Team USA Basketball is looking to avenge their seventh-place finish at the 2019 FIBA World Cup. But with the tournament just weeks away, their recent practice run against the U.S. Select Team did not go as planned.
The Select Team—a selection of up-and-coming NBA talent and a couple of veteran players—defeated the senior squad in two 10-minute scrimmages by a final score of 47-39 on Friday.
While not a desirable result for Team USA, it is not too shocking given the talent on the Select roster. Detroit Pistons youngsters Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren were said to be among the standouts in the scrimmages. Other notable names include Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green, Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray, and Oklahoma City Thunder forwards Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams.
The Team USA senior squad includes All-Stars Anthony Edwards, Brandon Ingram, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Tyrese Haliburton. Franchise stars such as Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Paolo Banchero are also on the team. A few of them spoke to The Athletic’s Joe Vardon after the loss.
“They handed it to us,” Team USA guard Tyrese Haliburton said. “The young guys did their thing today.”
“We lost,” Jaren Jackson said with a laugh.
“The next day you come in a little chippier,” said Brandon Ingram.
A loss to the US Select Team has hardly been a death knell for Team USA over the years. Head coach Steve Kerr saw the defeat as part of a “time-honored tradition of USA Basketball.” Even the 1992 Dream Team tasted defeat against a Select Team led by then-Duke player and future Hall of Famer Grant Hill. The loss feels less like a reason to panic and more like a show of depth within Team USA’s basketball pipeline.
Team USA and the Select Team face off again on Saturday. How the FIBA World Cup squad responds in that game could arguably be a more significant indicator than these first two defeats.
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