Among the things overshadowed by Paul George’s injury at the Team USA’s showcase game in Las Vegas was the fact DeMar DeRozan led his team in scoring. He didn’t play at all against Brazil, but he was back to putting up points again in Team USA’s rout of the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.
DeRozan lead Team USA with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
He did it in transition. He did it knocking down midrange jumpers. He did it getting to the rim in the halfcourt. DeRozan can flat out score.
Which is part of what makes Mike Krzyzewski and staff’s job so tough right now — there are no easy cuts here. Four guys have to go, but two guys who stood out on Wednesday — DeRozan and Andre Drummond — didn’t play last Saturday in Chicago against Brazil. It’s hard to get much of a read out of the Dominican game because the USA just so badly outclassed them (the DR team really missed Al Horford) but DeRozan was making plays.
You can make a very good case for keeping DeRozan, but if he stays somebody good has to go.
