhibition play and has netted his jump hook with regularity. The brothers wisely take great advantage of their length in attacking the glass to get easy putbacks when confusion reigns underneath.
The two 7-foot siblings should be enough to outscore USA's bigs as it is, so adding the 22-year-old forward Ibaka gives them even more post firepower. With the Thunder, Ibaka is steadily becoming more and more comfortable stepping out and shooting the 16-18 foot jump shot, which he's getting quite good at. But with so many quality shooters, Spain's best athlete will impact the game more by running the floor and finishing on the break.
Advantage: Spain
<center><hr style="width: 50%;"> </center>
Rebounding
The international game has become an extremely physical one. This is where that size disadvantage will hurt Team USA. Marc Gasol pushes 7-foot-1, 270 pounds, and older brother Pau checks in at 7 feet, 250 pounds. Two seven-footers are a huge obstacle for the U.S. to overcome on the glass. Add to the fact that Marc has developed something of a mean streak and you'll understand how Chandler -- who gives up 30 pounds -- will spend most of his time on the floor.
Chandler's game plan will be to lean on Gasol every chance he gets and push him as far from the rim as possible. Chandler might lack size but he's got a huge advantage in foot speed and can get around Gasol easily enough for rebounds that bounce 8-10 feet or so from the rim. The 7-1 Knicks center is also a much quicker leaper off the floor and has the motor to continuously jump toward the glass until the ball is secured. But that strategy only works if Gasol isn't leaning on him, which will be almost unavoidable. In the end Chandler will have to use his feet to get as many loose rebounds as possible.
Like Marc, Pau is an excellent rebounder who often uses his length to outreach opponents, but matched up with Love, he's at a bit of a disadvantage. On Tuesday, Love outrebounded Pau 9-5. Stronger, smaller players who dip a shoulder into his body have historically caused Pau problems, as he's easy to knock off his base. Gasol can counter that by getting lower but that negates his length and brings the fight down to Love's level. Love, who was second in the NBA in rebounding, subscribes to the theory that the lowest man wins. In other words, the guy with the best leverage usually has the better position.
Love's powerful base and fundamentally superior rebounding position make him nearly impossible to move once he finds a piece of real estate to claim. This will be made more difficult with Marc's presence and Ibaka's athleticism. It is imperative that Team USA commands the boards, as they did 36-28 on Tuesday, to defeat Spain.
Advantage: USA
<center><hr style="width: 50%;"> </center>Passing
One clear edge the Spanish team has is that their bigs actually function as a unit that plays off one another's strengths, which the Gasol brothers do as well as any two bigs. Pau is arguably the best passing big man in basketball and has the unselfishness and basketball acumen to accentuate that ability. He's considerably effective with his back to the basket, passing from the block to find cutters heading to the rim or shooters flashing at the foul line. In the high post from a stationary position or moving toward the rim he's got an excellent feel for throwing the lob to fellow bigs.
In fact, last season he was fourth in the NBA (behind three point guards) in throwing lobs for dunks. Most of them went to Andrew Bynum who, with Pau's help, put up a career-best 18.7 points per game and made his first All-Star Game.
The younger Gasol has the same instincts and loves to toss smart little backdoor passes from the midpost to streaking guards for easy buckets. Spain runs several plays featuring backdoor cuts that have been giving international defenses absolute fits. Without a strong shot-blocker to protect the rim, expect a healthy dose of backdoor passes from both Pau and Marc.
On the other side of the ball, Love is a solid passer himself, but much like his reduced role as a scorer, he'll likely not have the ball in his hands enough to impact the game with his passing in a half-court situation. But one area where he'll certainly leave his mark is tossing quick, long outlet passes to the likes of James, Chris Paul and Anthony, who will constantly be leaking out to ignite their running game. Love is quite adept at hitting wings in stride well past half court.
Advantage: Spain
Defense
Chandler might have been the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, but the U.S. is still at a distinct disadvantage inside defensively. Consider that the Gasol brothers and Ibaka make up, perhaps, one of the longest front lines ever assembled on a basketball court. The likelihood of all three getting much time together isn't great, but any combination of the two would make scoring inside a terribly difficult chore for Team USA.
The younger Gasol and Ibaka make for a pretty interesting and versatile defensive package. Gasol's size alone makes penetration difficult and frees up Ibaka to feast off weakside shot-blocking. Another lineup option is playing Pau at center, using Ibaka's foot speed and length to harass perimeter-oriented 4s.
Chandler will be Team USA's saving grace on defense, excelling in both help defense and attacking penetrators at the rim. Not only will his shot-blocking and physicality be counted on, but his all-out aggression and enthusiasm will inspire the team when they inevitably find themselves with their backs against the wall. Chandler's fiery veteran leadership is a big reason he's on the squad. Davis' role has been limited, and even seeing the floor against Spain would be a small victory. Though his wingspan usually would stop most guards, he doesn't have the rotations down and is not yet acclimated to the speed of the game.
Advantage: Spain
<center><hr style="width: 50%;"> </center>Conclusion
The Spanish bigs have a decided advantage in experience, size, length and post scoring. On the NBA level, Love may be the best player of the bunch, but with role changes and different rules in international play that hardly matters here.
From the beginning the role that Spain's bigs will play already tips the battle in their favor. Spain's trio of talented post players will be the focus of their attack, while Team USA's gold-medal hopes lie in their world-class perimeter scorers.
The Gasol brothers will work in tandem to get easy shots with clever interior passing and an unmatched familiarity with each other's game. Love and Chandler will be too busy playing lesser roles, and their games are more suited to performing a specific supporting task than working in tandem with one another.
The third member of the USA crew, the 20-year-old Davis, could one day well blossom into a game-changing shot-blocker, but it won't happen in this tournament. On the other hand, Spain's third wheel, Ibaka, is just two years older than Davis yet already a borderline All-Star and started in the NBA Finals a month ago. He also happens to be Spain's best athlete and will see more time the more opponents run against them.
One way to even up the battle of the bigs is to use James at power forward for the majority of his minutes. This happened Tuesday as James found himself covering Pau Gasol a number of times. As we said at the outset, given Team USA's lack of size and surplus of ball handlers, the U.S. squad's success might just hinge on exactly that.
It doesn't happen often, but Spain has a clear matchup advantage
By Chris Palmer | ESPN the Magazine
ESPN INSIDER
As Team USA heads into the London Games, their one glaring weakness is still an issue that will dog them throughout the Olympic tournament. Lack of size and depth up front hasn't made life easy for the talented USA squad despite a handful of blowout wins over lesser competition. Even before their weeklong Las Vegas mini-camp, several big men including Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum and Chris Bosh had already bowed out because of health reasons. Then they lost Blake Griffin due to a knee injury. But do they still have enough low-post firepower to capture gold?
In a matchup of the two best teams in the tournament, Team USA met the Spanish national team Tuesday in a friendly matching them against the toughest frontcourt challenge of the summer. It served as a perfect opportunity for Tyson Chandler, Kevin Love and the inexperienced Anthony Davis to gauge themselves against fellow NBA players Pau Gasol, his brother Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka.
Marc Gasol said Monday that the 1992 Dream Team would easily dominate the 2012 Team USA, but what about Spain? Are he and his frontcourt teammates better than their U.S. counterparts?
Though Team USA won Tuesday, it wasn't exactly the "bigs" matchup that had been anticipated. Marc Gasol sat out with a shoulder injury, while Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James dominated the game, leaving the USA bigs with sparse scoring chances. Ibaka and Pau Gasol scored in double digits, while Chandler got into foul trouble and Davis barely played. Love did grab nine rebounds, but overall it showed Team USA's weakness on the low blocks and in the paint. And if that weakness is properly exploited, the team might end up relying on James and other ball handlers more and more as the tournament goes on.
Scoring
Team USA's interior trio simply isn't designed to score. Sounds like an odd thing to say given that Love averaged 26 points per game last season and is one of the game's most versatile offensive players. But in this context it's simply not Love's role. Unlike his role in Minnesota, he won't have the ball in his hands or the green light, and will rarely get to use his outstanding 3-point skills save for the occasional trailer 3. And since the U.S. has such a size deficiency, Love will need to spend all of his minutes as close to the basket as possible grabbing rebounds and getting a body on anyone within arm's reach.
Most of Chandler's points will come from alley-oops, putbacks or from the free throw line and, quite frankly, anything he contributes is gravy. Davis played less than four minutes Tuesday and cannot be counted on for scoring impact.
Spain, however, is counting on a bulk of its scoring to come from its post players to complement team leader Juan Carlos Navarro. Pau's role will be very similar to his in the Lakers offense in actively looking for his feathery foul line jumper and sweeping drop-step runner. Younger brother Marc has seen ample back-to-the-basket opportunities so far in exhibition play and has netted his jump hook with regularity. The brothers wisely take great advantage of their length in attacking the glass to get easy putbacks when confusion reigns underneath.
The two 7-foot siblings should be enough to outscore USA's bigs as it is, so adding the 22-year-old forward Ibaka gives them even more post firepower. With the Thunder, Ibaka is steadily becoming more and more comfortable stepping out and shooting the 16-18 foot jump shot, which he's getting quite good at. But with so many quality shooters, Spain's best athlete will impact the game more by running the floor and finishing on the break.
Advantage: Spain
<center><hr style="width: 50%;"> </center>
Rebounding
The international game has become an extremely physical one. This is where that size disadvantage will hurt Team USA. Marc Gasol pushes 7-foot-1, 270 pounds, and older brother Pau checks in at 7 feet, 250 pounds. Two seven-footers are a huge obstacle for the U.S. to overcome on the glass. Add to the fact that Marc has developed something of a mean streak and you'll understand how Chandler -- who gives up 30 pounds -- will spend most of his time on the floor.
