By REYNALD MAGALLON
If there’s a message Team USA wants to send across the remaining squads in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in its resounding 100-63 win over Italy, it’s that the world No. 2 team is hungry and ready to reclaim its throne.
With the loss to Lithuania in the second round serving as the much-needed wake up call and an early reality check, USA head coach Steve Kerr believes his charges are finally starting to pick up the pace in time for the big games ahead.
“It’s been a five-week journey for this group and there’s five more days, that’s how I look at it,” said Kerr.
“We’re the horse turning back to the barn. The horse starts picking up the pace when it’s near the barn, and that’s what’s happening right now,” stressed the four-time NBA champion coach.
While guys like Mikal Bridges and Tyrese Haliburton picked up the slack on the offensive end, the fancied Americans also put up a defensive masterclass against the Azzurri who after regaining their touch from the three-point territory midway through the tournament, only shot a measly 7-of-38 clip in the game against US.
The Americans seemed to have learned a lot in the game against the Lithuanians who torched them from distance, this time using their length and athleticism to pressure the Italians and disrupt their offensive flow.
A testament to the stifling defense was when USA limited Italy to just 24 points in the first half – the lowest scoring in the first two quarters for a team in the World Cup quarterfinals since 2006 or when Turkey was held to just 23 points by Argentina.
“Our guys are just sensing this is the end of the journey and the energy picked up tonight. The pace, the force. They know what’s ahead,” said Kerr who expressed his confidence that his charges can sustain the impressive start to the knockout stage in the semifinals against either the Luka Doncic-led Slovenia or the stacked Canada team.
“They know what the goal is, so I have no doubt they’ll come out with the same energy and same force in the next game,” said Kerr.
