After a productive and jam-packed five days in Abu Dhabi, Team USA have moved on to London, where they will play two final exhibition matches —against South Sudan and Germany — ahead of their Olympic Games campaign starting on July 28.
There is a lot to unpack from the US’ victories over Australia and Serbia this week in the UAE capital.
Here are some of the main takeaways as the Americans head to Paris searching for a fifth consecutive Olympic Games gold medal.
Curry, James, Embiid likely starting trio
It is taking Joel Embiid some time to adjust to this American super team —and to international basketball in general — but US head coach Steve Kerr has made it clear the 2023 NBA MVP will be an integral part of his starting unit.
Despite Anthony Davis shining for the US so far and outperforming him, Kerr has started Embiid in all three exhibition games they have contested.
Making his Team USA debut this summer, Embiid has averaged 6.5 rebounds per game across the three friendlies he played (versus Canada, Australia and Serbia) and has combined for nine turnovers.
Kerr believes it is only a matter of time until the Sixers center hits his stride.
“He’s getting better and better every day,” said Kerr. “It usually takes big guys longer to get rhythm and flow. I love Joel. He’s a dominant player.”
The three constants in Kerr’s starting five so far throughout the team’s exhibition schedule have been LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Embiid, as the Golden State Warriors coach continues to tinker with his lineup for the remaining two spots.
“I like those three guys in the starting lineup. We’ve been looking at other guys around them and we obviously have a lot of great options, but I do like those three guys in the starting lineup,” said Kerr in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
For someone who is used to carrying the Warriors offense year-round, Curry did not make a huge impact in the first two games but caught fire against Serbia on Wednesday with 24 points in 21 minutes and going 6-9 from beyond the arc.
Curry explained after the Australia clash that making sure Embiid is well-utilized has been a main focus for the starters.
“He demands a lot of attention so you have to utilize that and get him in position,” said Curry.
“We still have to figure out our spacing around him to give him looks, whether he shoots and scores, whether he kicks it out. And then if he’s not in the post, we’re trying to figure out different looks, and the chemistry of that group.
“I think we got a little bit better and we’ve got more games to get even better with it and utilize the threat of everything he can do and everybody else out there.”
Embiid having ‘time of my life’
While things have yet to click for Embiid, the 30-year-old American-Cameroonian player has enjoyed every moment of this training camp so far.
“It’s been good. Obviously it’s new, so we’re still working on the chemistry, reading each other. Some of the turnovers that we had, most of them have been miscommunication,” he said on Wednesday.
“But it’s good, I’m having the time of my life, I don’t have to do anything. I’m happy just chilling, just hanging out, dealing with the little things, and then just play together and win.”
Curry on adjusting to the FIBA game
With the FIBA game known to be more physical and with a faster pace compared to the NBA, players have to make significant adjustments in order to excel in this format.
For Curry, who is making his first national team appearance in 10 years, this is not necessarily the main challenge.
“The biggest difference is from game to game, there’s just such drastic different styles from country to country, the way they play,” said the 36-year-old point guard.
“That’s the biggest adjustment. Physicality, the speed, all that, we can adjust to whatever but to focus on game plan and being disciplined on that front from game to game, that’s tough, because everybody plays so different.”
The US have Serbia, South Sudan and Puerto Rico in their pool at the Olympics, meaning they will face three teams boasting basketball schools from three different continents.
We have not seen US’ full potential yet
As Bam Adebayo and James both said after their win over Serbia, we have not seen the best from this squad just yet.
The Stars and Stripes beat a Nikola Jokic-led Serbia by a 26-point margin but are not reading too much into it ahead of their rematch in Olympic pool play next week.
“Not at all,” responded Adebayo when asked if the US’ performance against Serbia reflected the team’s potential.
“We still have work to do. We still got some turnovers to clean up, we still got some defensive schemes to clean up and we still have one guy that’s still working his way back.”
James echoed Adebayo’s sentiments: “We’ve still got so much room to improve but we want to continue to get better and not waste the opportunities. I felt like tonight we got better.”
Kerr is likely to continue with the hockey subs strategy, replacing all five starters with a second unit and alternating between both groups throughout the game.
“I think the identity of the team is our depth, the strength of the team is the depth. And so, if we can play in four-, five-minute bursts of just playing intense defense, hitting bodies, rebounding, being physical, then it makes sense to play that way,” said Kerr.
“We’ll see if we keep doing it but for now, it’s allowed groups to get together, AD (Anthony Davis) and Bam (Adebayo) for example, Steph and LeBron, kind of learn how to play together, having a better feel for each other. The strength of our team is just the depth and so if we have to play that way, we’ll play that way.”
KD still out, but making progress
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kevin Durant is still nursing a calf strain and has yet to feature for this US squad but coach Kerr is hopeful the Phoenix Suns forward will be ready for Paris.
“Kevin’s been doing more the last couple of days and he’s trending in the right direction,” said Kerr on Wednesday.
As America’s all-time lead scorer at the Olympics, Durant brings a wealth of experience to this squad and will no doubt make an impact should he be ready to play.
Ant-Man made for the big stage
Anthony Edwards has evolved into one of the best players in the league this past season and the 22-year-old is bringing confidence and explosiveness to the team.
He has averaged 14.3 points per game during this preparation period for the Olympics and is delivering whether he is a starter or coming off the bench.
“I thought he took his experience in the World Cup last year and got much better and became one of the best players in the whole NBA last season,” said coach Kerr of Edwards.
“He still has things to improve on. I talk to him about it frequently, rebounding and defense, not letting anybody get behind him, keeping vision defensively.
“He’s so talented, he’s a great, great player. But the best players always get better. Every summer they keep working on new things. So I’m going to encourage Anthony to keep getting better.”
Another slam dunk from Abu Dhabi
The UAE capital continues to solidify its position as the hub for international basketball in the Middle East and has once again delivered a stellar event.
After hosting preseason games between the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks in 2022, and the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves in 2023, Abu Dhabi has also proven to be the perfect spot for national teams to hold training camps and prepare for big competitions.
Before last year’s FIBA World Cup, teams including the US, Greece and Germany trained in Abu Dhabi and played exhibition games. And the Americans returned this year with the same agenda ahead of the Olympics.
Etihad Arena was sold out for both US games this week and it will no doubt be at full capacity when reigning NBA champions the Boston Celtics and the Denver Nuggets come to Abu Dhabi for preseason games in October.
“We’ve had an incredible five days here. The hospitality in Abu Dhabi has been amazing, the people are wonderful. We just had a great trip and we really appreciate how welcomed we felt from everyone here,” said Kerr.
Embiid added: “It’s been amazing. I got here and called my wife and I told her it’s really beautiful here. I’ve been having the time of my life just meeting different people.
“I’m all about culture, me being African, learning about other people’s culture, that’s big for me. So being here, seeing how beautiful it is has been an amazing experience.”
