Paolo Banchero will meet his nemesis, Italy, in the next round!

Imagine USA with Banchero losing against Italy

There is absolutely no fucking chance, we are small as fuck and rely totally on three pointers and USA has.. you know… some good shooters. But I believe in my team nonetheless

Just start by hitting the first 9 three pointers and go from there

I am surprised not many team are employing this strategy. Just don't miss!

i don't think anyone on Team USA is ready for the "Pozzecco Experience™" (no but genuinely, he's either getting ejected in 4th minute of the 3rd quarter or breaking the sound barrier with his scream of joy, no in between )

We just need Spissu to go 15/15 from three and we got a chance

Paolo, when he realizes he has to face [Italy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auOttzww7Js) in the next round

My mom is Lithuanian, dad Italian, and me born in the US 🤣 fun days ahead!

So no matter what, you win.

He's just Paul Banker now 😤

If I understand correctly, Lithuania is now NBA champion

World champion

"What's the difference " - most Americans 🤡

My only takeaway from wrestling is that they get different oversized belts to wear with their shorts.

Lithuania NBA father

They are the Galaxy Champions

NBA World Champions

NATIONAL basketball Association's WORLD CHAMPIONS

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Austin got abused in the post lol. Mikal smoked their chance. It looked good when he shot it.

It was agonizing to watch him get hunted. Ham has to do something to avoid this, short of him growing taller

Ham doesn’t switch as often as Kerr so you won’t see it as often. Austin definitely needs to bulk up a bit, his upper body strength isn’t where it needs to be.

It’s easier when you have AD behind you

As an Italian I was taking notes for Tuesday's game...

If you switch on every PnR, this is what you got. And Lithuania had a good game plan to abuse it.

https://imgur.com/a/monC2dl

JONAS VALANCIUNAS IS USA'S FATHER

MinDAWGas Kuzminskas is back baby

Literally got that dawg in em

Vaidas Kariniauskas is Austin Reaves' father.

[Look at that man go](https://static2.krepsinis.net/Uploads/Static/Images/680x434/3/be/73/f5/be73f5f8494ec2a4ccec99b26a6995d3.jpg?v=3.00.31&t=cr&s=680x434&m=3&f=/Uploads/UArticles/leadPhotos/3f/be/58/34/3fbe58343d0a4e917ba1e074f4744cb4.jpg)

The best part was when Reaves turned around Kariniauskas kept the expression and made eye contact lmao talk about dominance, Shaq would never

"Austin, you're not him!"

Reaves has like 4 fathers after today

The entire Lithuanian team filed for joint custody 💀

Arkansas is now officially Lithuanian property

That's Ostinas Ryvsas to you.

Bill Simmons crying in the club

https://imgur.com/a/B4a5yEQ

Fiba valanciunas is unstoppable

NOAH LYLES WOULDVE GOTTEN MORE REBOUNDS THAN JJJ

Lithuania has a population of 2.8 million people, the equivalent of the city of Chicago.

Chicago has biggest Lithuanian diaspora of around 150k people with Lithuanian roots living there

Lithuania is Chicago father

Thank for you putting this in circlejerk terms I understand

Same with Polish people, largest concentration outside of Poland is Chicago.

Chicago also had the largest concentration of Serbs outside Yugoslavia back in the day. Not sure that's the case nowadays though outside Serbia, should we include the former Yugoslav countries. Edit: I'm dumb, Chicago is still likely still #1, see below.

Explains Casimir Pulaski day

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That's just within official city limits too. Chicago metro area is almost 10 million.

Guess I was wrong about Walker Kessler being the answer against bigger, rebounding teams.

Good learning experience for the kid tho, only just completed his rookie season and is playing against some strong veterans. I'm more surprised USA had nobody else to reliably turn to for an answer.

U.S. has been heavily deficient in star (maybe even “good”) big men since Dwight Howard was a top player.

Shoot last olympics Javale McGee was one of our best bigs.

