Team USA has assembled the most notable players for its team as it tries to go for a 17th Olympic gold medal in men’s basketball. While it has called up notable names in various positions, one particular lineup choice has left fans and the media perplexed. Does Team USA have a center problem despite the talent it has in that position?
Does Team USA Have A Center Problem?
Perennial faces of the league such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant fulfilled their promises made months ago to represent Team USA at the Summer Olympics in Paris. Another player who fulfilled his promise was Joel Embiid. Embiid’s commitment to join USA Basketball for the upcoming Olympics was made before his 2023-24 season was significantly affected by injury. While it’s commendable that he is sticking to his decision to compete, it could also be detrimental to the American team’s efforts if he is not able to perform at his best in Paris.
Embiid, on paper, is a tantalizing call-up for Team USA. During his latest season playing professional basketball for the Philadelphia 76ers, Embiid recorded averages of 34.7 points, 11 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game. He would have been on the All-NBA first team if he had appeared in enough games. Embiid participated in just 39 games this last season due to a knee injury that necessitated surgery in February. He managed to come back for the playoffs, where he averaged 33 points over more than 40 minutes per game, but his field goal conversion rate was under 50 percent.
Options at Center
Embiid, Anthony Davis, and Bam Adebayo are the only true centers the Americans chose to take to Paris 2024. Though Bam is capable of filling that role, he’s an undersized post player.
Team USA has other exotic routes they can take to fill in that role also. Durant can fill in that role and torture opposing bigs by dragging them away from the paint. LeBron has featured in small-ball lineups at the five, so he can be used in that role in short-minute intervals. Jayson Tatum, ‘at 6’10 unofficially,’ has flashed potential as a small-ball center with his unique combination of size, ball-handling skills, post defense, rebounding, and shooting.
It’s not like Team USA doesn’t have options for that role. It’s just that Steve Kerr has chosen to start Embiid at the center position.
Mixed Results
Embiid struggled during the early days of this collection of exhibition games Team USA had. He led the team in turnovers, and at some point, he averaged more turnovers (9) than points (7) per game. Kerr has made it clear that he likes a starting triumvirate of Embiid, Curry, and LeBron.
“I like those three guys in our starting lineup,” Kerr said. “We’ve been looking at other guys around them, and we obviously do have great options, but I like those three guys together.”
Kerr has stuck to his guns on this despite calls from outside to start other options more experienced with the Team USA setup. To be fair to Embiid, he finally had a good game in Team USA’s last exhibition game against Germany. It provided Embiid with another chance to adapt to FIBA basketball and the style of play at this level. Despite some initial challenges, Embiid delivered a strong performance in this game. He contributed 15 points, eight rebounds, and five assists as Team USA defeated Germany 92-88.
Old Habits Die Hard
Embiid has struggled because of three key factors. Firstly, he is a slower decision-maker than the rest of the players on this team. Teams have shown a willingness to double-team to exploit this weakness. Australia exploited it in their exhibition game against Team USA, and it almost worked to perfection. Basketball on the international stage is played at a quicker pace than the NBA. Other centers on Team USA have excelled in this environment. That point leads to the next reason.
Embiid is not fit. With his injury history, Embiid has been advised in recent years to shed extra kilos. It’s been very obvious during these exhibition games how unfit he is. He’s often seen lumbering up and down the court. Centers in the NBA don’t usually age well due to the immense load on their joints. It is exponentially worse when they are several pounds over their optimal weight. Shaquille O’Neal can testify to this. See the dramatic drop-off he faced past his prime because he didn’t manage his weight well. That weight on Embiid makes him a porous defender both in the paint when players get around him and on the perimeter where he doesn’t have the foot speed to keep up with shooters off screen actions. Juxtapose this with Davis and Bam, who are flying all over the place deterring shots.
Lastly, his foul-baiting ways have caught up to him. Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill, during the Rich Eisen Show, mentioned how the Philadelphia 76ers star tends to rely on fouls being ruled in his favor.
“You can see some of the correlation between how he plays in the playoffs where his numbers drop precipitously, not necessarily this year, but in previous years, it’s because he relies so much on the officiating,” he said.
There’s a dramatic difference between how an NBA game and a FIBA game is officiated. They allow more physicality. We have seen Embiid on the ground looking at refs expecting calls several times during this exhibition run.
So, Does Team USA Have a Center Problem?
Not really. Team USA has its sights firmly on gold at the Olympics. Despite starting Embiid, Kerr will definitely go to other options at center in tight situations during the Olympics if Embiid is struggling. Besides, Embiid himself has said it takes him a few games to get going. As witnessed, his last game was his best so far. Time will tell how important he will be in this Olympic run.
