Tyrese Haliburton showed a lot in his first game with Team USA, but his defensive strides may have been the most impressive and promising part about his 20-minute stint on the floor.
To give some context, Tyrese Haliburton has been criticized for his defense quite a bit, especially since breaking out as a star player. He has regularly gotten flack for not staying alert on that end and has been called a 'cone' quite a few times.
What disappointed critics even more, is that his length should make him a good defender by default since he is taller than the average point guard and has a 6-foot-7.5-inch wingspan. However, he has left plenty to be desired on that end at this point in his career. Some of it can be excused given his high offensive load and how much energy he has to dedicate to passing and scoring for himself, but it could still be better.
In contrast, his defense looked fantastic in Team USA's opening Showcase game against Canada. I mentioned Haliburton's height before and how it gives him an advantage on defense over most point guards. This advantage was clearly shown in Wednesday's game, as he put in more effort than ever on the defensive end and was arguably Team USA's best defender on the night.
Besides the raw stats of four steals and a block, Haliburton was active on that end, moving his feet and staying alert, which he does not tend to do as much as he perhaps should. This caught the attention of commentator Bill Raftery, who spent a large chunk of the broadcast gushing praise about Haliburton and even calling him a good defender, much to the dismay of critics.
Documentation of Tyrese Haliburton being praised for defense. pic.twitter.com/Nz3HkljUM7
— Jake Query (@jakequery) July 11, 2024
This was perhaps the most promising part of his performance. Anyone can get steals with long limbs and height for their position. However, Haliburton was far more alert in general on that end and showed some uncharacteristic hustle which shone through on the off-ball side, as the majority of his steals were from intercepting passing lanes.
Perhaps some of this was because Haliburton was allowed to put less pressure on offense due to having so many talented players around him, or perhaps this is who he is now and people are just going to have to accept it. We will see as the Olympics start and progress.
One thing is for sure, though. If Tyrese Haliburton can channel some of this defensive energy into the regular season, the NBA may be in trouble. The best passer in the league and a 40% three-point shooter developing into a plus defender may turn Haliburton into a true two-way superstar, and from there, the sky is truly the limit.