USA’s defense shuts down South Sudan, 103-86

Bam Adebayo stood tallest among the big men tonight on both team’s tonight in the 17 -point win for the US

The US leaves no doubt with a complete effort starting with a dominant first quarter

Team USA showed what Gregg Popovich would have called ‘appropriate fear’ in assisting on 28 of their first 33 field goals and holding a definitive lead for 38+ minutes in a 103-86 win over South Sudan. A late 7-0 run in the fourth provided the final 17-point cushion for the US.

A motivated United States squad mounted a spirited defensive effort, surging out to a 19 point lead in the opening half, while keeping Carlik Jones (29 points in their previous matchup) scoreless until the last 100 seconds before intermission.

A trio of stalwarts, Bam Adebayo, Kevin Durant, and Derrick White, helped the US bench outscore their counterparts 40-5 in the opening half, while Adebayo and White provided key contributions throughout on both ends. LeBron James and Durant managed to score as much as South Sudan (17-17) 14+ minutes into game action.

In a frenetically-paced opening period, “Captain LeMerica” had the first four points, while Anthony Davis paired a dunk and block to put the US up 6-0. South Sudan responded with its own 7-0 run to snatch a lead, as Mariol Shayok hit two impressive perimeter jumpers. Just like the prior game, Durant entered and impacted the game – getting four quick free throws and a steal. Shayok single-handedly kept his team within striking distance. The South Sudanese being foul-happy in the first quarter and the US had almost as many free throws (7) as field goals (9) to secure a 26-14 lead.

Adebayo was the happy recipient of two sweet feeds for power dunks, and White’s second three pushed the US advantage to 19. Nuni Omot got into double-digits in an attempt to keep pace, but Tyrese Haliburton’s pair of threes kept South Sudan at bay. Davis was stepped on by Wenyen Gabriel and had to be subbed out late in the half. Adebayo’s corner three got the US to the half-century mark with minutes to spare. Adebayo’s rebound and power dunk concluded a 14-point half and put South Sudan down 19 at the break.

Intent to prevent any open lanes for the US at all costs, South Sudan accumulated three fouls in the first two minutes of the third. A Jones lay-up and the third of Bul Koul’s threes in the frame brought the South Sudanese within 11. During this run, the US stayed planted at 60 points for a handful of minutes. After White was flattened by Kuol, he swatted away two shots – one at the rim and one from distance. Boston teammate Jrue Holiday also turned his ankle. White then answered JT Thor’s three with one of his own. Anthony Edward’s half-dozen points nudged the US lead out to 17. Shayok had a smooth George Gervin-like banker and-1. Despite South Sudan dictating much of the play in the quarter, the US were still up 16.

The United States was led by Adebayo (18 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks) – taking Joel Embiid’s minutes, while Durant (14 points and 3 steals) and White (10 points and 3 steals) helped maintain a comfortable advantage in a tenuous third quarter. James (12 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists) notched his 300th Olympic point in the first half.

For South Sudan, Omot (24 points and 2 steals) and Shayok (12 points and 5 rebounds) carried the team valiantly in the first half. Kuol (16 points and 3 steals) staged a brief comeback attempt in the third period, while Jones (18 points and 7 assists) found his way in the fourth for the South Sudanese.

Observations

It was nice to see the dual screen during some of the commercial timeouts to observe players’ body language.
The US did well early on to stick their hands close to where the South Sudanese were dribbling or holding the ball and netting deflections and steals; they ended up with 18 ‘stocks.’
There’s really special chemistry between Noah Eagle and Dwyane Wade.
White, minutes into his entry, had a sterling block on Jones – meeting him at the rim and later disrupted a South Sudan fast break by knocking the ball away and saving it to his teammate. Eagle, after a White deflection, exclaimed “He’s always running! He’s like Forrest Gump – he’s always running!”
Sequence of the Game #1: In the opening minute of the second quarter, Durant fed it in transition to Devin Booker, who returned it back to him, and the Phoenix Sun hit a straightaway three to put the US up 31-14.
Sequence of the Game #2: In the opening moments of the second half, Davis blindly deflected an outlet pass, which found its way into Curry’s hands, and he re-directed it to a soaring Jayson Tatum for his first two points and USA’s biggest lead of the night at 21.
Sequence for PTR’s three Laker’s fans: With the outcome no longer in doubt, James, in transition, lofted a soft pass to Davis on the right block, who feathered a lob to his LA teammate for a swooping alley-oop.
Haliburton made his Olympic debut and connected on his first two three attempts. Embiid registered a DNP-CD, which made sense given the sheer amount of speedsters on the South Sudan frontline.