FanPost

Bogut and his Aussie chums give the USA a scare, but in the end, our talent is a little too much.

USA TODAY Sports

Have you been watching much Olympic basketball this year? I honestly hadn’t, but I watched my first one tonight, and it was a treat.

I knew going in that this was going to be a tough test for team USA, but I had no idea it would be this close.

I chose to watch this game in particular because of Bogut. As many of you may know, he’s… (hold on, I think I got something in my eye here…) he WAS my favorite Warriors. But now he’s gone. His last play with us was, somewhat fittingly, an injury.

It was Game 5 of the NBA finals, and although Bogut hadn’t been playing that well, it was the beginning of the end when JR Smith rolled into Bogut’s knee. The MRI came back showing no serious damage, but Bogut was on crutches, just when we needed him most, ending his season (and career) with the Warriors but ultimately opening the door for Kevin Frickin Durant.

And he’s made no secret about how much it sucks. His Twitter account silently erased every mention of Warriors, pictures were removed. It felt like watching my ex burn our vacation photos.

But he rebounded:

"The first couple of weeks, it was rough waters," Bogut said. "I didn’t think I was going to make it."

"Mentally and physically, it was good to have another goal straight away," Bogut said. "It was a freak play, like most of my injuries. It was frustrating, the way the whole thing played out. It wasn’t great. But it happened. The reason why we’re professional athletes and there’s all these big contracts is because we have to deal with that, we have to suck it up and move on. Move on to the next thing, and that’s the Olympics."

So on to the game.

We knew this was going to be a test, but I had thought this was going to be one of those joke pop quizzes that the cool homeroom teacher gave out. Instead, an Australian team featuring five NBA players (can you name all of them?) came out with the basketball equivalent of a surprise Calculus exam. Just to extend the analogy a bit more if I can: we coasted like a senior, surviving because we took some good guesses and showed all of our work.

Melo was the star of the game, shooting the very first shot and continuing to shoot, hitting three threes to start the game and never slowing down on his way to 31 points, 8 rebounds and a couple steals. This game got him the honor of becoming the leading scorer in men’s Olympic basketball history somehow, if you care about that sort of thing.

And boy, did we need the old veteran tonight!

I mentioned above that I chose to watch this game because of Bogut and he definitely made it easy to write about him tonight. This was good Bogut tonight: 15 points, 3 blocks and 3 assists (but only one rebound) in about 26 minutes.

Bogut is all over the court when he’s in. There was a great sequence in the middle of the first: USA attacked Bogut off a pick and roll (KD scores), Australia comes back and initiates for Bogut in the high post. But, this ain't the Warriors so after no cutters appear, Bogut does his little crab dribble at the top of the key, spins like he’s going to shoot it but no one is fooled. He ends up passing to Delly (who hits an ugly prayer shot somehow).

Over the following couple of possessions, Bogut gets a block, and then proceeds to hit two bunny hooks in a row. AUS is suddenly up 7! Then…WOW, a huge swat on Lowry! I just love how Bogut plays. He knows his limits but is equally aware of where to make his impact and where not to.

Mills and Delly do some stuff, everyone besides Melo is off, and the teams end up tied at 29 as the first quarter ends.

The second quarter opens up with more of the same. Both teams slugging away, but the Aussies seem to have an edge over the sloppy pickup ball the USA plays.

For example, after a one pass and then missed 3 (which is all too big of a part of our offense tonight), Klay gets the rebound, but he gets doubled in the post by Bogut so passes it out. The ball swings around and KD hits a three with a hand in his face, but nowhere near the ball because KD releases his shot from like 20 feet in the air. Well covered by Australia and the USA seems to make buckets in spite of their lackluster team play.

Meanwhile, Bogut is looking good, folks. He shows up big in the second too. After a HUGE alley oop from Delly, Bogut comes back right after and hits a damn runner (!?) in the lane, reminding us that he was a number 1 pick. He’s just so good. I love him.

I said it above, but it’s clear that this USA team is just coasting. The Aussies just play better as a team (or at least they did this game). The team moves well away from the ball, making the right cuts and correct passing choices but never presses.

