Puerto Rico Won't Be Able To Score Against Team USA

Team USA vs. Puerto Rico, 11:15 ET

Olympic basketball is different from watching the NBA. I suppose that seems fairly obvious, but there are little things that I notice like the speed of the game. The spacing even seems a bit different from what I'm used to watching. Team USA, with all of the NBA players, is a little more similar to the professional game, but even the players on this roster aren't playing the same way we are used to watching them. Some of them haven't been role players at any point in their life and that makes a big difference as well. Today Team USA looks to make a big win against Puerto Rico so they can wrap up the #1 seed. 

We know all about Team USA. The squad is led by LeBron James and Kevin Durant. For all of the Steve Kerr bashing we've seen over the years, he actually deserves a bit of credit for how he is handling the team right now. Much was made about Jayson Tatum sitting the first game (he started against South Sudan), and Joel Embiid got the same treatment in their most recent outing. Both were good decisions, and both of them were tough to make. I will say I am a bit shocked that anyone needs to sit for a full game. You're telling me you can't find five minutes of rotation for one of the guys? I'd guess that it was discussed with them all prior to this. Anyway, I think the big message of this is that overall, the team needs to find a way to sacrifice for the greater good. Credit should be given to guys like Devin Booker, someone who isn't known as a defensive player, taking on the responsibility of being one of the hounds on defense. He hasn't been a pure scorer in this tournament, but he has still found his spots to contribute on the offensive end. It is nice to see the team buying into this idea and working together for the common goal. You don't see that in the professional game much. Kerr does deserve some credit for getting the team to this buy-in. 

Throughout that entire past paragraph, I didn't mention anything about the actual skill-level of the team, or their strategy for how to beat Team Puerto Rico. It is because there isn't really a question about if Team USA will in the game, it is simply by how much will they win? The other question I have is that if Puerto Rico is an American owned country, why are they not part of Team USA? That's not a question I'll get an answer to, but just something I'm thinking about. The roster for Puerto Rico has just one recognizable name - Jose Alvarado. If you're familiar with the NBA, but not quite sure who he is, he is the guy that stood in the corner and snuck up on people to steal the ball. He also told someone that he can shoot when they weren't familiar with his game. He probably is the best player on the side for Puerto Rico, but he is a backup guard in the league, so that should give you some indication of their talent level. It has been an ugly Olympics for Puerto Rico as they were destroyed by Serbia on Wednesday - losing by 41 points. Prior to that, they lost their opener to South Sudan, but it was at least closer, seeing them lose by 11 in that game. 

Here is one big key to understand about Olympic basketball: point differential matters. In order to be the #1 overall seed, and have the easiest path to the gold medal, Team USA should want to rout Puerto Rico. There is very little chance that the team doesn't get the #1 seed, but they control their destiny. The line on this game is a bit crazy with Puerto Rico getting 34.5 points. However, seeing that Serbia absolutely rocked them, I have to believe the USA can do the same. I think the best play is to take Puerto Rico under 77.5 points. Team USA is actually trying to play defense and there aren't many good options on Puerto Rico to score. I'll back the team total under and hope Team USA doesn't just try to score a million points but puts some defensive effort in to build on the differential. 

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