BERLIN — As Team USA gears up for the FIBA World Cup semifinals, it feels it is poised to play its best basketball at the right time — in part because of how coach Kara Lawson has challenged her players.
After a 55-52 victory against Italy on Sunday in which the U.S. trailed in the fourth quarter, Lawson implored her team in a postgame locker room address — a clip of which was posted on social media — to “let this be the last time that a team plays with more passion than us throughout the course of the game. Let this be the last time that all 12 don’t show up to compete at a high level.”
Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier said the team heard Lawson’s message.
“I think the team received it really well because we felt it too,” Collier said. “We know that we didn’t give our best. We didn’t obviously play our best. We could have done a lot better. And she’s absolutely right. We’re playing for our country right now, and it’s inexcusable the way that we came out in that game, and so I think the team took it as a challenge, like she’s right.
“… I don’t think we’re going to have that problem again.”
The team’s response has been evident. Wins by 41 and 52 points over Czechia and Hungary, respectively, have secured Team USA’s spot in the semifinals for the 11th consecutive World Cup.
USA Basketball has been one of the most dominant sports dynasties over the past three decades, dropping just one game at the Olympics or World Cup since 1994.
Italy, however, came close to handing Team USA its first loss in a major international tournament since the 2006 World Cup semifinals, holding the U.S. to its lowest-scoring output in a World Cup game since 1971.
The game was a “wake-up call, probably that everybody needed because … it is hard to play in these tournaments,” two-time MVP Breanna Stewart told ESPN. “It is hard to be USA. It is hard to always have to have this incredible excellence, but that’s the standard that we have.”
Lawson said her postgame message stemmed from wanting to be direct and transparent, especially in such a short tournament — with six games in 10 days — where time is of the essence.
She credited her team’s ability to make winning plays down the stretch, particularly its stout defense, but was more focused on ensuring her group doesn’t fall short in bringing the necessary intangibles to win games.
“Let this be the last time that we lack a resilient mindset because we’re so upset that we’re not scoring the way we’re normally scoring,” Lawson told her team after the Italy game. “Your contribution has to be your passion, your energy, your intensity that you play with.”
Sue Bird, the managing director for the women’s national team, told ESPN that Lawson was “spot on” and that what happened in the Italy game “was great” because the team found a way to win despite having a “terrible game.”
“You want to put the team on alert,” Bird said. “Like, that’s not acceptable because of, not the ball going in or not, not a turnover, but how we played. So I thought she did a great job, but having the balance of like, but we just f—ing figured out a way to win in a really hard game.”
Added Collier: “It showed us that we have that fight in us. … Hopefully we won’t have to use it in that close of a situation, but at least we know that we have it, and we can dig into it if needed.”
Amid the break in WNBA play, Team USA has been together in Berlin for less than two weeks, and with A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum being late scratches, the roster ended up with seven players making their first appearance at a major international tournament for the senior national team — all while the parity among international teams has never been closer.
“You’re going to get everybody’s best shot,” Las Vegas Aces star Chelsea Gray said. “It’s a different level of physicality. It’s a different kind of mindset that you have to have in the way you play over here with FIBA, and you can’t take possessions off offensively and defensively. And you were able to see that in the way we competed the last two games.”
USA bounced back by playing its best two-way basketball of the tournament against Hungary, but the path forward won’t get any easier. Spain should be its toughest test yet, and either France — the 2024 Olympic silver medalists — or Germany — the hometown darlings — would await in the gold medal game.
“These four teams are great,” Lawson said. “Each of these four teams is talented enough to win the whole thing.”
Lawson credited Spain, which has a slew of WNBA players, including Megan DiLeo, Awa Fam and Maria Conde, for its frontcourt depth and skilled guards.
“I can’t say enough about their quality, quality at every position,” Lawson said, “and so we’re going to have to play really well.”
The U.S. beat Spain 84-70 at the qualifying tournament in March in Puerto Rico.
“I feel like they’re playing at an even higher level, and they, just like us, have gotten better as every game has gone on in this tournament,” Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark said. “So I’m just excited. These are the games you get really, really amped up about and you see what you’re made of.”