Team USA has steamrolled its way through the entire 2014 FIBA World Cup. They have dominated their opponents with an average win margin of 32.6 points. How has Team USA been so successful and dominant?

One might state the obvious that they are the only team with 12 NBA players. However, it is much more than that. Having 12 NBA players does not mean much if those players do not have good chemistry with each other. For example, teams like Spain and France have far better team chemistry than USA because they have been together longer, and USA’s turnover numbers are a strong indication of its less than stellar team chemistry.

On the contrary, USA conquers in so many different areas. One of which is forcing its opponents to a massive amount of turnovers. USA is excellent at smothering its opponents on defense and forcing them to rush their offense, which results into live ball turnovers. Live ball turnovers hurt USA’s opponents the most. It allows USA to get out in transition and, with all the explosive athletes it has on the roster, USA almost always converts off turnovers.

As you can see, Team USA creates offense with its superb defense. Kyrie Irving picked the ball from Mindaugas Kuzminskas of Lithuania, and USA was off and running. They had three guys trotting back on offense while Lithuania only had one. Again, it’s USA’s active hands and suffocating defense that forces these turnovers. It seems like opponents are rattled when they face USA.

Here is another example of USA’s defense leading to offense. Three players collapse into the paint and force a turnover on the Brazilian player, and they are once again off to the races at a speed that no opponent can really match. The play is capped off by an athletic finish at the rim for Anthony Davis.

USA is by far the best team in steals and, as you can see in the graphic above, other teams do not come close. Just like steals, no team comes close to USA in opponent turnovers. USA forces its opponents to turn the ball over 23.5 times per game. All those miscues by opposing teams result into 34.3 points off turnovers for USA.

Another area where Team USA succeeds in is rebounding. They are outstanding at limiting opponents to one shot per possession. They are also phenomenal at corralling offensive boards, mainly Kenneth Faried who has a non-stop motor.

As seen above, USA averages the most rebounds and has a plus-8.6 margin in rebounding. USA tends to do its work early. Guys like DeMarcus Cousins, Kenneth Faried, and Anthony Davis do a terrific job of gaining fantastic rebounding position before a shot is attempted by their teammates. They box out well and use their physical abilities to overpower and secure rebounds.

Kenneth Faried, the Manimal as they call him, is best at hustling and running around his opponents to snatch offensive rebounds. He is also great at running the floor and putting himself in position to grab rebounds. In the video above, Faried starts off in the backcourt, but once he notices Stephen Curry making his move towards the basket, he sprints all the way to the rim to put himself in a wonderful position to throw down the dunk. That is an example of a winning play by Faried.

All the offensive rebounds lead to second chance points for USA. The last thing teams want to do is give USA extra opportunities because USA is the most efficient team, shooting 51.7 percent from the field. USA averages 16.7 second chance points per game. That is an extra 16-17 points each game for USA who already averages FIBA best 101.5 total points. It is another key to victory for USA in most games, most notably against Slovenia during the quarterfinals where USA was staying alive in the first quarter, despite poor shooting, due to offensive rebounding and second chance opportunities.

Aside from forcing turnovers and rebounding, USA has stretches where its defensive rotations are extremely sharp as they hold opponents to low scoring quarters.

USA’s first game of the tournament was against Finland, where USA dominated the second quarter by outscoring Finland 29-2 en route to a 59-point victory. USA has the tendency of turning on its defensive switches, and it was most recently seen in the two games against Slovenia and Lithuania. USA crushed both those teams in the third quarter by turning up its defensive intensity, and it was not only forcing turnovers, but plenty of misses out of its opponents as well.


(Finland's second quarter shot chart.)

What was most impressive about USA’s second quarter against Finland was that they held the Finnish to 0 field goal makes. Finland went 0-17 from the field during that quarter.

USA and Spain are tied for first in opponent’s field goal percentage. Both teams hold their opponents to 38.4 percent shooting. Thus, the suffocating defense of USA does not only force turnovers, but it also forces plenty of misses.

Lastly, it comes down to ball movement and man movement. Sure, it helps that USA has tremendous athletes, but they do an exceptional job of cutting to the basket and getting to the open spots. It also helps that they shoot the ball efficiently.

Here, we have Rudy Gay in the mid-post drawing a double team, and DeMar DeRozan recognizes that his defender is the one doubling Gay, so once DeRozan receives the ball back, he immediately attacks the rim and throws it down with an authority. It is also excellent recognition by Gay, who realizes where the double is coming from and passes it back out.

Having high I.Q. is required to make such plays. Team USA, playing at an NBA level, knows what it takes to win and makes winning plays like the one mentioned above. They average FIBA best 21.0 assists per game. Teamwork is one of the most important aspects of basketball. It is one of the formulas to success.

Thus, working as a team, rebounding hard, forcing turnovers, and converting on fast break baskets have been the bread and butter for Team USA as they have a perfect 8-0 record and are one win away from winning the gold medal. They will play Serbia on September 14 at 3 pm Eastern Time, where you can see Team USA execute all the aforementioned winning formulas.

Having extreme talent on the roster isn’t everything. It, instead, comes down to how you are able to utilize that talent, and Coach Mike Krzyzewski is the greatest when it comes down to that, and that is why he has a record of 74-1 since 2006.