SHANGHAI, China — There are times, Mike Krzyzewski was saying Tuesday night, when you see the best from your team when things are going the worst. The U.S. men’s Olympic basketball coach was walking through the bowels of Qizhong Arena, a spectacular tennis stadium that for two days had been converted into his squad’s adopted home.
In the first contest, Russia managed to stymie the Americans for a time by slowing the game down, before eventually succumbing 89-64.
Tuesday provided an even sterner test. Rather than trying to fritter away the clock, another Olympic team, Australia, went right after the Americans, fast-breaking and half-court trapping to create a frenzied pace. Although Team USA led for most of the contest, the outcome was never assured until the final horn ended an 87-76 victory that Krzyzewski admitted “wasn’t a great performance.”
Indeed, the game may have been the first moment of doubt in what had previously seemed like an inevitability — a return to the gold-medal stand for the Americans. Their four-game exhibition swing concluded, the team now travels to Beijing for the real thing.
“On paper, I guess you’d still say they’re the favorites, but I don’t know — they really haven’t been a lock for about eight years now,” Australian forward and former NBA player Chris Anstey said. “It’s really nothing against them. It’s more about how good the rest of the world has gotten.”
Australia, which has never beaten the U.S. team, was quick to claim a moral victory.
But Dwyane Wade had a quick rebuke — “They didn’t win the game; the bottom line is winning” — that goes to Krzyzewski’s point. In both contests, despite stretches of poor foul shooting or the lack of offensive cohesion or the occasional defensive lapse, his team still won by double digits, leaving the coach almost smiling through gritted teeth.
“When you get to the worst point of the game, the pressure’s on you,” Krzyzewski said. “Now, all of a sudden, you have to respond, and you can’t do it tomorrow.”
In that process — the stumble and regaining the footing — there were moments that certainly will be replayed when the Olympic tournament begins in earnest. How the U.S. responds may well tell the tale of whether Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and company indeed come away with gold for the first time since 2000.
One factor will certainly be rebounding. The Americans have been susceptible to being beaten up on the defensive boards, giving opponents more scoring chances. At the same time, one of the team’s most successful configurations has been a smaller lineup, with Anthony and James sharing center/power forward duties.
That group, which also includes Wade, Kobe Bryant and either Chris Paul or Deron Williams, has generated great defensive pressure on the perimeter and explosiveness on offense.
Another great “feel” issue for the coach will be teaching his players how to walk the line between offensive organization and letting their immense individual talents flow. On Tuesday, the Americans shot 50 percent from the field, their lowest figure on the trip, partially because they were quick to hoist up the first relatively good shot they saw. That bothered Krzyzewski, who told the team they weren’t looking out for one another.
“We’ve got five great players out there,” Wade said, “but sometimes, if one of them doesn’t touch the ball for five straight possessions, he’s not going to be happy and it’s going to affect the rest of his game. He’s probably not going to work as hard. We want everyone to be happy.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
