It had been 280 days since a USA Basketball national team had played a basketball game, but on Sunday afternoon at the Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, the USA Men’s AmeriCup Qualifying Team (3-0) did the country proud with a 99-59 victory over the Bahamas (1-2).
Team USA Basketball Score vs Bahamas
The United States of America had a 51.4% field goal percentage (38-74 FGs) and a 41.4% three-point goal percentage (12-29 3pt FGs), had 22 assists on their 74 field goals, had only seven turnovers, and had 11 different players score.
U.S.A.’s next match is against Mexico (1-1) on November 30 at 7:30 PM EST (ESPN+). No fans or reporters can attend the game because to COVID-19 safety measures. On the heels of the USA’s game versus Mexico, the third and final FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying window will begin in February of 2021.
The Sought To Demonstrate a Buffer Zone.
The Bahamas, who fielded a squad of just eight players, “started zone, moved to man, shifted everything,” in the words of United States head coach Mike Fratello. And I was proud of the way our soldiers identified the threat and went after it. In terms of defence, I thought we were fine.
In my opinion, we did not commit any turnovers before halftime. And that’s clearly crucial to your scoring ability, as committing fewer turnovers opens you more possibilities to put points on the board. But we had several folks in the double digits, maybe five or six, and another one or two who were very near.
I appreciated how we consistently looked for the open player to pass to. However, the players are aware that I always begin with defence, and that is where we have excelled thus far.
Amile Jefferson (Iowa Wolves/Philadelphia, Pa.) led the United States with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Tyler Hall (Westchester Knicks/Rock Island, Ill.) shot 4-of-6 from 3-point and finished with 12 points, four assists, and four rebounds; John Jenkins (Hapoel Eilat, Israel/Hendersonville, Tenn.) scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point; and Levi Randolph (Canton Charge/M
The United States of America had 50 Points From Their Bench And Outrebounded The Bahamas 55-32.
Many of the players “haven’t played a genuine game” since March, as Jefferson put it. After a fantastic week of practise and bonding as a unit, it felt great to be back on the field together again. To top it all off, we’re representing something much larger than ourselves—the United States—in this game.
Consequently, I believed that our team played aggressively and diligently, and that our coaches devised a superb strategy. I was very pleased with how well we performed today since we were able to put our plans into action. The United States never trailed in the first quarter, building a 24-14 lead with to 40.0% shooting (8-20 FGs) and a solid defensive effort that limited the Bahamas to only 23.5% shooting (4-17 FGs).
U.S.A. was led by Kaiser Gates (Maine Red Claws/Alpharetta, Ga.), who scored seven points and pulled down four boards in the opening period. In the second quarter, the United States got out to a fast start, making four 3-pointers in the first 3:50 to build a 42-23 lead before the Bahamas took timeout.
Although the Bahamas did manage to make a couple of long-range shots, the United States had already built a 24 point halftime lead (53-29). As the second quarter progressed, Hall scored nine points and Jefferson scored eight for the United States.
At Halftime, The United States Possessed a 28-17 Rebounding Lead And a 47.5% Shooting Clip.
The United States opened the second half with back-to-back 3-pointers, but the Bahamas never really recovered and found itself trailing by 26 points, 67-41, at the 4:17 mark.
After that, though, the United States went on their longest scoring run of the game (10-0) to increase its lead to 77-41. With 10 minutes left to play, the United States lead 77-43 after the Bahamas scored the final points of the third quarter.
