USA, Germany clash in World Cup semis

FRESH from a huge quarterfinal blowout win against Italy, the United States now looks to deal a swift knockout blow against Germany as both squads collide in the 2023 FIBA World Cup semifinal match tonight at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Team USA head coach Steve Kerr knows the final four collision scheduled at 8:40 p.m. against Germany offers no easy match.

CROWD FAVORITE Austin Reaves of Team USA dunks against Italy’s Marco Spissu in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO

The four-time NBA champion coach said one thing he has repeatedly pounded to his players is the importance of respecting the games played in FIBA tournaments.

“We have great respect for FIBA basketball. One of the things we have to do as USA basketball coaches is we have to teach our guys that FIBA is a different game than the NBA,” Kerr said.

“So the first order of business is to respect those differences, teach the different rules, let the guys know how good these teams are.”

Talent-wise, Team USA has the depth and the athleticism to outlast any opponent in the tournament.

But even that won't guarantee anything, said Kerr.

“There are a lot of great teams over here, so we respect that. We love the fact that the game has gone global. There's been great basketball in Serbia, the former Yugoslavia, Croatia, Montenegro, the whole region. There's been great basketball there for a long, long time, and we respect that, and we know these teams are very difficult to beat,” he added.

The Americans reached the semifinal round after hammering the Italians 100-63 in the quarterfinal round.

Germany, meanwhile, made the semis after eking out an 81-79 escape act against crowd favorite Latvia.

Germany's Johannes Thiemann, who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds against Latvia, believes Team USA is beatable.

In fact, Germany, which will be led by NBA veteran guard Dennis Schroder, hopes to get some inspiration from Lithuania, which beat Team USA 110-106 over the weekend.

“USA is a tough team to beat but Lithuania showed heart [to win]. I think they're beatable. It's going to be for sure a tough matchup but we're going to be ready,” said the 6-foot-9 forward.

The semifinal showdown marks the second time in less than a month that USA and Germany meet.

Both squads collided in an exhibition game last August 21, which saw the Americans rally from 16 points down in the second half to subdue the Germans in Abu Dhabi.

Anthony Edwards, who exploded for 34 points in that exhibition match, is expected to be at the forefront for the Americans, who are gunning for no less than the gold in this year's World Cup edition after failing to win a medal in 2019.