Chandler's game plan will be to lean on Gasol every chance he gets and push him as far from the rim as possible. Chandler might lack size but he's got a huge advantage in foot speed and can get around Gasol easily enough for rebounds that bounce 8-10 feet or so from the rim. The 7-1 Knicks center is also a much quicker leaper off the floor and has the motor to continuously jump toward the glass until the ball is secured. But that strategy only works if Gasol isn't leaning on him, which will be almost unavoidable. In the end Chandler will have to use his feet to get as many loose rebounds as possible.
Like Marc, Pau is an excellent rebounder who often uses his length to outreach opponents, but matched up with Love, he's at a bit of a disadvantage. On Tuesday, Love outrebounded Pau 9-5. Stronger, smaller players who dip a shoulder into his body have historically caused Pau problems, as he's easy to knock off his base. Gasol can counter that by getting lower but that negates his length and brings the fight down to Love's level. Love, who was second in the NBA in rebounding, subscribes to the theory that the lowest man wins. In other words, the guy with the best leverage usually has the better position.
Love's powerful base and fundamentally superior rebounding position make him nearly impossible to move once he finds a piece of real estate to claim. This will be made more difficult with Marc's presence and Ibaka's athleticism. It is imperative that Team USA commands the boards, as they did 36-28 on Tuesday, to defeat Spain.
Advantage: USA
<center><hr style="width: 50%;"> </center>Passing
One clear edge the Spanish team has is that their bigs actually function as a unit that plays off one another's strengths, which the Gasol brothers do as well as any two bigs. Pau is arguably the best passing big man in basketball and has the unselfishness and basketball acumen to accentuate that ability. He's considerably effective with his back to the basket, passing from the block to find cutters heading to the rim or shooters flashing at the foul line. In the high post from a stationary position or moving toward the rim he's got an excellent feel for throwing the lob to fellow bigs.
In fact, last season he was fourth in the NBA (behind three point guards) in throwing lobs for dunks. Most of them went to Andrew Bynum who, with Pau's help, put up a career-best 18.7 points per game and made his first All-Star Game.
The younger Gasol has the same instincts and loves to toss smart little backdoor passes from the midpost to streaking guards for easy buckets. Spain runs several plays featuring backdoor cuts that have been giving international defenses absolute fits. Without a strong shot-blocker to protect the rim, expect a healthy dose of backdoor passes from both Pau and Marc.
On the other side of the ball, Love is a solid passer himself, but much like his reduced role as a scorer, he'll likely not have the ball in his hands enough to impact the game with his passing in a half-court situation. But one area where he'll certainly leave his mark is tossing quick, long outlet passes to the likes of James, Chris Paul and Anthony, who will constantly be leaking out to ignite their running game. Love is quite adept at hitting wings in stride well past half court.
Advantage: Spain
Defense
Chandler might have been the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, but the U.S. is still at a distinct disadvantage inside defensively. Consider that the Gasol brothers and Ibaka make up, perhaps, one of the longest front lines ever assembled on a basketball court. The likelihood of all three getting much time together isn't great, but any combination of the two would make scoring inside a terribly difficult chore for Team USA.
The younger Gasol and Ibaka make for a pretty interesting and versatile defensive package. Gasol's size alone makes penetration difficult and frees up Ibaka to feast off weakside shot-blocking. Another lineup option is playing Pau at center, using Ibaka's foot speed and length to harass perimeter-oriented 4s.
Chandler will be Team USA's saving grace on defense, excelling in both help defense and attacking penetrators at the rim. Not only will his shot-blocking and physicality be counted on, but his all-out aggression and enthusiasm will inspire the team when they inevitably find themselves with their backs against the wall. Chandler's fiery veteran leadership is a big reason he's on the squad. Davis' role has been limited, and even seeing the floor against Spain would be a small victory. Though his wingspan usually would stop most guards, he doesn't have the rotations down and is not yet acclimated to the speed of the game.
Advantage: Spain
<center><hr style="width: 50%;"> </center>Conclusion
The Spanish bigs have a decided advantage in experience, size, length and post scoring. On the NBA level, Love may be the best player of the bunch, but with role changes and different rules in international play that hardly matters here.
From the beginning the role that Spain's bigs will play already tips the battle in their favor. Spain's trio of talented post players will be the focus of their attack, while Team USA's gold-medal hopes lie in their world-class perimeter scorers.
The Gasol brothers will work in tandem to get easy shots with clever interior passing and an unmatched familiarity with each other's game. Love and Chandler will be too busy playing lesser roles, and their games are more suited to performing a specific supporting task than working in tandem with one another.
The third member of the USA crew, the 20-year-old Davis, could one day well blossom into a game-changing shot-blocker, but it won't happen in this tournament. On the other hand, Spain's third wheel, Ibaka, is just two years older than Davis yet already a borderline All-Star and started in the NBA Finals a month ago. He also happens to be Spain's best athlete and will see more time the more opponents run against them.
One way to even up the battle of the bigs is to use James at power forward for the majority of his minutes. This happened Tuesday as James found himself covering Pau Gasol a number of times. As we said at the outset, given Team USA's lack of size and surplus of ball handlers, the U.S. squad's success might just hinge on exactly that.