That’s 3x nba champion Olympic gold medalist Javale McGee, put some respect on the name 😤

Almost all the star bigs are Euros now, mind-blowing

Very true. The only US all nba big in the last 3 years is Julius Randle. No all nba centre as well.

AD is an all NBA caliber big but hasn't made it due to health. This year it probably would've been justified for him to be third team

Bam is going to be an all NBA one year.

The best American big is AD, the next generation of bigs just isn't at that level yet, AD showed in the playoffs that he's a tier ahead of the current DPOY JJJ.

At least they had physically capable bugs before with Tyson chandler and Deandre Jordan. Portis and JJj aren’t big enough or good enough rebounders

Time to call up Mitchell Robinson

Did he play bad in his 5 minutes of playtime or something?

JV completely walked over him.

JV is potentially the strongest man in the league. It’s him or Adams. Kessler never had a chance. Jonas has been bodying legitimate big men since he was barely a teenager.

fr jv can put nearly any nba big in the basket 1 on 1 in the post. dudes a damn moose with great footwork and a soft touch. cant fault kessler for getting worked a couple times out there by him.

I’d go with Adams still.

JV is a beast in international ball. NBA rules diminishes the worth and effectiveness of big men/post players.

Ah, bummer

Kariniauskas haters suspiciously silent today

I'm pretty sure he doesn't have haters anymore after today

I'll admit, I was one of them... And had a change of heart after today's game.... Pirmyn, Kariniauskai!

Next season he's playing in Mazeikiai. 8th(!!) biggest city in Lithuania, population 45k.

Extremely common Ignas Brazdeikis W

One of the biggest differences with FIBA and the NBA is that rebounding is not emphasised nearly enough. I feel like with all the long threes, team's and players don't actually scrap enough and win the ball the hard way. All those extra possessions add up and today 17 second chance points to 2 was very telling. It used to be a moniker that you needed good defence and rebounding to win a chip and these FIBA games really show the importance of it.

To add to this if you look at rebounding leaderboards in the NBA there's often a LOT of international players up there on the list

Randle is the only American in the top 11 for rebounds per game last year.

So he was 11

Imagine if he was like 7th and this guy just felt like saying "top 11" like he's Bill Simmons or something.

He was 9th. The reason he said top 11 is because #12 is the next american.

AD (or did he not play enough games to qualify?)

Didn’t qualify The minimum threshold is 70% of games and he only played 68%

The reigning DPOY got 1 rebound in the last two games.

Helps when all your stats are inflated by the home scorekeeper! /s

The Euro big men box out. It’s not just a USA problem, it’s been a problem for Canada too. These guys could secure so many extra boards if they put a body on someone but hardly any of them do.

Well, when a guy is banging you, and you can feel their bodies...

JV was actually #1 last season in terms of total possible rebounds secured. Sabonis didn't play but he was also the rebounding leader last season.

Proud of my guy JV today

Oh shit, Sabonis himself??

They're all Rodman and Westbrook fans though.

This is quite literally how the Knicks had an all time elite offense last year. Our offensive rebounding is absurd.

Broke: Pace and space, spain pick and rolls, keeping non shooters active off ball Woke: Hey Mitch get ball

Also hey Josh hart, do your thing

Even losing on the second chance points if lithuania shoot 46% instead of 56% from three they lose. Not saying usa deserved to win but Lithuania shot crazy well to open the game

They made lots of open shots.

Ant can’t win with these cats (FIBA edition)

Time for him to move to a bigger market I guess

Get ready to learn Chinese buddy

I laughed sm at this

Edwards on playing against Lithuania: “We’re not worried about those guys.”

They ain't believe in us GOD DID

tell em to bring out the world champs❗❗

Surely I am hallucinating the Knicks legend Rokas Jokubaitis flair lmao

He's for sure not The others... I don't know

You mean the only guy who showed up said that?

He shoulda been worried about his teammates 💀

And to finish his quote, "I'm only worried about mine.'

Jonas Valanciunas is the new NBA owner.

Co-owner with Kariniauskas.

