TEAM USA tries to bounce back from a loss to Lithuania as it battles Italy on Tuesday at the start of the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup 2023 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Game time is set at 8:40 p.m. after the other quarterfinal matchup between Lithuania and Serbia at 4:45 pm.
The American’s loss to Lithuania had no bearing as they completed their elimination phase tasks, but this time is a round of no-return as the winner moves to the knockout semifinals.
Germany will battle Latvia and Canada will meet Slovenia in the other quarterfinal matchups on Wednesday.
The winner of the Italy-USA match will take on the Germany-Latvia victor.
The other semifinal pairing will pit the winner of the Lithuania-Serbia tussle with the victor of the Canada-Slovenia tussle.
Team USA, out to redeem itself from 7th place in the previous World Cup in China, went 4-0 in the classification phase, beating New Zealand, Greece, Jordan, and Montenegro, before bowing to Lithuania.
The loss notwithstanding, the Americans proceeded to the next phase with an on-and-off Italy.
After absorbing their first loss in the tournament, USA coach Steve Kerr said they need to play like they were always in the second half, the time when his boys play more aggressively than in the first half where they appeared lazy and tentative, allowing opponents to mount early leads.
“In the first half, they (Lithuania) were carving us up. There was definitely some miscommunication (on our part). We’ll learn from this,” said Kerr. “But it’s good for us. I hate losing, but we needed to feel this (loss). We needed to respond the way we did, and next game we must respond the way we did in the second half.”
Italy, which placed second in its classification group, has won only twice in their 12 meetings with the five-time world champion USA.
Meanwhile, Lithuania is undefeated in five games and is facing a Serbian squad that is coming off a loss to Italy.