ANDThe United States will have collected a huge amount of money for their participation in the Abu Dhabi tournament, but surely they will Steve Kerr would have been willing to pay for a test like the one he experienced against Germany. The Germans pushed the Americans to the limit, so much so that they led the score for 33 of the 40 minutes of the match and brought up all of Kerr’s fears.
The US suffered a lot for win over Germany, 91-99 and showed a certain vulnerability that had not been seen so far in the previous duels. A full-fledged scare in the last game before facing the final stretch, the trip to Manila and the first matches of the World Cup.
Steve Kerr had revealed the weaknesses of his team: “I told the boys that if we get rebounded in attack and we lose balls, we are going to suffer and we could even lose games.. And I told them that it wasn’t a secret and that the teams knew it.” Germany, of course, yes. Not so much with the Yankee losses, 6, but certainly with the offensive rebounds. Germany captured 15 and some of those second choices were three-pointers made.. In total rebounds Germany was far superior, 55-42. But I couldn’t stand the final stretch of an impressive Anthony Edwards.
The star of the Wolves, called to be the MVP of the tournament if the USA wins the gold, signed 34 points, 12 of them scored in the last quarter. With two consecutive triples he finished with the lead in the German scoreboard, 86-86, with 3:36 to go, and with four consecutive points he sealed the Dream Team’s victory.
Edwards had excellent help on Tyrese Haliburton, who finished with 16 points. In the middle of the German recital, three of his almost consecutive triples left the maximum of the game for Germany, 71-55, in a much tighter 74-71. He then led Edwards through the final minutes of the crash.
The match was European from minute four to minute 37. A 3-18 run in the third quarter, at the moment of the Haliburton explosion, brought the USA closer, but Germany opened the gap again in the fourth period, 86-77. So it was 0-14, with Edwards, Haliburton and Reavesthe one who ended the Teutonic resistance.
The virtues of Germany were, as has been said, the attack rebound and also the defense, intensity and defense, and playing with an order that was not seen in the rival. The test places the German team as a very serious candidate and raises some doubts on the superiority of the Dream Team… which may not be so much.
