PARIS -- Distractions are everywhere in Paris and the pressure of the Olympics, entering this final stress-inducing run, is on the increase. Team USA begins its defining week with a basic mantra: keep it simple and stay with your identity. After playing three games in a 14-day span, the Americans will need to win three in a five-day span beginning Tuesday in the quarterfinals against Brazil (3:30 p.
m. ET/12:30 p.m.
PT) to bring home their fifth consecutive gold. Over the last month they have honed a style that's led them to a perfect 8-0 record, including exhibitions. As they made final preparations Monday, there was a collective mindset to stay with the plan.
"We know what wins a FIBA game," Team USA coach Steve Kerr said, referring to the international rules played at the Olympics. "We are just completely focused on our defense..
.and then the beauty of our team and the talent, the depth of our talent is that from one game to the next, we've got lots of guys who have the ability to get rolling." Peel away all the analysis and little dramas of starting lineups and playing time and this is essentially all Team USA does.
Kerr has worked to develop lineup combinations the are often defense first and then the U.S. doesn't run any sort of complicated offense, they basically just share the ball and lean into whoever is hot.
Three different players -- , and -- have led Team USA in scoring in the three games so far in France. All of them come off the bench. Ten different players aver.