On the surface, all has gone as expected for the United States at the 2014 FIBA World Cup. The favorites captured Group C with ease, winning their five games by an average of 33.2 points and not allowing a single team to come within 20.
Match: USA vs Mexico
Tournament: FIBA World Basketball Championship 2014
Game : Basketball
Date: 6 September, 2014 (Saturday)
Time: 16:00 GMT
Broadcasting tv channel list: ESPN 3, ABC 2
From a pure results-based judgement, the United States have rarely looked better. In reality, the U.S. heads into Saturday's Round of 16 game against Mexico with a treasure trove of questions in need of answering.
First, the shooting. The United States shot a paltry 34.4 percent from beyond the three-point arc in their first five games, ranking 13th among the 24 teams that took the trip to Spain.
Stephen Curry and James Harden, expected to be among the team's most reliable three-point shooters along with Klay Thompson, have struggled mightily from the field. Curry is knocking down a disappointing 37.8 percent of his shots overall and has at times consigned himself to a facilitating role out of frustration. Harden has been more effective on average but has made less than a quarter of his shots from the shorter FIBA three-point line.