Gregg Popovich Team USA
Photo: FIBA.Basketball

Team USA were defeated by Australia in their second exhibition game ahead of the Tokyo Olympic Games. It was the second loss for the Americans as they also lost against Nigeria earlier.

After the game USA head coach Gregg Popovich talked about the loss and how it unfolded. He pointed at two different halves of the game and the need to improve conditioning of his players. “After short time together there’s a lot of things that has to be covered. The first half and the second half were two different beasts.

“In the first half we defended the way we wanted to defend, the way we not defended against Nigeria. We were more physical, we sustained defense longer, we rebounded better, we moved the ball better on the offensive end we had more pace.

“In the second half we tired out. When that happens, you get hit mentally a little too. We didn’t sustain the board the same way. The defense wasn’t the same, our pace wasn’t the same We got to get some guys that have to get their legs and their rhythm back. But in general we need more conditioning which is totally understandable.

“We’re just sticking with the process of trying to get better every game. And we did that tonight. I was pleased with what I saw.”