Team USA big man battle comes down to defense

LAS VEGAS – When it comes to Team USA and all of its never-ending developments, there are very few secrets.

Thanks to the savvy ways of managing director Jerry Colangelo, the cooperation of coach Mike Krzyzewski, and the coordination of public relations man Craig Miller, there is an openness to the media access that is mutually beneficial and an old-school feel to the environment that makes it easy to keep a pulse on the program's affairs.

This was proven yet again at the team's UNLV training camp Thursday, when Krzyzewski described in great detail how he sees the team's big-man battle that will be so key as they near the eventual trimming of the roster from 20 players to 12 before the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain that begins Aug. 30.

Long story short, Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins may be in danger of missing out on the final cut. Krzyzewski didn't come out and say it, but he did make it clear that the fourth-year player's style (wildly-talented offensively but subpar defensively) isn't as preferable as some of Team USA's other options.

Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans) is an unofficial lock to man the middle for Team USA, and the question now is whether Cousins can show enough improvement in his all-around game to beat out Andre Drummond (Detroit Pistons) and Mason Plumlee (Brooklyn Nets).

As is always the case with Colangelo and Krzyzewski, one needs to listen very closely when analyzing their insights. And before we get to Krzyzewski's breakdown of Cousins and how a guy who looked like an All-Star for much of last season could possibly get beat out by a player in Plumlee who was a good role player in his rookie season, consider the most important part of his premise: Team USA, as Krzyzewski sees it, has plenty of scoring as it is.

"Well we need big guys, so the very first thing is that we have to have more than Anthony Davis there," Krzyzewski began. "And all the big guys have shown good stuff here. It's how the big guys mesh in with the (other) scoring talent on the team. Obviously you have (James) Harden and (Stephen) Curry and (Derrick) Rose and (Kyrie) Irving and these guys, (Kevin) Durant, (Paul) George. How do the big guys mesh in with that, and what style that you're going to end up playing is a big factor."

Krzyzewski made it clear several times that no decisions have been made on this front, saying "We definitely will take a long look at the bigs." But for all the obvious reasons, the mere mention of this possibility (which was sparked by a tweet from ESPN's Brian Windhorst) was enough to spark a heated debate about whether Krzyzewski was missing the mark (predictably, Kings fans weren't happy). The fact that Plumlee played for Krzyzewski at Duke only fed that fire, but his perspective – whether you agree or not – was laid out clearly after Day Four of training camp.

"In DeMarcus' case, the style we play lends itself to what Anthony does, or even what a Plumlee is doing," Krzyzewski said. "A little bit of Drummond (also), because Detroit, what they do, is they put he and (guard Will) Bynum in the game and all they do is pick and roll. DeMarcus' game is different, so he has an adjustment to make and he's trying to make it.

"But also as he grows, we have to look and see 'Is there something we can do to help in bringing something more out of his game.'…He's been attentive, and tried. He's diving on the floor for loose balls…They all have to adapt, and it's a different way of playing defense. How do you play defense with all these athletes, and how do you help out? So it's an adjustment. We have to see in games, in these exhibition games, how that will wash out."

With teams like Spain (Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Pau Gasol) and Brazil (Tiago Splitter, Anderson Varejao, Nene) boasting big-time frontlines, the strong argument can be made that Team USA needs all the frontcourt scoring it can get. But Colangelo and Krzyzewski, quite clearly, may not agree.

Cousins and the rest of the big men will get their first chance to impress the Team USA in live action on Friday night, when the team will take part in an international-style, 40-minute scrimmage. Coincidentally enough, Cousins and Plumlee are slated to be on opposite teams.

From there, the second exhibition game is Aug. 16 against none other than Brazil in Chicago and the third on Aug. 20 against the Dominican Republic in New York. Colangelo has said previously that they may carry as many as 15 players through the New York stop. The roster must be down to 12 players a day before the Aug. 30 opener against Finland in Bilbao, Spain.