Steph Curry, LeBron James, and Jerry Halladay, Anthony Edwards. And Anthony Davis.
That's the claim for the best five of the USA Dream Team. So claims CBS Sports in the United States.
“If Steph Curry, LeBron James, Jrue Holiday, Anthony Edwards, and Anthony Davis form the starting five, the U.S. Dream Team has the best chance of winning the gold medal,” the outlet wrote on Friday.
There's a reason for this. The U.S. has won five straight exhibition games. They've beaten Canada, Australia, Serbia, South Sudan, and Germany. But they haven't been dominant.
Their performance has been quite shaky. They won a close game against South Sudan and had a 10-point lead at one point in the first half against Germany, only to see the Germans pull away in the third quarter. In both games, LeBron James dominated the game.
That said, the exhibition games certainly highlighted the problems with the starters.
As CBS Sports put it, “The most important area is perimeter defense. You can't have James and Curry carrying the defensive load, which means someone else has to do the defensive work. That's where Jrue Holiday fits in. One of the best defenders in the NBA is Jrue Holiday. He can defend basically every position, and he can shoot the three.
James, Curry, and Jrue Holiday would be great starters. 메이저사이트 Then you have to choose between Anthony Edwards and Jayson Tatum.
The outlet concluded: “Perimeter defense is still key. Stopping the guards will be key in this Olympics, which means Edwards is a better fit than Tatum. Edwards' athleticism and explosiveness will fit in well with a starting lineup that is largely in their 30s.
Joel Embiid started the game in this evaluation, but he doesn't mesh well with LeBron and Curry. Unsurprisingly, the media said Anthony Davis should start. His chemistry with LeBron James would be more solid, and he can handle mismatches better defensively. Anthony Davis is the best mismatch defender.
The publication concluded: 'If Kevin Durant was healthy, he could have been in the starting lineup instead of Edwards. But right now, it makes more sense for him to come off the bench. Durant, who is just starting to practice after recovering from a calf injury, will need a few conditioning sessions, and it wouldn't be ideal to make changes in the middle of the tournament.
