USA Obliterates Japan by 53

by **bobheckler** Thu Sep 05, 2019 11:54 am

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Game-high 20 pts for @FCHWPO and @KembaWalker adds 15 pts & 8 ast

in another W for USA

USA Obliterates Japan by 53 EDti6xUX4AUbzio

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
about 1 hour ago
USA beats Japan 98-45. Jaylen Brown (20 points, 7 rebounds) and Kemba Walker (15 points, 8 assists) are top two scorers in blowout win.

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bob
MY NOTE: Jaylen with 20 points out of USA's total 98. Pretty freaking impressive.

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by **bobheckler** Thu Sep 05, 2019 11:57 am

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/09/boston-celtics-jaylen-brown-has-big-game-as-team-usa-blows-out-japan-by-53-in-fiba-world-cup-3-things-we-learned.html

Boston Celtics Jaylen Brown leads Team USA in 53 point blowout of Japan in FIBA World Cup: 3 things we learned

Updated 10:09 AM; Today 10:08 AM

USA Obliterates Japan by 53 MKDGBHQQZJCRVB6TNP3J66XUCU

USA Obliterates Japan by 53 MKDGBHQQZJCRVB6TNP3J66XUCU

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 26: Jaylen Brown of the USA watches on during the International Friendly Basketball match between Canada and the USA at Qudos Bank Arena on August 26, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

By John Karalis | JKaralis@masslive.com

The U.S. Men’s National Basketball team wrapped up group play at the FIBA World Cup with a 98-45 win over Japan.

Kemba Walker (15 points, 8 assists) was his usual self, fluidly toying with the Japanese defense. Jaylen Brown came in off the bench and provided some big highlights. Japan didn’t score until a pair of made free throws halfway through the first quarter and barely scored much after that.

Jayson Tatum sat out with his sprained right ankle. Marcus Smart sat with a left quad strain.

Here are three things we learned.

1. Japan was horribly overmatched

Regardless of the situation, the Americans were always going to be miles better than Japan in this game. Rui Hachimura is their only NBA player and he’s a rookie who hasn’t set foot on the court for the Wizard yet.

In this situation, with Japan already eliminated, they looked lifeless. During a timeout in the midst of a U.S. barrage in the second quarter, Japan’s coach challenged his team’s heart, asking “what are we even doing?” when they failed to challenge shots or even foul to make the Americans earn their points.

They didn’t do much.

2. This was not a good gauge of where Team USA really is

Because of Japan’s lack of talent and effort, Team USA was able to get away with some of the things that had cost them in prior games.

They’re still not having great success against the 2-3 zone. There was more ball movement in this game, but it wasn’t the cohesive, zone-busting kind of movement they need. Better teams will be more disciplined in the zone and prevent some of the opportunities the Americans got here.

It also helped that the U.S. shots fell. The big question was always going to be how they scored when they were cold from the perimeter, but that wasn’t much of an issue against a weak Japan defensive effort.

3. Jaylen Brown woke up

He didn’t get many minutes in the game against Turkey, but with the U.S. short-handed and the game wide open, Brown took advantage of his minutes to score a game-high 20 points, and play some good defense. A lot of that defense led to transition opportunities, including a pair of monster highlight dunks. He also had 7 rebounds.

This is the type of game that can give a guy confidence, and it’s actually a pretty important game for Brown to have one game after barely playing in a tight overtime win. Sometimes players just need to have a big game regardless of the competition just to keep their heads up.

Odds and ends:

Rui Hachimura was kept in check. He’d been having a good tournament and looked pretty good in the pre-tournament
exhibitions. Aside from a highlight dunk on Myles Turner, he did very little.

Marcus Smart is day-to-day with the left quad strain.

Gregg Popovich experimented with a two-big lineup. All the lineups worked against Japan, but it will be interesting to see if that returns against a big team like Serbia.

The US plays its next game on Sunday.

bob

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by **dboss** Thu Sep 05, 2019 12:32 pm

Jayson and Marcus were both DNP's. Jayson was walking with no noticeable limp. Marcus is day-to-day with a quad strain.

Here is the box score

http://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2019/game/0409/USA-Japan#|tab=boxscore

Brown led all scores with 20 points and he also had 7 rebounds playing 22:36 minutes.

Both Plumlee and Lopez played more minutes and were paired together in Pop's big lineup. They will be needed as Team USA goes into round 2 and hopefully beyond.

This game was a horrible mismatch for Japan.

In the next round they play Brazil and Greece. They match up with Greece on Saturday. They play Brazil on Monday the 9th. Brazil will be a rough matchup. Anderson Varejoa at age 36, is still a dirty player. I watch Brazil twice and he was was doing his thing pushing folks all over the place. Former Celtic, Leandrinho Barbosa, has not lost a step even at age 36.

One of the most impressive defenders on that team is Bruno Caboclo who plays for Memphis. He is quick and is a highend shot blocker (5 block in 3 games) at only 6' 8". He gave the Freak Fits.