Rapid recap: USA vs. Slovenia

In the future we'll be writing some super-small game recaps like the following, especially as the FIBA tournament rolls on and preseason games start.  More detailed analyses will come later.

Team USA against Slovenia last Tuesday was an ugly game, there’s no way around it.  It started with Slovenia’s snot green uniforms, and it never really ended after that.  Slovenia’s poor shooting led to wild rebounds, much floor scrambling, many sloppy fast breaks; their poor defense clogged everything up for the Americans so the latter never got into an offense; the refs were obsessive compulsive and wouldn’t let the game flow.

It was a good attempt of the US team to deal with a smaller shooting team, which they haven’t come up against yet, so all the ugliness eventually had a point.  Their defense was excellent, and several times they caught the Slovenians in a trap in a corner.  In the end, Slovenia couldn’t get a shot off.  This defensive tenacity flagged towards the end of the game, and they got the score back within twenty when Goran Dragic’s amazing brother, Zoran, started getting hot from behind the line.  But mostly it proved what we already know—that the US won’t have too much trouble dealing with a team that can’t take it into the paint.

But it was a useful scrimmage as the team heads into the tournament: it never hurts the US to deal with teams that would never have a chance in the NBA.  Exposing NBA players not just to unfamiliar styles of play but to team compositions quite foreign to them is one of the toughest tasks facing Coach K.  The US can’t be inflexible, and play to their own set of rules.

Yet the team has been dealing with these types of teams for some time, in these sorts of ugly games.  However nice it is to see them attempt to adjust, it seems like this group already is flexible enough.  The tournament needs to start already.  FIBA ball isn’t particularly easy on the eyes in general, and the less we are exposed to this sort of win, the better.

Batum news: Les Bleus beat Belgium in friendly, Batum shines

Blazers fans might be forgiven if they forgot for a moment that their Nicolas Batum makes headlines internationally, and currently is the French people’s best hope for a FIBA World Cup title this year.  They were too busy watching him be a star in Portland, helping to bring the team to its deepest playoff run in a decade.

Nevertheless, with the season over, Batum is reminding them of just how much he can light things up in international competition.  The 2014 French national team played its first game together Wednesday in a friendly against Belgium, and Batum played a crucial role in the 79-57 victory.

Batum played 19 minutes and was the third biggest scorer on the team, with 9 points.  He went 3/7 from the field, had 4 rebounds, and made 4 assists, the most on the team besides point guard Thomas Heurtel.

While other scorers put up more impressive stat lines, Batum's was certainly the most important contribution of the night because each point, each rebound, each assist came at the right point to give Les Bleus the exactly what they needed to gather momentum.  Batum came out in the first period slamming home two thrilling dunks to the delight of the crowd in Rouen, but Belgium responded with a run that put France behind coming into the second quarter.  Then, however, the team rallied behind Batum to come into the second half with the lead, and then gain the impetus to finish off the Belgians in a dominant fourth quarter.

It was yet another crucial performance for the team, one they have gotten used to over the years he has played for them.  This year, however, Batum will not only have to bring these numbers to Spain, but also take on a different role than his previous years with Les Bleus, thanks to major changes in the team's roster.

Tony Parker shocked and saddened much of France by deciding to sit out the FIBA tournament this year in favor of keeping himself rested and healthy for the Spurs' attempt to repeat next season.  The loss of France’s biggest basketball star put more pressure on the slightly lesser lights like Batum to lead the team to victories.

Yet Parker has been adamant he thinks Batum is up to the challenge.  “I think he has all the skill-set to become the leader of that team,” Parker said nearing the end of last season to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian."

Batum himself remains confident that he can rise to the occasion and assume the leadership role.  He told the French press as much on Tuesday. "I don't have to change how I play, or lose my head and take 20 shots a game because Tony isn't there," said Batum. "Nevertheless, I have to do more," he added, in order to be a "true leader" of the team.

But Batum will have veterans to help him do more.  Florent Pietrus, the spry 33 year old veteran of Nancy’s basketball squad, will be joining him.  And the Spurs' Boris Diaw will work with Batum to guide along the younger stars of the changing roster.

These include Evan Fournier, the sly point guard now on the Magic, and the hulking Ian Manhinmi of the Pacers.  Not much work however will be needed educating 7’2 phenom Gobert from the Jazz, however, who crushed Belgium in the friendly, scoring 16 points, bringing down six rebounds, and smashing away two blocks.

The Portland Trail Blazer has much justification, then, for his confidence his team will come through with his aid.  "Winning the World Cup would be a well-deserved thing," he said to reporters recently.  France has played so well in in the recent past, he may well be right.  As recently as the 2013 Eurobasket tournament in Ljubljana, which they won, the team's excellence has been on display.

So Blazers fans this summer can be excited to see not only Damian Lillard on the USA Team--should he make the cut--but also their star small forward.