FIBA World Cup: USA, Canada brace for battle-for-third match

Forty-eight hours after an emotional game that saw Team USA dropped a narrow 113-111 loss to Germany, the Americans will try to pick up the pieces and salvage whatever is left from their battered pride when they take on Canada in the 2023 FIBA World Cup bronze medal match on Sunday, September 10 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

USA’s Austin Reaves PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO

Both squads got bundled out by two European national squads that demonstrated grit, solid ball movement and excellent rebounding during the knockout semifinal round last Friday.

But these two North American squads will be slugging it out for the bronze nonetheless when they square off at 4:30 p.m.

USA fell by as many as 12 points, rode on Anthony Edwards and Austin Reaves' shooting late in the game, before succumbing to Andreas Obst and Dennis Schroder's crucial baskets down the stretch, leading to the tournament-favorite's ouster from a potential gold medal finish.

Same with Canada, which fell by double-digit spread since the first half, as the team mentored by Jordi Fernandez couldn't simply handle Serbia's solid perimeter sniping led by Atlanta Hawks gunner Bogdan Bogdanovic, leading to its 95-86 defeat.

American guard Jalen Brunson admitted the loss to Germany “stings,” but he promises everyone that Team USA will be back and running in the bronze medal match.

“I think that this (loss to Germany) obviously is gonna sting a little bit, but we will be ready as soon as we wake up in the morning. This is a tough loss,” he said.

Fernandez, for his part, said the team's inability to play solid defense was the culprit in their loss to Serbia.

“I'm proud of my guys. It was not perfect. We were okay offensively, we're atrocious defensively. When a team shoots 62 percent from the field and 45 percent from three, obviously something is not done well. We didn't prepare well enough for the game,” said Fernandez matter-of-factly.

“That's the thing with these guys, who work hard everyday, as we get better, but next game we'll play for the meda., I know this is emotional for everybody,” added the Canadian mentor, who'll have NBA players Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, RJ Barrett and Kelly Olynik leading the way.