Team USA (Louisville) Falls to Canada 74-71

I put zero stock in anything good or bad that I watch in a game in July, but it’s nice that the team is getting some good practice against solid competition. Louisville (Team USA) had some moments of looking fierce and they also had periods of looking very disjointed which is to be expected with so many newcomers. They played hard for 40 minutes though so that’s always a good sign.

FIBA LiveStats

After the game Coach Walz talked about his team’s 23 turnovers, “The style of play is so much different than what we have back home in the States. I enjoy FIBA basketball. It’s more physical, you’ve got to be strong with the ball, you’ve got to be able to handle contact and we didn’t do a great job of that today.”

That said, he also pointed out “it’s game 2 against a very good Canada team after 10 days of practice with a group that’s never played together and I’m pleased.... they showed a lot of grit.” He added, “It’s July 13th and I think we have a shot to be a pretty good basketball team.... I was proud of them.”

He said, “We’ve got a group that can score... and then we’ve got a group that can defend. What has to happen is our scoring group’s got to learn to defend better and our defenders have to learn to score a little better.”

Of the new players he said, “They are learning on the fly,” and pointed out how excited Canada was to win. “That Louisville across the front of your chest means something to a lot of people.... so you’re getting everybody’s best shot. For some players on this team that’s new.”

There will be another round robin game this Saturday at 11AM.