Chet Holmgren had a busy offseason as he ramps up to play his rookie season after missing the 2022-23 campaign due to a Lisfranc injury.
The 2022 No. 2 pick’s latest endeavor involved him playing for the Team USA Select Team. While he didn’t make the official roster and was only invited to participate in training camp, it provided valuable experience for the seven-footer.
Holmgren got his feet wet with the Team USA program and is hoping to continue to get invited, specifically to the 2024 Olympics in Japan.
Holmgren told USA Basketball’s Tristan Tucker that he hopes he’ll be invited back to the program in the future and that he’d definitely be interested in the opportunity to represent his country.
“It’s always a blessing to represent USA Basketball and put it on your chest, so any opportunity to do that, I’m excited for,” Holmgren said.
By next summer, he will have this season to establish himself as one of the best young centers in the league.
A successful rookie campaign increases his odds of being invited to the main roster after spending this year on the Select Team with fellow Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Jalen Williams.
The best photos from Australia’s blowout exhibition win over Venezuela.
Prior to starting the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Australia will play a slate of exhibition games.
Josh Giddey enters the international tournament as the face of the program, and he certainly played like it on Monday. He flirted with a triple-double: 14 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in a one-sided 97-41 win over Venezuela.
Fellow Oklahoma City Thunder player Jack White also had fun with four points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Let’s look at some of the best photos from the 56-point friendly win as Giddey prepares to take Australia deep in the World Cup.
Full highlights, instant reactions from Australia’s 97-41 exhibition win over Venezuela.
In a dominating win, Josh Giddey quickly proved why his head coach was justified for dubbing him the face of the program at just 20 years old.
Giddey headlined Australia’s lopsided 97-41 win over Venezuela in its first exhibition game. A 27-7 second-quarter scoring advantage helped put this game to bed. Australia entered halftime with a 54-23 lead that essentially turned the second half into garbage time.
The talent gap between teams was quickly evident. Giddey toyed with Venezuela using flashy thread-the-needle passes throughout the contest. In 24 minutes, he collected 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, nine assists and eight rebounds for the near triple-double. On the flip side, he also committed six turnovers as he was a bit more daring with his playmaking this game.
Fellow Oklahoma City Thunder player Jack White also appeared in this exhibition for Australia. In 16 minutes off the bench, he finished with four points and eight rebounds. He signed a two-year deal with OKC this offseason.
The full box for the Boomers can be viewed below:
Let’s look at instant reactions and highlights from Giddey’s Team Australia debut as they prepare to play in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Full highlights, instant reactions to Canada’s 113-112 OT win against Germany in a friendly.
After trailing by double digits, Canada completed the 12-point comeback against Germany in a 113-112 overtime win on Sunday.
The exhibition win was the finale of the 2023 SuperCup. The mini-tournament was part of Canada’s friendly schedule as it prepares for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which kicks off on Aug. 25.
Canada outscored Germany, 23-14, in the fourth quarter to force overtime after entering the final frame trailing by nine points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and RJ Barrett led Canada; they combined to score 56 points.
After a slow first half, Gilgeous-Alexander was his usual dominant self in the second half and overtime. 20 of his 25 points came after the halftime break. In 34 minutes, he finished with 25 points on 8-of-22 shooting, eight rebounds and six assists. The 25-year-old went to the free-throw line at will, shooting 9-of-10.
While he was phenomenal on the offensive side, Gilgeous-Alexander arguably had his best play on the defensive side when he forced Germany to take a highly-contested deep 3-pointer that missed to force overtime.
Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder teammate also played a vital role off the bench. Lu Dort was part of Canada’s closing lineup despite coming off the bench. In 33 minutes, he finished with nine points on 2-of-6 shooting and six rebounds.
Germany was led by former Thunder guard Dennis Schroder, who had 26 points on 6-of-10 shooting and eight assists in 25 minutes before he fouled out in the fourth quarter.
The one-point win allowed Canada to avenge its loss to Germany in its first matchup on Aug. 9.
The full box for Team Canada can be viewed below:
Let’s look at instant reactions and highlights from Canada’s one-point OT win led by Gilgeous-Alexander’s strong second half.
Instant reactions, highlights from Canada’s blowout win against New Zealand.
After struggling against Germany in their first exhibition game, Team Canada bounced back with a strong showing against New Zealand in a 107-76 win.
This was Canada’s second friendly as they continue to prepare for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which is set to kick off on Aug. 25.
It appears Canada will go as far as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will take them. After an eight-point outing last time, he bounced back with a much stronger performance of 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting, three assists and six steals in 19 minutes.
Off the bench, Lu Dort had 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting and two steals in 19 minutes.
Canada quickly set the tone of this game as they entered halftime with a lopsided 67-38 lead. A 39-14 second-quarter scoring advantage helped put this game out of reach.
Canada’s full box score from their win over New Zealand can be viewed below:
Let’s look at the instant reactions and highlights of Canada’s 31-point exhibition win and Gilgeous-Alexander’s dominating performance on both sides of the court.
At just 20 years old, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey has quickly become the face of his country’s basketball program.
Australia and Giddey continue to prepare for the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Looking at the roster, it’s one of the more loaded groups of players throughout the entire international tournament.
At the head of it is Giddey, who is expected to be the face of the team after not playing for the Olympics team in 2020. In an interview with ESPN, Australia head coach Brian Goorjian talked about how Giddey will be the main ballhandler for them during the World Cup.
