The only question that was worth asking at the start of the FIBA U17 World Championship was, “Can anyone beat the US?”
The answer to that question is still a resounding “no” and unlikely to change anytime soon, but the question their opponents should start with is, “Where are the US vulnerable?”
We can look at Greece’s performance against US on the first day of the tournament for an idea.
The European country didn’t win, but they actually gave the Americans the best shot any team has since the inaugural World Championship in 2010. The 10-point difference was likely the result of the Americans being overconfident, but Greece did a number of things that worked.
For one, the US are overpowering on fast breaks and transition with their immense athletic advantage, yet Greece did well to contain them to just 11 points on the break. In the US’ other three wins, they recorded 29 fast break points against Angola, 22 against the Philippines and 30 against Japan.
Greece also got the better of the Americans on the offensive glass, where they edged US 20-14 and 17-16 in second chance points.
Much of that, however, was due to 7’1” centre Giorgios Papagiannis gobbling seven offensive boards himself. It will take a team that can leverage similar size on the offensive glass while sending reinforcements back to limit easy looks.
On defence, the best strategy is to pack the paint with a zone-heavy scheme as Greece did. The US still managed a robust 46 points in the paint, but compare that to the 72 and 86 they scored against the Philippines and Japan, respectively, and it was a clear win for Greece.
Teams also need to force the US to shoot more from outside, where they’re converting at 33.8 per cent – a stark drop from their 61.3 per cent shooting on 2-pointers.
There’s no blueprint to beating the US and it will be a shock if anyone even comes as close as Greece did. But giving them a challenge would be a win in its own right.
