Coach ,

One thing was certain, Team USA came ready to play in the gold medal game versus France. 

Team USA stepped up their defense for the matchup: diving for loose balls, free-throw rebounds, shot clock violations, offensive rebounds, and defending the 3 point line. 

Offensively, USA found ways to get Kevin Durant in space to make plays, and they used Bam Adebayo and Draymond Green in split action to force Rudy Gobert to defend outside of the paint.

Team France put on an offensive clinic as well with the sets they were executing; however, they were just not making the shots. They ran sets out of Horns, Floppy & T-Game, and Spain Pick and Roll.

Team USA Offense’s Split Action

Split Action has become a staple in the NBA. Teams like the Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets play through their bigs. 

It makes it tough on the defense because the big has to do a lot of work defending.

Team USA has two of the best split action passers in basketball: Bam Adebayo & Draymond Green. 

Split Action is a nightmare to defend if executed properly because of the amount of DHO’s performed in the action.

Team France Offense

Set #1 - Horns

Horns is one of the most common alignments in all of basketball. Team France used Horns to try to isolate Rudy Gobert in the post after the roll. 

Set #2 - Floppy & T-Game

Floppy & T-Game are used as pressure releases. 

Team USA was putting a lot of pressure on the ball and denying passing lanes; therefore; these two actions took away pressure.

Floppy and T-Game both have many specials that can be run off the sets. Here is an example of Floppy:

Set #3 - Spain Pick and Roll

The Spain pick and roll has been a staple for almost every team in this year’s Olympic games.

The Spain pick and roll occurs when a screen is set for the ball handler, then a third player sets a screen on the player defending the man rolling to the rim. 

A normal pick and roll is used to create a two-on-one advantage — adding a third player essentially turns it into a three-on-two. 

The Spain Pick and Roll has adapted to many different variations and alignments. 

The gold medal game was filled with many different takeaways offensively and defensively. 

Congratulations to Team USA and Team France on a great Olympic run. 

Never get out-coached,