It had already been visible against Montenegro, despite the victory. Nikola Vucevic and his troop had thus taken 18 more rebounds (49-31) than the United States, with a +15 in offensive rebound (23-8). Enough to leave 22 points on second chances to the Balkan team, against only 8 for Team USA.
And against Lithuania, the problem was still visible, with another 16 more rebounds (43-27) recovered the Balts, who also largely dominated the American troops (+9) in offensive rebound (18-9).
Here again, the differential on second chances was extremely problematic for Team USA: 17 points for Lithuania against only 2 for the United States…
Before the match against Lithuania, Steve Kerr did not hide his concerns on the subject.
“The concern is the loss of the ball and the rebounds”confirmed the American coach. “If we stay tied in the possession battle, I think we have a good chance of beating anyone. But the way teams can beat us is when they get extra possessions and force a lot of ball drops when we’re not sharp enough and not blocking enough on the rebound. That’s what I told our players… It’s not really a secret. »
“Small ball” and “switches” that expose the American rebound
With his five fouls and his only rebound in 15 minutes on the floor against Lithuania, Jaren Jackson Jr. is the first player on the dock. Steve Kerr also admitted that the interior of the Grizzlies could not commit so many faults because he must be the internal stabilizer of the United States.
In fact, when he was on the field, Team USA scored 16 more points than Lithuania, while the Baltic team scored 22 more when he was on the bench…
Overall, the United States play with a lot of wingers and only have one real pivot (Walker Kessler). And as the team “switches” a lot, the interiors very often find themselves far from the circle at the time of the shoot. The American backs and wingers must then fight against players taller than them on the rebound and this is currently a big problem for the selection of Steve Kerr, who is being punished in the sector.
“We played with two interiors several times in the first half with Welker (Kessler) and Bobby (Portis) as a strong winger or Paolo (Banchero)” assures Steve Kerr. “We tested several things with these guys. The thing about FIBA competitions is that you put a team together very quickly and you have to trust your guts at every intersection. And when you feel you have to experiment, you have to. We had a test like that today, with two interiors, and it didn’t work out very well. So we came back to groups that could do better in our eyes, and we had a good second half, but we were going too far. »
Team USA should therefore continue to trust this defensive formula, hoping that Josh Hart and company will hold the rebound battle better against their next opponents.
