Aaron Gordon would have helped Team USA bring home a medal

Aaron Gordon was a curious omission from Team USA. After a seventh-place finish, it is clear Gordon would have helped them forge their identity and win.

Early Saturday morning, the United States finished its worst showing at an international tournament in its history, even worse than the sixth-place finish at the 2002 World Championship hosted in the United States.

The team’s 87-74 win against Poland feels inconsequential. The United States will officially finish seventh place in the tournament.

They accomplished their primary goal, earning an Olympic berth thanks to a top-two finish among the FIBA Americas teams. The team will get a chance for redemption next summer in Tokyo.

No competition the U.S. enters is considered a success unless the U.S. wins it. And frankly, the perception about the U.S. National Team is they should go undefeated and win every game comfortably with the depth of talent in the country.

In that sense, this group seemed doomed from the start.

The U.S. already knew it was not getting the very best players in their roster pool. But even the 20 players they initially named to the roster pool quickly thinned — James Harden, Anthony Davis and Damian Lillard were among the players to back out.

Things got worse when more players backed out after the team’s initial training camp — including standout players like De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley. Kyle Lowry skipped out because of a thumb injury.

It is not that players skipped out on the tournament that was ultimately the problem. It was the large number of withdrawals after the roster pool was released that was so shocking. Players who seemingly were open and committed to playing who suddenly pulled out at the 10th and 11th hours.

It is hard to put all the blame for the result on player absences. The team was still good enough to win the tournament. What they did not have was the time to come together as a cohesive unit. The world has made up at least part of the talent gap.

It was still a flawed roster that struggled to stick to the identity they latched onto.

The team settled in on a becoming a team that was based on defense and versatility. They often went small and tried to spread the floor and attack off the dribble and pick and rolls. They relied on a solid defense to feed their offense.

It makes you all wonder why Aaron Gordon ultimately was not on this roster. All those things Team USA tried to be throughout the tournament seemed to fit Aaron Gordon’s skill set to a tee.

Especially with Jayson Tatum missing the final six games of the tournament after turning his ankle against Turkey, the U.S. lacked that versatility on the wing and the ability to have someone play the paint as a small-ball 5 and still be a threat to protect the rim.

As Gregg Popovich puts together next summer’s Olympic team, he should value that versatility far more. Athleticism and length can be an advantage the U.S. uses against the rest of the world — no matter who ends up signing on to go to Tokyo.

And that makes leaving Gordon off even the roster pool all the more confusing.

This team’s flaws were clear when the U.S. lost to France. Their defense just let them down in the big moments. And a big part of that was their lack of size.

Myles Turner, Brook Lopez and Mason Plumlee were essentially non-factors for most of the tournament. Turner had his moments throughout the tournament, but could not stand up to Gobert. The U.S.’s lack of size and consistency on the interior were evident.

Gobert had 21 points and 16 rebounds, including seven offensive rebounds to lead the way. But his impact went beyond that.

The U.S. had no answer on the interior to defend him or even slow him down. They had no one even to occupy his attention on defense for the most part. He gobbled up offensive rebounds and set hard screens that sprung France’s perimeter players free.

The U.S. spent much of this tournament playing small because their bigs were relatively ineffective. But it was not just the lack of size in the post that hurt Team USA. They lacked size on the wings too.

For much of the tournament, Team USA started Kemba Walker, Donovan Mitchell and Joe Harris as their three wing players.

Those are all three talented players in their own rights and they each had solid tournaments. But defensively, they left a lot to be desired. They were not able to slow down the elite team’s guards.

For France, Evan Fournier had a huge matchup advantage and was able to use Rudy Gobert‘s screens to get free and shoot over trailing and smalling defenders. The U.S. too struggled to slow down Cedi Osman for Turkey.

Orlando Magic

These defensive shortcomings were all things Gordon could help resolve for this roster.

Gordon is someone who has solid defensive versatility. He could get used on the perimeter as a wing or in the post as a small-ball-5 in FIBA play. And he could score from either area or defend either area.

The U.S. could have certainly used that. And that is how this roster needs to be built moving forward.

Popovich had a big task ahead of him. He did not get the roster that neither he nor Jerry Colangelo expected. But they did begin to forge an identity.

Team USA tried to be a pesky defensive team. They would fast break when they could, but they would not go out of their way to chase steals or trap defensively as previous iterations of Team USA would. They were trying to be solid.

Their offense would rely on spurts of efficiency to build leads. But they knew they would struggle to shoot from the outside and would rely heavily on Kemba Walker and Donovan Mitchell attacking off the dribble to get Khris Middleton and perhaps Myles Turner and Brook Lopez open 3-pointers along the perimeter.

It was a plan that did not work out.

The U.S. gave up 73.4 points per game in the 40-minute games. That included a 92 points (81 points in regulation) against Turkey, 89 points against France and 94 points against Serbia.

This group was the lowest-scoring U.S. team with NBA players since they started playing in 1992. But it was the defense that was the clear marker for this team. They could play some really strong defense, including helping shut out Giannis Antetokounmpo in the second round, but it was inconsistent, to say the least.

Live Feed

Nugg Love

The players for Team USA gave their all throughout the tournament. But the team struggled to find much cohesion. It was a roster that did not fit the identity they were trying to take on.

Gordon alone may not have been enough to overcome France. But with the success that Harrison Barnes and Jayson Tatum had (and how eager Team USA was for Kyle Kuzma before he withdrew with an ankle injury before the tournament), another versatile wing like Aaron Gordon would have had some clear value.

If the U.S. wanted to be a defensive-minded, versatile and small team, there were no players in the roster pool that fit that definition more than Gordon.

By all accounts, Gordon would have taken the call if the U.S. called him up to the roster. There was no reporting to suggest he even got an invitation to the tryout or specifically declined an invitation.

If there is a lesson for Team USA coming out of this World Cup, it is that the U.S. is not a shoo-in to win any tournament anymore — let alone medal. And that if the team is going to throw players together without much experience playing together, they better make sure they understand the kind of team they want to be and pick players that more easily fit that mold.

Team USA can still form an identity stringing together players with little experience playing together. Many of the players from this World Cup will likely return for the Olympics next year if they want.

But they will have to add more to make this thing work.

Gordon would have fit the mold for Team USA. He would have helped them win a medal, at least, and probably win gold. And he should be back under consideration for 2020.