The United States men’s basketball team wants to finish the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 “the right way,” as they look forward to their bronze medal match against Canada.
“We want one more game. We want to finish this right,” head coach Steve Kerr said at Team USA’s final practice session in Manila on Saturday, September 9.
“This group is such high-character guys. They want to finish with a really good game,” he said.
“In a lot of ways, it’s really the true sign of what you’re about as a team. That’s the plan for the moment,” he added.
The red, white and blue redemption road was stopped by Germany in the final four, 113-111, a semifinal result that instantly sent shockwaves to the sporting world.
The United States missed out on the gold medal game for a second straight World Cup.
To make matters worse, the Americans were on the wrong side of tournament history on Friday, September 8, as they conceded the most points any men’s Team USA iteration has in a World Cup.
Andreas Obst led the German side with 24 points and four triples, including one with just over a minute left that gave Germany a 111-107 lead.
“I thought he was the key to the game,” Kerr said of the Euroleague star.
“We lost sight of him [a] couple of times. We gave him the [best] shot of the game, a wide-open shot because we couldn’t box out,” he added.
Still, Kerr said it is important not to overreact to the loss and just absorb it as it is, given the improvement of several countries’ respective basketball programs.
“These games are difficult. This is not 1992 anymore,” Kerr said shortly after the game on Saturday, referring to the famed USA Dream Team that featured Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
“Part of the competition is you’re not gonna win it every time. We do everything we can to win, but part of the competition is accepting the fact that there’s gonna be some heartbreak,” he added.
The squad will face Canada for a chance to equal its 2006 finish in Japan.
The Canadians lost to Serbia in their own semifinal pairing.
Team USA will look to bank on its familiarity with its continental rival, given that most of the latter’s line-up play in the NBA.
“We know these players pretty well, five or six of them. Obviously, we see [them] every night in the NBA. We’re a little more familiar with this team, and we understand their strengths and [they] had a great tournament,” Kerr said.
“They play at a high level so it will be a big challenge for us,” he added. (ABS-CBN News)