The United States of America has had the weight of expectations on them ever since the start of the FIBA World Cup 2023. Although the team breezed past the first round of games, they faced a valiant Lithuania side in the second round and faced a nasty defeat. Following this heartbreaking loss, people have been very critical of LeBron James‘ teammate, Austin Reaves.

Despite the loss, the USA has set up a fiery Quarter Finals matchup against European giants, Italy. Names like Anthony Edwards, Reaves, Jalen Brunson, and others will surely pose a problem for the Italians, but they won’t go down without a fight.

Austin Reaves needs to channel his inner LeBron James to get over Italy

We are officially at the business end of the FIBA World Cup 2023. Italy will be taking on the United States of America for a spot in the semi-finals. Germany, Slovenia, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, and Serbia are the other teams looking to make it further into the tournament.

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In the 110-104 loss against Lithuania, Austin Reaves had a bad outing. The Los Angeles Lakers youngster came off the bench and played for 13 minutes while having only 7 points.

Naturally, he was a topic of discussion and NBA fans on social media didn’t leave any stone unturned to bash the 25-year-old for his single-digit stat line.

However, he has a chance to redeem himself. His teammate, LeBron James, has faced adversaries and doubts all his life and, as everyone is aware, the four-time NBA champion has beat them all. Reaves can surely help himself and Team USA by taking some pages out of King James’ books.

The Italians will be a tough test

Italy has turned some heads during this year’s FIBA World Cup. They had a great 1st round, and they qualified quite comfortably for the second round from Group A.

They have a talented roster comprising players like Nicolo Melli, Luigi Datome, Giampaolo Ricci, and many others. The ecstatic Italian coach had a lot to say about arguably the ‘greatest Italian team ever’.

“From the first day, I told my players to start to dream. Then we can achieve the best. And they did it”, said Gianmarco Pozzecco according to FIBA. They face heavyweights USA next and might just cause a huge upset. However, the USA have a great 12-2 record against the Italians and has 4 straight wins in the previous fixtures.

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What are your predictions for the FIBA World Cup? Let us know in the comments below.