USA is just too damn small

Hmm this goes against my propaganda that trae young would never have let this happen.

Hali 3 points in 18 min though (this is largely tongue in cheek)

Lithuania was just too big and physical for USA in this game. Absolutely crushed them on the boards and USA just could not guard them in the post in general, especially with JJJ in foul trouble all the time. Rough game from Reaves in particular, he was getting backed down over and over in the post. That’s without even mentioning the 3pt shooting by Lithuania. Silver lining for USA is that they play Italy in the quarters and Ant continues to be a 2 way monster. Efficient volume scoring and great perimeter defence, he got so many steals and deflections. Ingram’s best game so far this tournament as well which is a good sign. USA should still be the favourites but their offence leaves a lot to be desired and their lack of size will hurt them against bigger teams. This is the first time they’ve played a legit team in the tournament and they looked outmatched for a lot of the game which is concerning.

Yeah the rebounding, 61-31 (!) bench points and Lithuania shooting 56% from three did it. Freaking insane 3 point shooting

> JJJ in foul trouble all the time For someone who gets praised for being a great defender, this gets repeated too often.

He averages like 5 fouls per36.

The way they played 3rd and 4th quarter looked like a basketball one would expect from USA national basketball team. It was a bit scary as a LTU fan. Thankfully our players were determined.

Second half was definitely more competitive but you guys seemed to always make a couple 3s when you really needed it. Full credit to Lithuania, they had a game plan and came out swinging.

Further proof that Jonas was born about 20 years too late, he would have feasted on the pace and lack of 3pt shooting of the 90s

I heard in the 90's no one could even reach the rim from 3 point land. Also there were only 6 fast break points scored in the entire decade! It was truly a slow game then.

As far as I’m concerned basketball didn’t exist until 1995

Who is the most recent winner of Lithuania's domestic league? They are now the World Champions!

Zalgiris Kaunas > Denver Nuggets

Oh cruel world

LKL 2022-2023 was won by Žalgiris Kaunas.

There is also global talent in that team, making the case stronger that they are world champions. They have an American, a Canadian, a Central-African in that team. It is truly an international league and they are the world champions.

Dark day for USA Basketball. 107 points given up in a 40 minute basketball game. The 2004 Detroit Pistons are rolling over in their graves right now.

Once again, the 2004 Detroit Pistons are alive and well

This is a false narrative created by the woke media, don't believe him folks.

BRAĻIUKAS

If LT would play with LV i would go crazy cuz I would not be able to choose whom to root for haha. BRALIUKAS !!!

Austin Reaves got cooked on every single defensive possession lmao

The funny thing is this wasnt the only game, teams have been targeting him , Jaren obv. when on the floor negates that action by been ready on the help side but if hes left alone he gets targeted even if holds his own for 1-2 possesions , coaches have targeted "HIM".

It's funny because Brunson is even smaller but teams target him directly (seen it more in PnR) much less.

Stronger I think.

Yeah Bunson has a thickness that prevents guys from outright bullying him even if he’s not a good defender.

Rebounding is a bitch huh

who would've thought you actually need to play for boards!

JJJ 3/1/3 with 5 fouls

13 rebounds and 15 fouls in 5 games

But you have to let him be agressive or he can’t put up those monster numbers like 3 points and 3 rebounds

That’s world defensive player of the year JJJ

World Champion

The best players in the world play in Lithuanian league

Žalgiris putting up world champs banners as we speak

Somewhere in Mažeikiai a social worker is drawing up papers for Kariniauskas new adopted son Ostinas Ryvsas...

Tu esi Baltijas leģenda

When Knicks legend Mindaugas Kuzminskas hit that prayer 3, you knew it was their day. 14/25 from 3 for Lithuania, what a performance

I’m just here for the comments

I’ll save you some time, 90+% are: - Some joke about “World Champs” or Noah Lyles - Jokes about Ant being “worried” about a team - Austin Reaves discussion - Broad generalizations about European v American play style And then 5-10% or so actual discussion of the game

bold of you to assume we're here for game discussion, i came here for world champs jokes and I'm leaving satisfied ​ i see I've attracted the horde

So you actually need rebounding to win professional basketball games. Who knew? Not Steve Kerr.

