Josh Hart to remain starter as USA heads into second round of World Cup play
When asked to describe Josh Hart's position, USA coach Steve Kerr said, "He plays winner."
Kerr moved Hart into the starting lineup before the last game against Jordan, replacing Brandon Ingram, who was struggling at the World Cup (and had through the tune-up games). Ingram is at his best as an isolation scorer with the ball in his hands, but in a starting five with Anthony Edwards and Jalen Brunson, Ingram was asked to play more off the ball — think Olympic 'Melo. However, while Carmelo Anthony (and after that, Kevin Durant) thrived in that role, Ingram had trouble adjusting.
Hart, a Swiss Army Knife of a player, fits far more naturally with the USA starters. He's a better, more physical defender, he's used to working off the ball and can fill a need because he can get boards — he had a dozen in the win against Jordan to lead the team. While technically Hart is playing the four, it's more of a four-out lineup with Jaren Jackson Jr. in the middle (and he can knock down 3s as well). As noted by friend-of-this-site Tommy Beer, Hart is a USA-best +70 through three games. Ingram looked more comfortable with the second unit, which plays faster and has Tyrese Haliburton setting everyone up.
Kerr said he was keeping this starting five in place as the USA moves on to the second round of World Cup play — where things start to get serious. Half of the 32 teams that came to the World Cup have been eliminated, the 16 best are left.
Team USA will face Montenegro, led by Bulls' center Nikola Vucevic, on Friday (broadcast at 4:40 am EST on ESPN 2). On Sunday at 8:40 am EST, the Americans take on undefeated Lithuania, led by Pelicans' center Jonas Valenciunas, wing Mindaugas Kuzminskas, and a quality lead ball handler in Rokas Jokubaitis. Lithuania will be the USA's toughest test so far in the World Cup.
(The way the FIBA World Cup works is that after the initial group stage, the top two teams in each group — 16 teams total — advance to a second round of group play, with four groups of four. Teams' records from the first round carry over, so the USA remains 3-0, and they now play the top two teams from another group. After those two additional games, the top two teams in these new groups advance to an eight-team knockout tournament more familiar to American sports fans.)
The USA's path through the final eight-team tournament will be much easier if they win both games this weekend and advance 5-0, something Kerr emphasized to the team, via Brian Windhorst at ESPN. The USA and Canada have looked like the two most dominant teams in the World Cup so far, but the challenge in each game is about to get tougher, and there are teams out there that are a threat to the Americans. Don't forget that Germany led the USA by 16 points in the second half of a tune-up game, this American squad is not invulnerable.
A couple more wins makes the path through to at least the semi-finals easier. Having Josh Hart in the starting lineup helps with that.
