A (semi) Statistical Recap of the United States vs Switzerland

The United States finished off an undefeated run through pool play with a demolition of Switzerland last night, setting themselves up with a quarterfinal matchup against the winner of Lithuania and Australia on Friday night.

The United States won this one via some excellent outside shooting, making 10 of their 17 3-point attempts, while forcing the Swiss to turn it over on nearly a fourth of their possessions, leading to some easy run outs.

It's always tough to glean too much from games like these. Switzerland ended up shooting over 50 percent on twos, but much of that seemed (scientific, I know) to come in the second half, when not only was the game no longer in doubt and the Americans ceased playing at maximum effort, but Tyler Self and Evan Manning were getting quite a few minutes. In any event, the Americans effectively shut the door with an 18-0 run midway through the game, and that was that.

• Frank Mason played fewer than 16 minutes in this one, somehow, and had 8 points, 5 assists, and 3 turnovers. A couple other American players have been very good, but I would defend someone picking Mason as the player of the tournament so far.
• Wayne Selden had another nice game, with three very nice dunks, five rebounds, and three assists. The sample is much too small and the format too different to glean anything too much for the upcoming college season, but it does look like not having to handle the ball as much has done wonders for Selden's game. It's not the important thing at the moment, but I think Svi Mykhailiuk can handle the ball well enough so that Selden won't have to be on the court with both Mason and Devonte Graham to be effective.
• Lagerald Vick had his strongest game of the tournament, going 4-7 on twos, making his only three, and grabbing seven rebounds. He scored off putbacks from his own misses twice in quick succession, and has shown off a nice looking outside shot. Even if playing time isn't there this season, he should be a very nice player in 2016-17.
• Nic Moore had another very nice game as a passer, with six assists and no turnovers, and also shot 2-3 from deep.
• Evan Manning got 18 minutes and didn't make a shot, but did have four rebounds and a steal.
• Tyler Self also got quite a bit of playing time, making a three to get on the board for the tournament.
• Julian Debose led the Americans in scoring with 18 points, making six of nine twos and both of his threes.
  
• Carlton Bragg was 4-8 from the field, but one of those came from a lazy toss up at the buzzer, so we'll call it 4-7. It's not there all of the time, but we can already see snippets of Bragg's knowledge of the game coming through, like when he had a nice give and go with Landen Lucas.
• Jamari Traylor was 3-4 on twos, had four rebounds, and two steals to go with two turnovers.
• Landen Lucas continued his rough tournament, missing two shots and grabbing just two rebounds in the game. As I alluded to after the Serbia game, I don't expect his struggles to carry over into the college season thanks to the nature of the college game.
• Perry Ellis was 4-6 on twos and made his only three, but grabbed just one rebound in the game.
• Hunter Mickelson had another decent game, going 3-7 on twos, grabbing four rebounds, and grabbing two steals. Mickelson is the inverse of Lucas I think in that his game is a bit more suited for the international style of play and, other than his rim protection, I'd not expect him to be quite as effective once the NCAA season starts.