Takeaways from U.S. men's Olympic basketball team: What's wrong with Joel Embiid?

Anthony Davis must be in the closing lineup

Regardless of whether or not Kerr slots Anthony Davis into the starting lineup, Davis must be in the team's closing lineup during crunch time. 

Davis is perhaps the Americans' most critical player, serving as the defensive anchor (four BPG),  averaging 11.3 points and 10.3 rebounds and posting a PER of 38.1 (highest on the official roster). 

In addition to his defensive prowess, Davis' ability to still be an effective scorer (54.2% shooting percentage from the field) while not being ball-dominant is especially important for this team considering its abundance of scorers. 

The second unit will be key to gold

Whether it's maintaining, recovering or building leads, Team USA's bench has proved to be crucial. 

The bench has outscored opposing benches (48.6 PPG to 27.3 PPG) and even surpassed its own starting lineup in scoring (48.6 PPG to 47.6 PPG). 

Opponents usually have top-heavy rosters compared to the Americans, whose starting unit will be on the receiving end of a strong first punch (as evidenced by Team USA outscoring its opponents by a total of just four points in first quarters). 

However, the Americans' particularly strong second unit can combat this problem, and has done so, by capitalizing against fatigued first units or weaker reserves. With Olympic games being eight minutes shorter than NBA games, the outcomes will continue to hinge heavily on the second unit's performance. 

Stephen Curry, making his Olympics debut, should be the offensive engine

Curry's role as the offensive engine doesn't require him to be the leading scorer (though he averages 13 PPG, the second highest on the team). Instead, he should typically be the primary cog in sets, and based on how teams react, he can function as a decoy or scorer. 

For example, even with all the elite players surrounding him, teams still opt to double Curry, which opens up opportunities for others. 

Curry's strengths should be maximized at the Olympics more than any other player's. The three-point line is 1.5 feet shorter than the NBA three-point line, and given the short window Team USA has to gel, Kerr centering his system on Curry — the team's most dynamic player on offense and someone he's already coached extensively — makes sense. 

Americans' hardest opponent: themselves

Against formidable opponents such as Serbia and Canada, the Americans demonstrated they can dominate, even without Kevin Durant (nursing calf injury), as long as they remain poised. Yet, they also showed they aren't immune to a bad day, as seen in their matchup against Australia. 

The Americans' next pre-Olympic game is Saturday in London against South Sudan.