After exhibition losses to Nigeria and Australia, it is becoming increasingly clear that whatever Team USA is doing is just not working. There are too many egos to juggle and not enough role players to play efficient team basketball. Team USA is not a team, it is a collection of superstars who want to be “the guy” in a group with no one to do the dirty work, which is why they need to turn to the Detroit Pistons.
One could say that there is no passion. Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard do not need to prove themselves. They are already superstars. Draymond Green is a champion, and Bradley Beal is one of the greatest scorers in today’s game. And yet Patty Mills, a roleplayer for the fledgling Spurs, outplayed all of them.
It’s easy to tear things down. The hard part is building them back up. Team USA built itself on flash, but it’s time to play tested and true basketball. The current rotation of guys simply can’t do that. They live to fill up the box score, not win games as a unit.
Gregg Popovich and the rest of Team USA’s coaching staff need to redo their lineups.
Detroit Pistons: Jerami Grant and Saddiq Bey could help Team USA
The ideal starting five includes one or two guys who can be the person who takes the final shots, but they need role players to get them there. They also need passion. They need to want to win to prove to doubters that they can. Lillard, Green, and Durant need to ride the bench. Their next game, on the 16th against Australia, it’s time to get crazy.
I wrote all this before their matchup against Argentina, so I have no clue how that game panned out. But with two games under their belt, it’s clearly time for a rehaul.
The ideal lineup includes two Detroit Pistons and other unproven rising stars.
Saddiq Bey is in need of a starting job. He can play wing, knock down open shots, catch and shoot, and play excellent perimeter defense, especially against the competition he’d go up against.
Jerami Grant should continue to start at power forward. In this new lineup, he can be the veteran voice and lockdown anyone on the opposing team.
Rounding them out will be Darius Garland off of the Select Team as a pass-first guard who can also knock down outside shots. He lacks defense, but the rest of the starting four will make up for that.
At center should be Bam Adebayo. He is a swiss-army knife who can space the floor and crash the boards, as well as overpower any defenders to get to the hoop and score. Unlike Draymond Green, his ego won’t get in the way and he probably will be content with the style of basketball Team USA should implement, it got him to the Finals in 2020.
The leader of the lineup and biggest scorer should be Jayson Tatum. Good on both ends and a proven star, he’s still young and hungry for victory that he will take his new role as team leader seriously.
Everyone else can come off the bench. The superstars on the roster have proven that they can’t win.
Maybe the stars will see it as an insult. Good. They should. If Darius Garland and two Detroit Pistons can outplay them and actually win games, it should be insulting and embarrassing. Maybe they’ll be motivated when group play starts. If not, Pop and crew can keep rolling with the alternate lineup. Detroit is a rebuilding small market team–Pistons shouldn’t have to step in, but apparently, they are needed.
Grant and Bey will know their role. There won’t be any conflict there. Bey can knock down open shots and Grant can play inside with the best of them. Get the ball to Tatum, have Garland distribute, and let Bam shut down the paint.
It won’t have the same glory or appeal, but at this point, winning needs to be a priority. No arguments during timeouts, no drama among the starting five, just good, clean basketball. Plus, it helps that this will boost Detroit’s stock and NBA stars will want to play alongside Grant and Bey, who just need to be good teammates and play winning basketball.