“‘One of the decisions made: when he’s on the floor, we’re gonna put the ball in his hands a lot,’ Goorjian told ESPN, as his team prepares for the 2023 FIBA World Cup at the end of August.
‘He’s a huge piece of this moving forward. Not just this, but it’s like an Andrew Gaze, as far as the Boomers. What he is, and as we get him with the group, and as it expands, a lot of it’s gotta be built around him.'”
As Giddey continues to grow as an NBA player with two impressive seasons under his belt, he will likely also be the face of Australian basketball for the foreseeable future.
This is an important season for Paul George and the Clippers.
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No matter how you feel about Paul George as a basketball player, I think most of us can agree he has one of the smoothest games in the NBA. When the eight-time All-Star has it rolling, there aren’t many players more fun to watch.
Unfortunately, since his trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Los Angeles Clippers, we haven’t been able to watch him much.
After playing in at least 75 games in six of seven seasons before joining LA, George hasn’t eclipsed 56 games once in the last four years. Because of injuries, George has played in just 189 of a possible 308 regular-season games since the 2019-20 season.
In other words, George plans to show out in 2023-24, and we know exactly what it looks like when he does.
In his last fully healthy season, 2018-19 with the Thunder, he averaged a career-high 28 points and 8 rebounds while also playing incredible defense to finish third in MVP voting. Even in his time with the Clippers, he’s averaged 23 points on good shooting splits. The problem is he and Kawhi Leonard — who joined the Clippers at the same time and has played in just 161 games — haven’t been able to play nearly enough. As a result, the Clippers haven’t consistently competed at the level most expected when the two arrived.
Now, each enters a critical season, as their contracts are set to expire. The both have player options for 2024 and are extension eligible, but it’s a tough decision for the Clippers to again invest max money in two players who haven’t been available. The only way it makes sense is if George is, in fact, on his bully and Leonard can come back to help LA make a deep playoff run. If not, this could be the last year we see the Clippers run it back with this duo.
The Tip-Off
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Team USA rolled over Puerto Rico Monday in the last day of World Cup training camp and the first tune-up game.
Yeah, for sure. I mean the last couple days we might have possessions where we overpass. The guys we have on our team, we feel really good about how they play. If the roles were flipped we just swing-swing to the corner, you make that pass because the next time, if you’re fortunate, it could be a pass to you.
So it’s a good feeling knowing that we’re ready to catch and shoot whenever, and with the talent that we have with that we could do really good things.
Reaves, who scored nine points himself, also discussed his expectations for the Lakers this coming season in the full interview with Sam Yip.
The 2023 FIBA World Cup is set to start on Aug. 25, but before the international tournament teams will play a handful of exhibition games.
Team Canada has a five-game slate of exhibition matches. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort began their campaign by facing Germany on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
Despite a valiant comeback attempt, Canada fell short, 86-81, to Germany. Gilgeous-Alexander had a solid second quarter while Dort had a stellar fourth quarter.
In 22 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander scored eight points on 2-of-10 shooting and four rebounds. Dort had 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting including going 2-of-4 from 3.
Canada got off to a slow start as they quickly trailed Germany 27-14 following the first quarter. That deficit grew to 16 points by halftime as Germany led Canada, 50-34.
Leaving halftime, Canada had a much better outing in the third quarter as they cut Germany’s lead to 66-58 by the end of the 10-minute session. Despite cutting the deficit to single digits, Canada couldn’t overcome the hole they dug themselves into early in this one.
Let’s look at some instant reactions and highlights to the five-point loss as Gilgeous-Alexander tries to lead Canada to hardware later this month.
Team Canada enters the 2023 FIBA World Cup with arguably the best one-two defensive wing tandem in the entire tournament.
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Lu Dort and Houston Rockets’ Dillon Brooks share many similarities in their games. Both are elite perimeter defenders who can be inconsistent offensive threats and aren’t afraid to let it fly from deep.
Both players have had similar career arcs thus far. They went from near afterthoughts on their rosters to working their way up to become key starters. Brooks was drafted 45th overall in the second round of the 2017 NBA draft while Dort went undrafted in 2019.
Even though Brooks has Dort beaten in the accolades department, that might not be the case for long. The latter will likely start to get national recognition with the Thunder improving.
It seems like Brooks is a believer, too. He complimented Dort’s defensive makeup as Canada prepares for the international tournament.
“I’ve kind of watched him become a defensive stopper,” Brooks recently said about Dort. “Guys don’t want to deal with that physicality all night — and what’s crazy is that for his size, he’s quick moving laterally, so he can stay in front and give guys hell the whole night by staying in front, making them take tough shots, midrange shots. I admire that and I admire his heart as well.”
Dort and Brooks have already had several battles throughout the years and that likely will continue as both the Thunder and Rockets look to exit their rebuilds. For now, they’ll work together to see if they can bring back hardware for their home country.
Here’s a full list of Thunder players who will participate in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The 2023 FIBA World Cup is scheduled to take place from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10. The 32-team tournament will crown one country as the winner, and Team USA enters as the heavy favorite.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s roster is as diverse as anybody’s in the NBA. Its players originate from several countries around the world. This means that the Thunder will be well-represented during the World Cup.
Let’s look at the list of Thunder players who will represent their country during the international tournament. This list will also include roster alternatives on the Select Teams.
Keep in mind that while they were on the initial roster, both Aleksej Pokusevski and Vasilije Micic will reportedly not play for Serbia as they recover from injuries.
