USA Basketball’s run within the 2023 males’s FIBA World Cup was already a failure after shedding to Germany within the semifinals, however this system had an opportunity to avoid wasting face a bit in a high-profile third-place recreation towards Canada.
Canada beat the US, 127-118 in time beyond regulation, to finish the American basketball humiliation on the World Cup. The loss meant the U.S. completed fourth within the match, and with a 5-3 general report. Whereas this was one of many youngest and least skilled USA Basketball squads in latest reminiscence, it’s nonetheless a painful end result that places much more strain on this system on the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The US wanted an enormous fourth quarter rally simply to pressure OT. The sport-tying shot got here off a wild sequence that led to a three-pointer from Brooklyn Nets star Mikal Bridges. Bridges was on the free throw line with Canada main by three factors with about 4 seconds left. He missed his final foul line, recovered the free ball, sprinted to the nook, and fired an impressive three-pointer to sank by means of the online to tie the sport. Watch the play right here:
That ball couldn’t have taken a luckier bounce. The best way it got here off the rim allowed Bridges to scoop it up and get off a great luck at a 3 to tie the sport. This might have been a defining second for USA Basketball, however as an alternative it was washed by the truth that it came about within the third place recreation, and the U.S. nonetheless misplaced.
Dillon Brooks was the star of the sport for Canada, ending with 39 factors on 7-of-8 taking pictures from three-point vary. Brooks’ soar shot seemed damaged on the finish of final season with the Memphis Grizzlies. If he can actually shoot like this, the Houston Rockets may need discovered a steal, even for $80 million. Watch full USA-Canada highlights right here:
Germany received the World Cup by defeating Serbia, 83-77, within the last.
The U.S. must look within the mirror and handle the issues with this system after such a disappointing World Cup run. It begins with getting extra measurement within the entrance court docket.