I Love the Summer Olympics and Other Thoughts
Been a minute. I didn't mean to take a whole month off from writing, but it just kind of happened that way. Part of the reason is the Olympics. God, I love the Summer Olympics. The Winter Olympics are fine if nothing else is on, but the Summer Olympics is 100% my jam. Track and field, swimming, gymnastics, water polo, two kinds of volleyball, and on and on. It is basically sports gluttony that we also get soccer and basketball. And there's always the random sports that pique your interest, too. It's an amazing two weeks, and now that you can watch them on Peacock, you can watch them anywhere live, and are not beholden to NBC's scheduling. For instance, I couldn't find France vs. Canada on the TV today. It was a big game sure, but it also went up against the US women playing important matches in soccer and volleyball, plus track and field. Let's talk a little bit more about that game.
France's Big Men Rule the Day
Just like we expected, Canada's lack of size was its Achilles heel in this tourney. They really should have tried harder to get Zach Edey to suit up. But in their loss today, it wasn't Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama who gave Canada fits. Gobert only played three minutes, and Wemby shot 2-for-10 from the field.
Instead, it was Matthias Lessort, and more impactfully, old friend and former Celtic Guerschon Yabusele. Lessort put in 13 points, and got to the line at will in the first half – particularly in the first half. He shot 14 free throws, as Canada seemingly couldn't stop him inside. And Yabusele led France in scoring with 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, and 8-of-9 at the line himself. The performance was both a testament to how deep France is, and how overrated Canada was. Turns out, you need players of all sizes to compete. Who knew?!?!?!
I was particularly happy for Yabusele, aka the Dancing Bear, who just never put it together in his two seasons in Boston, but who has gotten better since, and has become a fixture on the French national team. It's a good reminder that basketball glory exists outside of the NBA.
Jamal Murray Reminded Us Why He's Never Been An All-Star
People like to say that Jamal Murray is the best player who has never made an All-Star team, but he didn't exactly cover himself in Olympic glory. He shot 2-for-6, 2-for-7, and 2-for-5 in group play. The poor performances didn't really cost Canada. But today, in the quarterfinal versus France he shot 3-for-13. It's actually worse than that, because Canada had plenty of good players, but with him jacking up bad shots, he was reducing their opportunities. Andrew Nembhard didn't get off a single shot in his 15 minutes on the floor, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker – a much, much better defender – only saw three minutes of action, compared to Murray's 24. It's not a stretch to suggest that Canada – who had it as close as five points in the last couple of minutes – would have been better off playing Nembhard or Walker more and sitting down Murray.
It's been suggested that Murray isn't fully healthy, but when exactly is he ever fully healthy? He was playing, and he didn't perform. Jamal Murray looks really great when he's running pick and roll with Nikola Jokić, but otherwise he is just not that special, and he showed that again in this tournament.
I Want to Be Mad at Steve Kerr
Steve Kerr has marginalized Jayson Tatum in these Olympics. This has made it a lot harder for me to enjoy the Olympics. Even when Tatum gets in the game, on most possessions his role is to drift to one of the corners, where his presence is summarily ignored. This only happens because the coaches have laid that out as the game plan. Tatum is still giving his all on defense – he blocked a shot on his first possession in the game today, and jumped for a steal with two minutes left in a blowout that had long been decided – but he has not been part of the gameplan at all offensively.
There has been talk about how Tatum needs the ball in his hands, but his Usage Rate this season (30.2) was his lowest in four seasons, and the Celtics won a championship. His Usage Rate was also below that of USA teammates Anthony Edwards (32.3) and Stephen Curry (31.3), and basically the same as Devin Booker's (29.8). LeBron James (29.2) and Kevin Durant (29.0) – the "plug and play scorer" – were not far behind. So that argument holds no water in my opinion. It's hard to square pushing Tatum to the side as anything other than personal. That Kerr will never be able to get the 2022 NBA Finals out of his head, and that's how he'll always see Tatum.
With all of that said, it's hard to be mad. The US hasn't had a close game yet, and they may not until the final game. I don't think Serbia is going to be a tough test in the semifinals. Germany, on the other hand, will be, assuming they beat France. If that is the matchup, Tatum should start and be glued to Franz Wagner. Nobody on this team is both a) equipped to defend him and b) knows him from past battles as well as Tatum does. Wagner still isn't hitting his threes, but he's been carrying Germany. Tatum sees him a lot more than Booker, James, and Durant. Wagner is too tall for Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. That leaves Bam Adebayo. Adebayo is the one player who sees Wagner more than Tatum since Orlando and Miami are in the same division, but in an ideal scenario you don't put Adebayo out on the wing as a defender, you would rather him in the paint.
I hold out absolutely no hope at this point that Steve Kerr will see things the way I do, but just know that I'm standing by, ready to be pissed if he doesn't start Tatum on Wagner and the US loses to Germany, something that I think is very possible.
Keep Shooting, Bam!
One fun thing about the tail end of the regular season and on is that Adebayo is shooting more threes. After only taking 12 threes from October through February last season, Bam then took 18 in March and 12 in April, and then 10 in the five games against Boston in the first round. He has flashed the three-point shot some more in the Olympics. I think it's great. He should keep shooting. If he starts shooting them even more in the regular season, it will further the do-or-die nature of Miami's offense.
Last season, Miami was 26th in offensive rebounds, because Bam is the only one truly capable of pulling down those boards. If he starts hanging out at the perimeter (and with Caleb Martin gone), you're essentially leaving the offensive rebounding to Jimmy Butler's desire to hustle in a contract year and Kel'el Ware's ability to make an impact as a rookie. Sounds like a great plan, I love it!