Even if USA doesn’t win World Cup, it’s worth it for Pacers’ Myles Turner
This iteration of Team USA might not end up being the favorites to win the World Cup, but the experience is still worth it for Indiana Pacers’ Myles Turner.
As you probably know, Myles Turner has been spending his time away from the Indiana Pacers this summer to try to help lead Team USA to victory in the FIBA World Cup. You also probably know that for whatever reason, many players (stars and young guys alike) have declined invitations to play for the team to focus on other things.
This has led to some speculation that Team USA could be in trouble in the World Cup this year, which is interesting since America is typically thought to be the favorites in basically any sort of international hoops competition. USA even recently dropped a scrimmage against a roster of G-League and overseas players.
A collection of G-League/overseas players beat Team USA (closing line up of K. Walker, D. Mitchell, H. Barnes, PJ Tucker and B. Lopez handily in a scrimmage just now to close USA practice. Great effort from the unheralded group.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) August 14, 2019
Now, people may be looking into this particular game too much since Team USA likely might not have been playing at 100%, but the fact remains that a roster whose biggest star player is Kemba Walker could struggle once the actual tournament rolls around. No disrespect at all to Kemba, but this is not a typical lineup for USA.
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Still, even if the World Cup title ultimately goes to a different nation, this experience should have a ton of value for the still young and developing Myles Turner. Even with 4 NBA seasons under his belt, Myles is still just 23 and likely hasn’t reached his ceiling.
For him, rubbing elbows with seasoned and accomplished vets like Kemba Walker, Brook Lopez, P.J. Tucker, and Khris Middleton on a regular basis will have tons of benefits. These are players that have already had long and successful NBA careers who surely have a stockpile of knowledge and experience that Myles can benefit from if he’s able to emulate and adopt some of their habits.
All the young dudes on the team are some of the players that will become mainstay starters in the NBA for the next 10 or so years, so it will be good for Myles to become even more familiar with their games and tendencies as he will match-up against them for a long time during NBA seasons. Perhaps he can also develop a strong bond with some other guys on the team and eventually lure them to the Pacers in free agency.
Playing under a head coach as prolific as Gregg Popovich could lead to many improvements for Myles, and spending the summer playing against all these NBA guys and best players in their respective nations once the World Cup begins is a much higher level of competition than the typical gym work that other guys in the NBA get in during the offseason. Since he’ll be playing in actual, meaningful games, everyone will be trying to win, and Myles will have to work.
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Barring some sort of freak injury, Myles Turner has nothing to lose by spending time with Team USA this summer even if the team ultimately ends up underachieving. Hopefully, the team can get it together and surprise some people once the FIBA World Cup actually tips off, but regardless, this should be a very beneficial experience for Myles in many ways.