Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves shared his honest thoughts after Team USA lost to Germany in the 2023 FIBA World Cup semifinals on Friday morning.
Austin Reaves’ thoughts on losing to Germany and no longer being in contention to compete for gold:
"Obviously super tough. We knew the task ahead and that was to win and we didn't do that so you tip your hat."
Also gave a shout out to his former teammate Dennis Schroder pic.twitter.com/yzyiywt36F
— Nicole Ganglani (@nicoleganglani) September 8, 2023
Team USA came up short after rallying back in the fourth quarter to cut a double-digit Germany lead to one point.
However, a turnover by Anthony Edwards in the final minute hurt the team’s chances of completing the comeback.
Reaves, who played in the closing lineup for Team USA on Friday, finished the game with 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. He made four of his five shots from beyond the arc in the 113-111 loss.
The biggest issues for Team USA came on the defensive end, as the team allowed Germany to shoot an impressive 13-of-30 from beyond the arc and 57.7 percent from the field overall.
With the loss, Team USA will compete in the third-place game against Canada, who lost to Serbia in the other semifinal on Friday. That should be a fun matchup, as NBA players Dillon Brooks, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and RJ Barrett all are a part of Canada’s national team.
Reaves has really impressed during his time with Team USA, earning a major role in Steve Kerr’s rotation throughout the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
He continues to build on a strong 2022-23 NBA season where he averaged 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 52.9 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from beyond the arc, improving greatly from his rookie season.
Lakers fans have to be happy with the progress Reaves has made this offseason with Team USA, and it should put him in a good spot to help Los Angeles compete for a title in the 2023-24 season.
The Lakers made the Western Conference Finals last season, and Reaves was a major factor in the team getting there. In the playoffs, Reaves averaged 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game in 16 games while shooting 46.4 percent from the field and 44.3 percent from 3-point range.
While Team USA certainly fell short of its goal in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, the team still had a solid run. Hopefully, Team USA can regroup and prepare to make a run at a gold medal in the Olympics next summer.
