The US team "vented anger" on Italy in the quarterfinals, straight into the semi-finals of the FIBA World Cup 2023
If there is a concept of "perfect failure" it is what the US team just experienced at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, losing to Lithuania on Sunday in the second round.
This defeat did not bring any serious consequences, even helping coach Steve Kerr's army fall into an easier bracket when they met the Italian team in the quarterfinals.
Besides, the loss to Lithuania was an extremely timely wake-up call for an American team that is still very young, inexperienced in the international arena and needs to be "awakened to regain focus".
Coming out of that loss with the widest gap of 21 points at times, Anthony Edwards and his teammates were much more focused in the quarterfinals against Italy.
They entered the match confidently and played disciplined, not "loose" for any minute throughout all four rounds before winning the final match with a score of 100-63, officially reaching the semi-finals of FIBA World Cup 2023.
"Obviously we were furious to lose like that and don't want to go through that again," said Tyrese Haliburton after scoring 18 points against Italy.
“It's not a story about whether the opponent is strong or weak, whether they have an advantage or not. The important thing was that we weren't ourselves that day, we weren't playing the kind of basketball we practiced. In this match, everything was different."
The US team's high concentration is shown in the way they enter the game. After leading by more than 10 points in three of the last five matches, coach Steve Kerr's team rose to a 10-point lead in the first half against the Italian team.
The stage of rebounding, considered a weakness of the US team, has also improved, twice as high as what the opponent had in most of the match, although Jaren Jackson Jr. have a personal problem.
Particularly in terms of offensive firepower, the US team in the quarterfinals was led by a new name, Mikal Bridges, the owner of 24 points in the whole match with very high efficiency.
Alongside this Brooklyn Nets pitcher are Tyrese Haliburton (18 points) and Austin Reaves (12 points), who are becoming more and more popular in this FIBA World Cup.
When talking about the competition between the US and Italy, we cannot ignore the name Paolo Banchero, who has the blood of both countries.
The owner of the Rookie of The Year 2023 title once shared his intention to play for Italy, but in the end he chose to join the US team right before the FIBA World Cup. This caused Banchero to be called a "traitor" by the President of the Italian Basketball Federation.
Ignoring non-professional information, Paolo Banchero played focused in the US team's victory. He scored 8 points and achieved the team's highest +/- index at positive 29.
Paolo's rather "artistic" alley-oop made at the end of the third half as a small message he sent to all.No further comment on the story of which national team he chose to play for, Banchero was just happy because won.
Overcoming the Italians in the quarterfinals, the US team will meet the winner of the Germany - Latvia match in the semi-finals taking place on Friday (September 8).
