Team USA has satisfactorily concluded the preparation for the 2023 World Cup held in Las Vegas with a resounding victory against the Puerto Rican team by 117-74.
Steve Kerr’s men will soon travel to the venue in Pasay (Philippines) where they will face Greece, New Zealand and Jordan in the group stage. His debut in the championship is scheduled for August 26 against the New Zealand team.
“It’s been a great night for us,” Steve Kerr said of his team’s performance at ESPN. “I think the boys have understood what we are trying to build on both of the court, and we are slowly but surely getting used to the FIBA rules,” he explained.
“All this is part of the process that we are going to face,” acknowledged the coach.
After a weak start to the match where the Americans left at half-time only seven points up on the scoreboard (50-43), after passing through the locker room, Steve Kerr’s came out with a very different version, forcing the rival to commit up to 18 turnovers. ball that became 31 points for them.
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“It took us a little bit of time to get into the game, but when we played on the defensive end and we managed to stop them from making those turnovers, we were able to run the court and it was quite fun for us,” admitted Jalen Brunson, who finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds. So we have to keep trying. Don’t worry too much about the attack. We’ll be fine,” he added.
Regarding the starting five, there were no surprises regarding the last training sessions. Brunson, called to lead this team, as acknowledged by Kerr himself, started from the start along with Anthony Edwards, Mikal Bridges, Brandon Ingram and Jaren Jackson Jr.
“I think we’ve done pretty well,” Ingram said. “We have two scorers on the wings. To a guard who organizes everything… We have Jaren (Jackson Jr.), the Defensive Player of the Year. You have Mikal (Bridges) who moves everywhere and always finds some space. I think we are in a good group dynamic », he highlighted.
For his part, it is worth noting the good work of the number 1 in the Draft, Anthony Edwards, who this past summer agreed to his contract extension. The T-Wolves’ star guard was the top scorer for the Americans along with Cameron Johnson, both with 15 points each. In addition, he finished with a 7/13 shooting, 4 four assists, and most importantly, he was very active in the opponent’s perimeter with up to 4 steals.
“I was just trying to anticipate where it was all going. Just using my defensive skills,” the younger Edwards explained.
«Anthony has been really good tonight. He adapts very well to the FIBA game because of his physicality at both ends of the court. He can overcome contact. And here he allows himself a lot of contact on the outside lines… So he can take advantage of his strength and use it to defend. To lift people up and prevent them from breaking in,” Kerr concluded.
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Other standouts were Austin Reaves and Tyrese Haliburton, with 16 assists between them and just one turnover, and inside Jackson Jr. with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks to his credit. The negative note was the success from the outside of the Americans with a gray 6 of 27 in triples.
(Cover photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
2023-08-08 07:00:00
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