USA Lineup Notebook: Myles Turner shines in exhibition play (via NBA.com)
The biggest challenge, at least internally, for the United States Men’s National Team as it begins play at the FIBA World Cup will be chemistry. Exhibit A: 19 turnovers in the team’s 84-68 exhibition win over Canada on Monday.
When it opens the World Cup with a game against the Czech Republic on Sunday, the U.S. will have had just 15 practices and five exhibition games to prepare. And the final, 12-man roster has only been together and healthy for two of those games.
With a roster that’s light on stars yet heavy on good players from good teams, it takes time to figure out a rotation. Five games might not be enough, and it’s clear that the entire exhibition slate has been an experiment in regard to lineups.
Head coach Gregg Popovich used five different starting lineups in the five games, with 10 different players starting at least one game. With different starting lineups, there were different second units each night.
