• Austin Reaves reacted to Team USA’s World Cup effort ending in fourth place
• Reaves was one of the leading bench scorers from Team USA at the tournament
• He pointed out effort as the team’s biggest issue in their losses
Austin Reaves is on his way back to the United States after a devastating loss to Canada in the third-place game at the FIBA World Cup. After also losing to Germany in the semi-finals and Lithuania in the second round, this was an unimpressive campaign by the USA, with Reaves reacting appropriately after losing to Canada.
“We lost. I mean, you could go down the line of things that you could do every basketball game, win or lose to critique yourself, we just didn’t do enough.”
Austin Reaves after USA’s 118-127 loss to Canada:
“We lost. I mean, you could go down the line of things that you could do every basketball game, win or lose to critique yourself, we just didn’t do enough.”
Also said that defense was USA’s biggest issue:
“We had to be… pic.twitter.com/JraaYcCV7i
— Nicole Ganglani (@nicoleganglani) September 10, 2023
Reaves was also critical of Team USA’s defense after the loss, saying that it was something they had to work on after the loss to Germany. It’s got to be demoralizing knowing that your defense let Dillon Brooks drop 39 points and take a win in a medal game.
Reaves can be impressed with his personal run at the tournament, averaging 13.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists heading into the NBA season. Given the rise Reaves has had since the end of the season, there will be massive expectations on his shoulders.
Can Austin Reaves Emerge As The Lakers Third Option?
Everyone knows that the Lakers have a two-headed monster leading the front with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Since the start of this duo, they have struggled to figure out who will be the third guy next to these two injury-prone stars.
It was Kyle Kuzma for the first two seasons, but it was before he had blossomed into the 20-point scorer he is now. They then thought Russell Westbrook would work, which was a colossal failure. After Russ left the team, Reaves seemed to emerge into that role ahead of guards like D’Angelo Russell and Dennis Schroder.
Heading into next season, with Reaves averaging over 20 points in the Western Conference Finals and his impressive run in FIBA, the Lakers will expect him to be the one ahead of D’Lo and the others to embrace the offensive responsibility.
Team USA Needs Revenge At The Olympics
With another embarrassing result in the FIBA World Cup, it’s fair to assume that some of the top American talents will make themselves available for the Olympics. Players from this team like Anthony Edwards will likely find themselves going to the Olympics along with the superstars if they choose to put themselves in the pool of players.
Likely additions could be Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, Bam Adebayo, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and many more. Everyone will hold out on the hope that LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant come on over to Team USA for one last Olympic run, which is already being teased by James.
We may see a new-age Dream Team for 2024. With the possibility that Joel Embiid declares for the USA instead of France, the US Olympic roster will be stacked to the brim next year.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
