It’s growing pains for now for the young Team USA following its 110-104 defeat at the hands of Lithuania in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup on Sunday, Sept. 3, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. 

American head coach Steve Kerr was the first to admit that the Lithuanians were just simply the better side in their last-minute wire-to-wire encounter. 

The only time the all-NBA squad managed to stay ahead was during the first minute of the opening quarter where Anthony Edwards shot back-to-back jumpers, 4-2. 

After that one minute of relief, the Americans pretty much trailed, even finding themselves in a 54-33 hole before the break.

The USA, though, opened the second half with a 19-2 run for a 56-52 fightback but continued to stay behind until the buzzer. 

While the game had no bearing in regards to their Olympic qualifications as both squads are already through the quarterfinals, Kerr was still proud of the all-NBA squad’s for showing a better second half. 

“It was a great basketball game. Lithuania obviously just came out of the gates, on fire. I think they made their first nine or 10 threes and took it to us and I love the way our guys fought back and played much better in the second half, competed like crazy and gave it a really good run. But it wasn’t enough,” said Kerr. 

As they carry their first loss to the quarterfinals against Italy, Kerr is hoping that the lessons learned will manifest and help the squad get better. 

“I liked the game. I liked what happened. Because this [tournament] happens so quickly, the bringing together of a team, we practiced for a few weeks, and you play for a gold medal. Happens quickly. And it’s different. FIBA’s different from the NBA and that’s a big focus for our team,” Kerr said. 

“We talk about it every day, but these guys have to feel how good these teams are. Lithuania’s a brilliant basketball team. They move, the shoot it, they cut hard, they’re really well coached. 

“So, it was good for us. I hate losing, I probably won’t sleep much tonight, but for us to get better, we needed to feel this. We needed to respond the way we did and next game we have to start the way we did in the second half. We can’t ease into the game at all,” he furthered. 

Before Lithuania, it seemed that the USA’s vulnerable side was already out there for other teams to exploit, as Montenegro came close in upstaging the world’s best team. 

“I didn’t feel like we let down [against Lithuania]. We didn’t play particularly well against Montenegro, so we wanted to come out and play better. But (Lithuania) just punched us in the mouth right away. They made every shot, they executed. So, I don’t think it’s a case of us not being ready, I think it was a case of them playing a perfect first quarter. And we understand how hard we’re gonna have to play to accomplish our goal,” he added.