The US was down by five at the half, trailing at halftime for the first time since 2004. It’s all the broadcasters can talk about. For your halftime Dubs update, things are not pretty:

KD? 2/10;

Klay? 1 /4;

Dray? 1/3

Melo has 17 points.

Barnes didn’t play at all (the whole game). I can’t find an update or any article discussing it, so I will just assume that it’s no big deal. Funny, I didn’t notice his absence until I looked at the stats.

The Aussies are playing well, on both ends. These guys don't look scared and are simply hitting a LOT of their shots. . The Aussies are playing simple, well-tuned basketball, and attacking our defense with lots of backdoor cuts. Looking at the halftime stats, it pretty much confirms this.

The Aussie’s were shooting 70% on two point attempts, and 63% from, deep good for 54 points at the half. The USA, by contrast, shot an abysmal 28% on two's, essentially staying in the game by forcing a TON of turnovers (12 to 5 in our favor). Bogut is a big part of this, at halftime he had 13 points (on 6 for 6 shooting) and had 2 blocks. And I miss him so much already.

The USA is jacking up a bunch of 3's that aren't falling. No passing. It’s very much about tossing the ball around the perimeter until one guy finds a defender he feels he can take off the iso dribble. And yet, somehow, I’m not even remotely worried. Maybe I’m just another over-confidant Warriors fan…I ask my wife if she’s worried that I’m not worried. She confirms that there’s nothing to worry about.

Then the 2nd half starts. And USA has the lead after about two minutes.

Just a brutal series showcasing this team: 9-0 run to start the 3rd with Irving, KD and Melo all taking turns reminding us all why they all make so much money being good at basketball. Our team is just so much better at everything. Bigger better faster.

Aussies call a timeout, and we return to an equally brutal "screen" set on Kyrie by Bogut. That would have DEFINITELY been a technical, if not more, in the NBA. Dayum. I’m sure you can find it on social media. People will talk. Probably rightly so on this one.

It’s funny being on the other side of the Bogut coin, he fouls KD a little later in the game. Not quite as hard, but it was solid. And here’s the thing about labeling a guy as a dirty player: The foul on KD was nothing over the top, but given the fact that Bogut has JUST laid out Kyrie a bit before, it makes me as a watcher suspicious. I think I saw him set an illegal screen too.

Team USA wins the quarter, scoring 21 points and only allowing 13.

The Aussies kept it close until the end, and it felt almost like watching a Warriors' loss from last year. Everyone on our team looks better than theirs. In spite of Bogut’s brilliance, it was just too much. DeAndre plays way further above the rim than anyone else, Klay wakes up every now and then to play suffocating defense and KD and Jimmy Butler do just enough to keep pace, even while the team plays horribly. Kyrie probably gets the second game ball for pouring in 19 points and 5 assists.

The USA wins by a comfortable 10 points in a pretty fun game.

So that’s it folks.

I liked watching this game, but it really is not up to NBA standards. I’m sorry if it’s unpatriotic, but I am still just looking forward to the end of October and a return to Oracle, where we can get what remains of our guys back together for another run at a ring.

And Bogut? Like Monta says he’s "always a Warriors".

"There is a lot of pride there for him," Australian assistant coach and former NBA champion Luc Longley said of Bogut. "He really does care about his teammates and playing for his country. To see him play that well, that hard, that long. That’s leadership for us. They see a guy who makes x-million dollars, an old guy with nothing really to prove putting himself on the line and playing that hard, that does wonders for your group."
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We are going to miss Bogut, both on and off the court. I got my first taste of seeing him back on the other side of the "friendly" uniforms and I don’t like it. But I respect the hell out of the man not just for getting himself ready to help his country try and earn a medal, but for being the kind of man who does things like that as part of who he is.

This FanPost is a submission from a member of the mighty Golden State of Mind community. While we're all here to throw up that W, these words do not necessarily reflect the views of the GSoM Crew. Still, chances are the preceding post is Unstoppable Baby!