Today, the ‘new’ Team USA did a lot of sweating in their exhibition against Lithuania.

Not just because they were running and jumping around on the court, but because they were bricking and airballing to start the contest.

After a cold start to the game, the Americans notched their third win in exhibition play outlasting Lithuania 77-61.

Rudy Gay and Eric Gordon played a huge part in Team USA's second-half resurrection against Lithuania.

Despite some erratic shooting, the guy expected to lead Team USA, Kevin Durant, topped all scorers with 15 points.  But he shot a miserable 4-14 from the field.  Rudy Gay had 14 points on 6-12 shooting.  The player of the game was point guard Russell Westbrook, who came off the bench to shoot 4-5 FG (2-2 on 3-pointers) and grab five rebounds.  He and Eric Gordon (9 points, 3 steals) provided on big boost for a lethargic U.S team that could not get over the hump against the physical Lithuanians.

Lithuania led 15-7 after one quarter and, after some improvement from the Americans, clung to a 29-28 advantage at halftime.  But after a few minutes of the third quarter, Team USA was able to break the game open – thanks to a 17-0 run that was spearheaded by Westbrook and Gordon.

Coach K:

“Our team did not push the ball in the first quarter. When we got Derrick (Rose) in and Russell (Westbrook), the tempo of the game picked up for us. We were playing a very slow tempo and if we do that then we’re not going to have a chance to win. We have to play a little bit faster tempo. Then in the second half I thought Rajon did a good job of doing it. So our bench came through for us – Gordon, Westbrook, Rose, Rudy Gay, they all played very well coming off the bench.

“It’s a good thing our defense was pretty good throughout the whole game or else we could have been down big in the first half.”

“I think it’s one of the those experiences when you’re going through it you don’t want to be going through it, but after you go through it, it’d a good thing to go through it. First of all, the environment.  It’s just a different environment, the international game. Just how you warm up.  I don’t think we warmed up as hard as we need to warm up, and we didn’t start off the game fast. These are all learning things.  These guys are really good players but Lithuania was more ready at the start of the game.” 

While defense is certainly something to hang your hat on, the Americans are lacking size in this year’s tournament.  With Tyson Chandler and Kevin Love (who’s quite frankly not at the same talent level as some of the other players) being the only legitimate bigs on the roster, Team USA’s advantage is with speed and quickness.  Pushing the ball and capitalizing on the opponents’ mistakes will be critical to their success this summer.

Team USA was aggressively attacking the tin (they had 24 FTA compared to 11 for Lithuania), but need to concentrate once they get to the line.  They only converted 16 of them, and in such a game like they played in the first half of today – slow without a lot of possessions – free throws become even more important.  Physical play will be the rule, and not the exception in international play and it takes a focused effort to come out and win every game.

The youngsters will need to regroup and prepare for a top notch opponent tomorrow – Spain.  The Spanish team is the defending world champion and they are loaded with something that Team USA is not – experienced FIBA players.

Team USA will then close out its exhibition schedule by playing Greece on Wednesday.