For Carmelo Anthonyyou might as well call a spade a spade: the American defeat against Germany is a “ upset “. “Team USA” went to Asia with no other objective than to recapture the gold that has eluded it in the World Cup since… 2014.
But the Americans, despite their 100% NBA squad, were swept away by the German hurricane. “ We have to take our hats off to Germany and Serbia. They had very good matches. These are ‘upsets’, but it’s good for the sport. For FIBA, basketball and fans, this is an opportunity to let people know that the rest of the world is here to play », Reacts the second best scorer of the selection in the Olympic framework.
He who had experienced the disillusionment of 2004 and 2006, which gave birth to the “Redeem Team”, believes that his compatriots have once again been beaten at their own game. The Germans “ don’t win this game if they don’t play the Team USA way. Because you have to score a lot of points to beat the United States. But Germany deserves all this », greets the current ambassador of the competition, taken up by BasketNews.
Consequence, according to Carmelo Anthony, of this recomposition of world basketball, where the candidates for final victory are now numerous: “ Everyone must now think of a different approach to win the gold medal. […] I would like to send the cream of the crop every year […]. But we must also respect those who are here. They are professional players. We can’t send the best every time. We’re talking about developing these guys to be able to compete around the world. We take our defeats with our victories and move forward. »
Adversaries now known
A posture which is no longer surprising as the Americans no longer have the international monopoly on winning. In the World Cup at least, because they remain on four consecutive Olympic titles. Past defeats, including the fiasco of Athens 2004, have at least had the merit of changing mentalities at home.
“ I don’t think as American basketball players we say to ourselves that we can’t lose. It is the fear of losing that makes us want to win and feel bad after a defeat. “, continues Melo, according to whom the members of the current team did not go to the selection “ thinking there would be no problem “.
The “problems” are these teams with a well-established collective that rely on players established in the big league and capable of making a difference (Dennis Schroder, Bogdan Bogdanovic, etc.). “ I would say that the level of respect American players have for the international game is much different than it was 15-30 years ago. Today, they know they must fight. We play against these players every night in the NBA. We know them, we monitor them for eight months », recalls the future Hall of Famer.
The latter calls for continuing to “ encourage » the team led by Steve Kerr, staying in the present moment without thinking about the glorious years past, to snatch the bronze medal. “ We’re here to play basketball. We must get to the bottom of things, find solutions and unite to win […]. We lost, our throats are tight but we are going to go there and try to win against Canada », Finishes Carmelo Anthony.