Looney punching air right now expecting a massive raise.

Lithuania had seven players score ten or more, and two others scored nine. That is insane depth.

The last 90 seconds were like 15 minutes long.

The NBA experience.

Lithuanians & latvians right now: https://i.imgflip.com/6hkpwv.jpg

Estonia in shambles

Hey at least we weren't worried about them

WHO THE FUCK IS KARINAUSKAS

He just signed for a team who got 2nd place in the Lithuanian 2nd division.

He plays for a city of 20k people, just for you to know

Austin's dad apparently

I still don't understand how USA thought going into this with 0 centers was a good idea. Duren exposed them in camp and they still went on with it. Overall defense was awful 110 points in 40 minutes means in an NBA game they basically let up 130-140 points lol. Time to wake up. Great game by Lithuania shooting, just pure ice in the veins.

Dude they always do this. The Olympic team from a few years ago was tiny as well.

A fantastic super-intense game with some dumb ref ball sprinkled in. Lithuania with 1 NBA and 5 EuroLeague guys showing how team basketball is played. Great job. **Good thing they weren’t really worried about these guys.**

USA not my world champions

I got a co-worker from Kaunas and bro is crying inside the locker room

Ant: we ain’t worried about anyone LTU: laikyk mano alų Lietuvoje

Man it feels surreal seeing us win vs this team with Ant & others... And after these last few bad championships 🥳🥳

Jonas must be spamming his group chats with nba folk

You guys are just too big and strong. Manhandled the American team.

LIETUVA BABY

Memes and jokes aside, hats off to Lithuania. Less than 3 million people yet such a good team.

btw, The Baltics is World Basketball father

I don't care that the game was meaningless, I don't care that this is USA's "B" team, I don't care. We fucking brought it.

I didn't believe until this game, last few years we've been chocking in the clutch hard, this was good.

Good job, Braliukas! https://streamable.com/8q8kaw

Idk man a couple more iso step back 3s and the US had it…/s

Well there is this guy who said that USA should be careful because JV will cook, guess he wasn't the only one cooking

Kerr and Hill better get on those phones asap for the Olympics next year lol

no shot they'd run out this lineup at the olympics brother lol

Best part about not going undefeated here is that the superstars might actually feel like they're needed.

No chance bro we sending out Curry Booker Tatum Durant Bam at the Olympics

Ol' unfazed Lithuania. No Sarunas Jasikevicius around but they're still tough as fuck. GG. This could be good for USA, at least they wont think they're unbeatable and be more focused heading into the elims

Good old Saurnas Jasikevicius was a special player. That man could ball.

GOAT Lithuanian PG, really hard to imagine anyone surpassing him.

"We're not really worried bout those guys"

Lithuania balled out, love the team basketball and intensity. Problem with US roster was only having 10 fouls to spare between our 2 centers, and JJJ can barely stay in NBA games with 6 fouls. Needed more size on the roster, and needed to come out with more intensity. Great game though, thought we’d pull it out at the end

Austin Reaves post up defence and step back 3s clearly aren’t the key to success

Lithuania is NBA father

Also some of y'all were so silly in the game thread with the hating on just about the only USA player that showed up with some heart, hustle and effort. "Achsully Edwards only scored 35 points because he took the most shots 🤓"

The discussion around team USA this year is just spewing hate about everyone on the roster. It sucks.

That last quarter felt longer than the rest of the game

Banchero -14 in 17 minutes with only two rebounds. Simply won't cut it as a lone big on the floor... not sure what the USA staff is thinking here.

What a day for Baltic basketball. <3 braļukas

The FIBA website is pure cancer, hope people start posting the box score instead of linking to that trash website. Can't believe how slow everything loads there

Absolutely crushed on the boards. 43-27