A Cuban scare points to deeper problems

Just because the U.S. crushed Jamaica in the FIBA Americas championships doesn’t mean that all is well in USA Basketball.

Wednesday’s 85-79 over Cuba was yet another indictment of Anne Donovan’s ability to coach at this level, as the U.S. third team, coached by Dawn Staley, beat the exact same Cuban squad by 15 in July. And if you believe that a starting five of Nicky Anosike, Candice Wiggins, Matee Ajavon, Alexis Hornbuckle and Angel McCoughtry is better than a starting five of Sue Bird, Tina Thompson, Diana Taurasi, Katie Smith and Candace Parker, I’ve got some subprime loans I’d love to talk to you about.

No, the dismal showing of the Americans can’t be blamed on jet lag (the trip was primarily north-south) or a better Cuban team or bad officiating (though it was bad), but simply that the U.S. was not ready to play, and couldn’t muster the emotional intensity necessary to put the Cubans away. And it’s not as if the Americans needed 100% emotional intensity, as they will in the Olympics – they would have been fine about at about 60%.

With Donovan in charge, however, that’s just not going to happen. The same kind of coaching that got the Americans a bronze medal in the 2006 World Championships, and got the Seattle Storm swept out of the 2007 WNBA playoffs in the first round, is what helped the overmatched Cubans hold a seven-point second-half lead in Chile.

And it must be noted that if Cuba had hit more than three of 18 three-pointers – most of them wideopen looks – the Americans might have lost.

Those wideopen looks, of course, came because of an indifferent U.S. defense. Zone, man, whatever, the Americans weren’t playing with any sense of urgency, any sense that if things go poorly here, it’s off to Europe next June for a qualifying tournament that will not only be tough to win, but will hamstring the WNBA, the primary feeder program for the national team.

On the boards, it was even worse. Granted, the Americans are without Lisa Leslie, but the fact that Sylvia Fowles didn’t make the team means the U.S. is going to have to get rebound intensity from lots of different players in Beijing – and that didn’t happen Wednesday. The Cubans had a 45-39 edge on the boards and the top American rebounders were veterans Tina Thompson and DeLisha Milton-Jones with six. Courtney Paris and Rebekkah Brunson combined for one in 18 minutes.

It is certainly true that Donovan can’t go out and rebound for her players. It is equally true she can’t shoot for them either, and it seemed like Seimone Augustus missed those eight shots within four feet of the basket – but it is Donovan’s job to get her team to play hard, and to play well.

That was certainly not the case in game one in Cuba, and in a different situation, it might be passed off as a momentary stutter. But history says Donovan is not a good coach, and even should the U.S. go on to win the gold, and the Beijing berth, with relative ease, the simple fact that Dawn Staley got more out of a group of college kids than Donovan could out of what’s supposed to be the best team in the world is chilling.

Yes, this is a team in transition. Yes, this is a group of players who are unused to carrying the whole load. But the group of players Staley took to Rio de Janeiro was even more inexperienced, even less comfortable, and that group controlled Cuba from the second quarter on.

This team, of course, could have controlled the game, and should have. It has more talent, more depth and more athleticism than the Cubans, but as in the World Championships, Donovan doesn’t want to apply those advantages. The obvious maneuver against a Cuban team that had 22 turnovers against the collegians in July would be to press – just as the Americans should have done at the World Championships. But Donovan only pressed three times, and with poor results. That, you could claim, was justification for Donovan not pressing, but how could this American team, with its athletes and long bench, be unable to press Cuba effectively?

The answer is simple: Donovan either can’t design a press (unlikely) or she is unable to get her players to work hard enough to make it effective. Since she can’t get them to work hard on rebounding, and she can’t get them to work hard on defense (Sue Bird is the most egregious example), why would you expect them to work hard in the press?

You wouldn’t, and they don’t.

It’s unlikely that the Americans will find a way to not win the gold medal, but it was generally expected they would win every game by 40. The fact that they did against unranked Jamaica is hardly worth mentioning, nor will it really mean much the rest of the way. But if Canada, or Brazil, or Cuba again, manages to make it close against an American team playing insipid, uninspired basketball, once again the problem will snap into focus.

That problem, of course, is Anne Donovan, and though there’s no reason to believe USA Basketball will make a move before the Olympics, it’s becoming more and more apparent they should -- unless they think a bronze medal is good enough.