Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton takes step back in Team USA loss to Germany

Team USA was eliminated from the FIBA World Cup on Friday, and fans are concerned about Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton’s performance in the semifinal loss against Germany.

For some context, the last time Team USA faced Germany in FIBA play, it was their final of five exhibition games. Haliburton left it all out on the floor, almost single-handedly leading USA on their comeback trail, earning a hard-fought 99-91 victory.

Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton takes step back in Team USA loss to Germany

This was Haliburton’s first game over 10 points in the tournament and the first time in his FIBA career that he took over the offense, from both a scoring and playmaking perspective, and led the team to a victory. The offense completely changed with him on the floor, and Team USA never looked back after regaining the lead.

Heading into the semifinals, Haliburton was coming off his FIBA career-high in points against Italy. He had 18 points on six three-pointers and even dished out a spectacular between-the-legs alley-oop to Paolo Banchero.

The win over Italy had Team USA and Haliburton’s hopes high for the semifinal. Many were hoping for a continuation of his scoring and playmaking effort as Team USA geared up to face Germany in a match to see who would face off against Serbia in the FIBA World Cup Gold Medal game.

Unfortunately, what followed left Team USA dejected and fans conflicted about Haliburton’s play, especially in the closing minutes.

Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton and Team USA lose to Germany: First Half

Steve Kerr waited a bit to get Tyrese Haliburton in against Germany, as he got his first minutes of action with 3:30 left in the first quarter, throwing an assist to Paolo Banchero about 30 seconds later. Haliburton got his second assist not long after, diming up Austin Reaves for a three-pointer.

The Indiana Pacers guard was also quite aggressive in the first quarter, getting two quick fouls early and having to sit out the final 18 seconds of the period. He only logged about three minutes.

Haliburton sat out for a while in the second quarter, too, with Kerr possibly trying to manage his minutes due to his quick fouls. He was subbed in with 3:25 left to play in the half, dishing out his third assist of the game a few seconds later, hitting Mikal Bridges for the three-pointer.

He also blocked a shot, adding to his impressive block total in the World Cup. Haliburton proceeded to take it coast-to-coast, hitting a pull-up three on the other end, turning defense into offense yet again, and putting Team USA up one at the half.

Based on these stats and this early production, you would think Kerr thought to keep Haliburton in for longer as he did earlier against Montenegro, playing the entire fourth quarter. But that’s not exactly how things played out.

Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton and Team USA lose to Germany: Second Half

Tyrese Haliburton got subbed in relatively early in the third quarter, waiting three minutes to check-in. He hit a shot about 15 seconds later for his fifth point of the game. Haliburton also nailed Josh Hart on a three-pointer a few minutes later.

However, this is where the fouling issues returned.

Haliburton fouled Germany’s Andres Obst on a three-pointer, with Germany already leading by five points. Obst made all three free throws, extending Germany’s lead to eight, and leaving Haliburton with his third foul of the night.

The point guard continued to produce in the third quarter, hitting two free throws of his own and getting his sixth assist of the game, but this is where the downfall began. Some of it was in Haliburton’s control, and some was not.

Haliburton missed the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, in which Germany kept their lead at 10 points. Team USA was struggling to get a run going, similar to their only other loss against Lithuania.

While Haliburton did get his seventh and eighth assists of the game, to Anthony Edwards and Austin Reaves, respectively, his ultimate defining moment of the game was a negative one.

He was shaken loose by Obst and ended up on the floor, leaving the German open. Obst drained a three-pointer to put Germany up by four points.

This was ultimately the start of Team USA’s undoing. Although they made a run near the end of the game, a Dennis Schroder dagger was enough to seal the deal.

With Haliburton’s final defining moment being him on the floor, Team USA was bounced from the FIBA World Cup.

Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton and Team USA lose to Germany: Final stats and takeaways

Tyrese Haliburton had an interesting performance against Germany, finishing with a statline of seven points (2-for-7 FG, 1for-5 3PT, and 2-for2 FT), eight assists, one rebound, one block, one turnover, and three fouls in 19:48 of playing time.

Of course, the first thing that immediately jumps out is his efficiency or lack thereof. Unfortunately, Haliburton forced the issue many times, taking some ill-advised shots, mostly threes, and even missing a layup.

Haliburton also had issues with fouling, as stated previously, with his foul on a three-pointer later coming back to bite Team USA, as those were three points they probably wish they could get back.

However, the main issue with Haliburton’s performance, and perhaps the reason Team USA lost in the first place, was his defense.

Before this game, people were taking notice of Haliburton’s improving defensive ability. They were even excited about the prospect of him taking that new ability back to Indiana with him for the regular season.

Strides were made in his on-ball and point-of-attack defense, and even his hustle was showing promise, with him getting a few blocks here and there, including one game against Greece where he set his FIBA career-high with three blocks.

However, Haliburton’s defense against Germany left a lot to be desired, as he took a major step back. So much to be desired, in fact, that many on social media were calling for Trae Young to get the Team USA nod for the 2024 Olympics instead of Haliburton and Jalen Brunson, despite Young not being known for his defense either.

However, I disagree with this assessment, as Team USA’s major downfalls for this game were their defense and rebounding, which Trae Young would have provided minimal help with, as he is more of a scorer and playmaker, both of which are already taken care of by Haliburton and Brunson.

Speaking of rebounding, this is an aspect of the game that was missed dearly on the box score and in the bottom line, with Team USA’s starting center, Jaren Jackson Jr., not exactly being known for his rebounding and putting up a pretty minuscule performance on the boards.

He finished with only three rebounds on the night and was actually out-rebounded by Haliburton in FIBA play despite being six inches taller than him.

In addition, Steve Kerr refused to play Walker Kessler in the final game, with Kessler getting a DNP for the contest. This was somewhat confusing, as Kessler averaged 8.4 rebounds per game in the 2022-23 NBA season.

Another mistake by Kerr was not learning from the USA’s previous game against Germany and using the ideal lineup that won them that contest in this game, as Team USA’s best lineup in the Germany exhibition win didn’t see much of the floor together today.

Overall, Team USA’s loss to Germany was unfortunate, but certainly avoidable. Perhaps, if Kerr played his ideal lineup more often, Walker Kessler got more time, or if Haliburton put his chin up on defense in those closing minutes, Team USA might be on their way to the gold medal game vs. Serbia.

But Team USA’s work is not yet done, as they will face Canada in the bronze medal game on Sunday, September 10, at 4:30 AM Eastern time.