Kumpiyansa ang U.S. men’s basketball team na makakabawi ang kanilang koponan sa pagkabigo nila sa kamay ng Australia sa isang exhibition game bago ang FIBA World Cup.
Sa nasabing laro na ginanap sa Marvel Stadium sa Melbourne, naisahan sila ng Boomers, 98-94, rason para matuldukan ang kanilang 78-game winning streak.
Ayon kay USA head coach Gregg Popovich, isang linggo bago ang World Cup, may pagkakataon pa raw sila para ayusin ang mga butas sa kanilang diskarte.
“You got to react to a loss,” wika ni Popovich. “You react to a win. You can’t take a win for granted. But, I think that it was a great learning situation for us, just about playing FIBA basketball – the physicality, the rules, how it’s played, how it’s refereed. All those sorts of things. So, it was a great learning experience to have those two games against a very good team.”
Hindi naman daw natataranta ang American squad kahit na nalusutan sila ng Australia sa unang pagkakataon.
“This is a part of our journey,” ani Jaylen Brown. “This is part of our process as a team. We’re playing for something bigger than ourselves. Having an understanding of that and a humility of that is something we all have to have. I think we could have showed that a little bit better against Australia. We got to do a better job of having the right mentality, whether it’s an early game, whether it’s a back-to-back, whatever it is. We got to come out and be the aggressors, rather than the one being seeked.”
Sunod na makikipagtuos ang US cagers sa koponan ng Canada.
“They’re really a fast team,” sambit ni Popovich sa Canada. “More than anything, they are fast. (Head coach) Nick (Nurse) does a great job with them. They pass the ball. They move. They are hard to keep up with. So, it will be another really good test for us, for sure.”
