There are lots of people saying that America isn’t great anymore. There’s something going on with Team USA’s defense, many said last week, and if it doesn’t improve then this could become another embarrassing, gold-less Olympics for the men’s basketball team.

Paul George has other ideas.

Paul George is in Brazil to make Team USA great again.

He came off the bench, again, in the team’s win over Argentina yesterday. It’s a role unbefitting of George’s talent, with the general consensus being is, at this point, a better all-around basketball player than Carmelo Anthony. And as important as shooting can be, it’s hard to make an argument for starting Klay Thompson over PG right now.

But even in a reserve role, George was ready to check in and change the game. “I knew I could give a lot of energy and really just be a pest on the defensive end,” he said after the game.

After some early fouls for Carmelo, and with the United States down 12-7, George checked in. His defense immediately paid dividends. He picked off a pass and started a fast break that led to a Kevin Durant 3-pointer. Thirty seconds later he handled the finishing work himself, robbing another pass at the top of the key and running out for a dunk. With two steals in three minutes, the Indiana Pacers superstar had given Team USA a spark — and all the momentum.

They would never lose it again.

More suffocating Paul George defense led to other turnovers that didn’t make it into his boxscore line. But his ongoing effort and focus were critical to the United States busting out a 38-8 run that effectively ended the game in the first half. The rest of the roster followed his lead, especially Jimmy Butler. Also of note during the run: Paul George’s baseline cut for a layup, a hand-off play with Draymond Green that ended in a George triple, and a catch-and-shoot midrange jumper.

Paul George has ruined a lot of Argentina actions and cuts with great ball denial, including that one by Manu. — Mike Prada (@MikePradaSBN) August 17, 2016

Kevin Durant also put on the type of classic KD scoring outburst that few humans who have ever lived can muster. That was obviously key to the blowout as well. But the defensive concerns — against Argentina and in the three previous games — are what looked like a potential downfall for Team USA. In years past, when defenders were flying around and live-ball turnovers came often, the Americans literally stole the opposition’s will to fight.

So while it was huge that Durant was being uniquely Durant-like again — his embarrassment of Andrés Nocioni with a Euro-step finish was legendary — the defensive turnaround was the bigger factor. Once Team USA has taken a soul, the points just come. It’s why the final box score is generally so irrelevant in these affairs. The floodgates open and the shots, no matter the degree of difficulty or flow within the offense, start to fall. It all starts with the type of tenacious defense that no other nation can summon.

It was PG who got this squad once again looking Dreamy.

And for anyone into Olympic boxscores, Paul George’s line also wasn’t too shabby: 17 points, eight rebounds, three steals, and three blocks in 21 minutes off the bench. “We knew we had to raise our level,” George said. “How we were playing wasn’t good enough. I thought we did a great job defensively of getting stops, forcing turnovers, getting out on the fast break. That’s where our game has been lost: the fast-break game.”