(East Los Angeles, CA)[From The Editor’s Desk]: The 2023 FIBA World Cup in Men’s Basketball is now over, and with it came the revelation that the World has basically caught up to the USA in terms of highly skilled player personnel, it no longer fears confronting them in FIBA sponsored tournament play, or in another opinion, has closed the foreign talent and abilities gap to near parity with our National team,  based on their fourth place finish in the FIBA World Cup, while losing to our North American neighbors, Canada.

Please give a read to the standard game breakdown that was prepared by the hard-working USA Basketball Communications Group who kept us informed on each and every game during this tournament. This final Team USA Bronze Medal  game vs. the Canadians was best described as an overtime “Thriller” which is what most fans want to witness at this level of international play.

USA Concedes Overtime Thriller to Finish Fourth at World Cup
USA 118, CAN 127

The United States conceded an overtime thriller to Canada, falling 127-118 in the third-place game at the FIBA Men’s World Cup in Manila, Philippines. The U.S. finished the tournament in fourth-place.

[TEAM NOTES]

[Starting Out]: The United States used its third starting lineup of the tournament: Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and Walker Kessler. Paolo Banchero, Brandon Ingram and Jaren Jackson Jr. did not play due to illness.

[Worth Noting]: With today’s 127-118 overtime loss, the falls to 7-1 all-time vs. Canada in the FIBA Men’s World Cup. The U.S. is now 3-1 in third-place games at this event. A total of 245 points were scored in this encounter, making it the second-highest scoring game ever in the FIBA World Cup (251 points, Brazil and China, 1978).

[100+ Club]: With tonight’s 118 points scored, the U.S. averaged 104.5 points per game during the FIBA Men’s World Cup. Only twice before a team ended a World Cup tournament with 100+ points per game in the 21st century – the USA in 2006 (103.6 ppg) and also in 2014 (104.6 ppg).

[PLAYER NOTES]

[Leading the Way]: With his 24 points today, Edwards led the U.S. in scoring for the fifth time this tournament and ninth time this summer. He ends the tournament as the team’s leading scoring, averaging 18.9 points per game. He joins Kevin Durant (2010, five games) and Paul Pierce (2022, four games) as USA players to have scored more than 20 points in 4+ games at the World Cup.

[Double-Digit Scorers]: The U.S. had six double-digit scorers on Sunday afternoon, marking the sixth time this tournament that the U.S. had at least four double-digit scorers. In addition to Edwards, Austin Reaves (23), Bridges (19), Bobby Portis Jr. (14), Brunson (13) and Josh Hart (10) scored in double figures on Sunday afternoon.

[With the Assists]: Tyrese Haliburton led the U.S. with seven assists on Sunday afternoon to total 45 assists in the World Cup, the most for a USA player in a single tournament over the last 30 years (Chris Paul, 44, 2006).

[Bridges Ends Strong]: Bridges notched 19 points, including a game-tying 3-pointer with less than a second left. Bridges averaged over 18 points in the USA’s final four games of the World Cup after averaging 8.9 points per game in the first four games. Bridges also led the U.S. in rebounds on Sunday afternoon with nine—one board shy of a double-double.

[Reaves Shines]: Reaves scored a total of 110 points off the bench, the most of any substitute player in the 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup.

In our last and final review of the Tournament, I leave all of our viewers and followers with this short round-up of the [Final Order Of Finishers]: It is shown shown to you in the traditional 1-2-3 platform tournament finish of (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) for the top three teams, then followed just below with the large listed graphics of the full order of finishers from 4 through 32. Adios Manila, Philippines, Jakarta, Indonesia, and Okinawa, Japan. You all set the bar extremely high for the next host country of Qatar. See you there on the 2027 FIBA World Cup stage as the world keeps improving its basketball players and looking ahead to the next levels of competing among one another.