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ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The American men are the starriest, deepest and richest basketball team on the globe, there’s no denying that.

They are not always the smoothest and most harmonious, and the latest showcase matchup proved that.

Mistakes, slippery passes and communication breakdowns almost avalanched on them Monday, when Australia nearly ambushed them at the finish line. Team USA survived the showcase exhibition anyway, 98-92.

Devin Booker said Team USA’s ragged performance in the third quarter and the final few minutes against the Aussies “will not win us the gold medal.”

Strong observations, especially since this was just the second of five tune-ups before the Paris Games. But it speaks about this team’s status at the moment, where they’re still trying to figure themselves out.

The BEST PLAYS from #USABMNT's Showcase win over Australia ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/bcBfyGX2rB

— NBA (@NBA) July 15, 2024

This has always been the speck of imperfection on these American Olympic teams. Team USA is annually hand-picked from the stockpile of All-Stars. Meanwhile, other countries assemble players who have been national teammates for years, even decades. Those teams know the tendencies of their teammates and ace the chemistry tests.

Ultimately, talent wins out. That’s why the Americans, ever since 1992 when professionals infiltrated the Games, have won gold medals in every Olympics but one.

At the moment? They haven’t looked the part, at least not completely. The Americans were annoyed by 18 turnovers against the Aussies and that, along with getting out-hustled for offensive rebounds and defensive lapses — the back-door cuts especially — made this game closer than it was designed.

“We stopped playing mid third quarter and started turning the ball over,” said coach Steve Kerr. “The game shifted.”

After leading by 24 in the third, the Aussies seized upon a gradual stream of American mistakes. Kerr pulled his starters halfway through the fourth anyway, but Josh Giddey, recently traded to the Bulls, led a comeback with clever passing and jumpers.

So Kerr had to call a timeout and reassess.

In a sense, the mistakes can be explained, if not excused, because Kerr is shuffling lineups in preparation for the Games. This is the byproduct of that.

“Our defense had a little slippage, back cuts kind of hurt us,” Anthony Davis said. “But offensive rebounds for them have nothing to do with the short time we’ve been together. That’s all effort.”

Patience is being preached here in the exhibition stretch of games. That said, there are two weeks before the tipoff is real — enough time, Kerr said, but barely so.

“We don’t have the continuity like a team like Australia,” Kerr said. “That means we have to adapt pretty quickly, in a couple of weeks. It takes a little time to become a team. We will get there. This is a good lesson for us. Better to learn that lesson now than later.”

Is Ant the answer?

One bright spot for Team USA was Anthony Edwards, who led all starters with 14 points. Edwards was named a starter along with LeBron James, Steph Curry, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum. And he quickly established himself at the start and finish.

He made three from deep and looked for his shot aggressively; that helped the Americans sprint to an early and big lead. Then in the fourth, after Kerr reinserted him into the game once the score tightened, Edwards had the ball more than anyone else.

Anthony Edwards (14 PTS) was BALLING in the #USABMNT Showcase win over Australia 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/S3pVm0lIbu

— NBA (@NBA) July 15, 2024

Edwards is clearly trying to score points with the coaching staff and pushing for a starting spot. A week ago he said, half-joking, that the team should revolve around him. That wasn’t ego talking; that was confidence. Edwards is a rising star and had a breakout for the US in last year’s World Cup.

“If they need me to get a bucket, I will,” he said.

Kerr has raved about Edwards but offered some perspective.

“This is who he is, big time scorer, gets down hill, plays very physical,” Kerr said. “He’ll for sure be one of our leading scorers during this tournament. But they can all score. It’s about playing defense, rebounding, winning the possessions battle.”

Next up for the Americans is Serbia, although it’s possible Nikola Jokic will not play. Serbia plays Australia on Tuesday, and he might skip the back-to-back.

That would deny a chance for a Jokic-Embiid matchup, the MVP winners of the last four years.

Next steps for Aussies

Despite the impressive finish on Monday, this Australian team is in transition. Long gone are fixtures Andrew Bogut, Luc Longley, Shane Heal and Andrew Gaze, while Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova and Joe Ingles are likely making their final Olympic appearances.

The Boomers, as they are called, did surprisingly win the bronze in 2020, becoming the first team outside of the Americas and Europe to medal at the Olympics. But there’s no top-shelf talent on this current team; Giddey, Josh Green and Dyson Daniels, all of them young developing NBA players, do represent hope.

It doesn’t help that the second-most celebrated Aussie-born player ever, Ben Simmons, has never repped the Boomers in the Olympics. That’s a sore topic in Australia, because Simmons has never seemed committed to the cause.

Injuries played a part as well. Simmons wanted to be in Paris before his back flared up last season with the Nets and he decided, once again, to be a scratch.

As for the most celebrated Australian-born player? He never repped the country, either. Kyrie Irving, native of Melbourne — his father played professionally there — did entertain the thought, for maybe about three seconds. Then he went with USA and won gold at the 2016 Rio Games.

Crowd control

The three showcase games featuring the US, Australia and Serbia are held at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, the main entertainment and recreation district. There’s a championship golf course nearby where Steph Curry, Jayson Tatum and Booker played in intense humidity a few days earlier, and the Warner Bros. and Ferrari World theme parks.

Etihad Arena is uniquely designed; there are few luxury suites and the upper deck doesn’t stretch around the arena. Capacity is 18,000, though, and the game was well-attended despite this being the low tourist season.

The most popular jerseys in the crowd belonged to the Lakers. But the biggest commotion was caused by a group wearing Serbian warmups.

It was the Serbian National Team, sitting 17 rows up. The nearby fans couldn’t believe their luck — Jokic, a three-time MVP, calmly watching while cell phone cameras were quickly pulled out of pockets.

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.

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