By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Manila, Philippines – After losing to Lithuania, Team USA has to step up and everyone understands it, friend or foe.
The good news is that was a defeat that doesn’t change a lot. The US still needs to get three straight wins starting from the quarterfinals against Italy to win the gold.
Still, nobody likes losing, as Team USA managing director Grant Hill explained.
Asked about the “silver lining” of making it to the Olympics with a direct qualification, Hill explained that his priority right now is Italy: “First of all, anytime you qualify is a big accomplishment and it’s not easy to do. The silver lining, or the good news was that. Obviously, there’s also disappointment right now, but we play tomorrow and sometimes you go through a tournament and you have to go through a little bit of adversity. It’s supposed to be hard and we will see how we will bounce back”.
And Steve Kerr hopes that his players will be ready to react.
As he explained: “It’s not necessarily the lineup, as it’s the mindset on both ends. And there are certain keys we have shown to our guys. We can get better rebounding positions on both ends of the floor. Every play matters, but each detail we are taking care of, if we take possession, then our speed takes over”.
Kerr said that Italy is a really “patterned team” and also spoke about losing to Lithuania, giving them once more the whole credit and explained how they got hot from his experience as a shooter: “They made some impossible threes in the second half, they made shots, and they are a great team. If you are more on point early, those threes become a lot tougher to hit. I know as a former shooter, that if I have a couple of easy shots at the start of the game, that gets me going”.
Last, but not least Paolo Banchero will be at the center of interest in the quarterfinals. So far he is one of the standouts of Team USA, however until a few months earlier he was the great hope of Italy for the future of the national team.
It’s win or go home and Banchero knows it very well: “There are no more second chances, we have to do whatever it takes to win”.
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However, this first no-tomorrow-game will be played against the national team that courted Banchero for years and hoped to get his commitment.
Last December, the two sides met and there was still optimism that he would suit up for Azzuri.
That seems like ancient history right now and Banchero didn’t have as you can see in the end of the video nothing to day to the Italian fans before the big game.