By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
It may have been a challenging situation for Team USA after the loss to France. A convincing win against a lesser opponent in Iran followed on Wednesday. Damian Lillard helped his national team bounce back with a game-high 21 points.
“If I had to say one person, it’s Draymond (Green). He was just like, ‘man, Damian Lillard doesn’t hesitate to shoot those shots,’ especially at the end of a game when I had a turnover where I tried to make a swing to the corner, the guy stunted at me and went to the passing lane, saved it and they ended up taking the lead and winning the game. He was just like, ‘that’s not what you do, you knock those type of shots, that’s what we needed you to do in that moment.’ We spoke about it and it was simple. I just said I should have shot it and it won’t happen again,” said Lillard looking back at the closing moments of the loss in the opener.
The Portland Trail Blazers point guard went through those team talks in the buildup to the second Olympic Games fixture. “We wanted to show guys that we are willing to sacrifice and we want to be a part of the team. To be able to open up those lines of communication, come together and figure it out,” he mentioned, “We’re on the same page.”
The Weber State alumni drained 7/13 threes for the USA’s first win in Tokyo. Besides his 21 points, he also logged five assists and two rebounds in just over 23 minutes.
“I think that the longer the group is together, the better they are going to execute. Being able to have them playing with each other these last couple of days of practice has been good and hopefully that’ll continue,” added head coach Gregg Popovich commenting on his side getting to the win column, “We have room to improve obviously, I think it will show a little bit more each time we get out on the court.”
“I’m proud to be on this team”
“It means a lot,” Lillard said regarding participating in the Olympics, “When I first got in the League, it was a priority of mine to be a part of the Olympics, be a part of Team USA. It’s a process, especially when you’re younger and you got so many stars competing, it’s tough to be able to participate. Coming out of my 9th year going into my 10th and finally being able to be here, it’s an honor to be able to suit up and play with the best players in our league. It’s something that not a lot of people get the opportunity to do and I’m proud to be on this team and proud to be here competing.”
The USA will be back in action facing the Czech Republic on Saturday. A potential win would seal a quarterfinal berth. However, the math will not be as simple as ranking first, second, or third in Group A. The best second-placed team of the three preliminary groups will be seeded along with the group winners in the quarterfinals draw, while the two best third-placed teams will advance along with the top two of each group.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL