From All-Star NBA to "discoloration" in the national team: Brandon Ingram struggled with FIBA World Cup basketball
As one of the top scorers on the US team's call-up list for the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Brandon Ingram is expected to join Anthony Edwards in creating two sharp attacks of coach Steve Kerr.
Unfortunately, the reality is quite the opposite. Ingram, although still playing in the starting line-up, is completely losing color in the US team. He only scored 7.8 points per game in the friendly series before the World Cup.
In America's opening match against New Zealand, the New Orleans Pelicans' All-Star scored only 2 points in the whole match.
Brandon Ingram's performance has not affected the overall performance of the US team in the tournament, but he still feels quite sad because of this.
“Things are very different from what I am used to. The team is winning a lot of games so I can't be selfish and think about myself, but personally I am feeling uncomfortable with this series," Brandon Ingram told The Athletic.
"I'm still trying to find a way to score points, take advantage of better opportunities to play more effectively, but I can't figure out how to do that yet."
Quite a few American players openly expressed their disappointment at having difficulty getting used to FIBA basketball, but this is a difficult problem that team managers have faced many times.
Success at FIBA or at the national team level is very different from the NBA, from squad building, player selection to playing style and collision…
Brandon Ingram is a star in the NBA thanks to his outstanding scoring ability, taking advantage of his physical advantage with a very long arm span and a high pitcher. But in the US team at the FIBA World Cup this period, there is no shortage of such scoring players.
In addition to the fact that coach Steve Kerr prioritized ball rotation and finishing over 1-on-1 phases, Ingram's outstanding scoring skillset suddenly became normal in the national team's shirt.
This is why the US team often has to find role-players from NBA teams, players who will be willing to sacrifice attack to bring positive value in contention and defense.
Names like Tayshaun Prince, Andre Iguodala or Harrison Barnes were all chosen for the same purpose to serve the common goal. The US team this year took Cam Johnson or Austin Reaves for the same reason.
Sharing about the case of Brandon Ingram, the head coach of the US team, Steve Kerr, still defended his student, saying that soon the day this scorer exploded.
"Things are not going the way he thought, but that doesn't mean we're going to stop putting our faith in Brandon," coach Steve Kerr said.
“One thing that I learned from FIBA basketball is that every game has a different star. His opportunity will come and if he stays focused, he can absolutely explode in the near future."
The US team will have two group stage matches against Greece and Jordan, respectively. Winning against either of these two opponents will bring Steve Kerr's army into the knockout round.
This will be an opportunity for Brandon Ingram to come out and show himself, hoping to find some inspiration to play to revive the spirit of one of America's top scorers.
