One of the major reasons for the excitement surrounding Team USA was fans finally witnessing Stephen Curry and LeBron James teaming up in a competitive setting. Not only the fans, but the guard is also excited about playing alongside the Lakers superstar.
During a conversation with The Athletic, the Warriors icon spoke about him and James as a duo and warned teams that they’d have no chance if they decided to play a two-man game. He also talked about their ‘Too Small’ play which Team USA’s opponents have had no answers for. He said,
“I’m a good screener and can cause some confusion for a guy like (LeBron) having the ball. We do it a little bit in Golden State where you have somebody else having the ball and me setting it, and I have a lot of different actions you can run.”
What makes the play effective is that when the player switches from Curry to James, it causes a mismatch that the veteran forward can exploit easily. At 6-foot-2, the guard is the shortest player on the team. When he sets screens, he’s usually marked by a guard, who has to disengage and try to contain James, an arduous chore, especially for a player with a smaller stature.
James’ 6-foot-8, 260-pound frame is nearly impossible to stop for a player his size. A guard has a negligible chance. So far in the Olympics, the two icons have combined to run the ‘Too Small‘ play only a handful of times but to great results.
Explaining why the move would be effective even if they ran it more often, Curry said,
“Just try to make teams make decisions and the more decisions you can make a defense make the better chance you have to create confusion.”
Joe Viray, an NBA writer for SB Nation NBA, broke down the play’s effectiveness in a detailed video on X. He noted that James and Curry ran the play in Team USA’s victory over Serbia. In the clip, the guard is seen audibly yelling at the forward, “Too small,” twice.
On the first attempt, James and Curry caused enough chaos to collapse the Serbian defensive setup and create a path for the forward to get to the rim. However, he did not attempt a layup and instead gave an audacious pass to Joel Embiid, who couldn’t bank his three-point attempt.
The second time, the guard’s screen worked as intended again. This time, James converted the easy layup with almost no resistance. The duo’s timing when running the play is spectacular to observe. It’s also an ominous sign for their upcoming opponents.
James and Curry haven’t had to take over games in Paris as Team USA has cruised to a comfortable win in each outing. But if push came to shove, expect the duo to combine and carry the nation on their backs.
