3 Positives, 3 negatives from Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton’s FIBA World Cup

Tyrese Haliburton and Team USA’s 2023 FIBA World Cup run has come to an end, and it ended in disappointment.

Haliburton and company weren’t even able to get the bronze medal, losing the third-place game to Canada in an overtime thriller. Haliburton, in particular, had a very up-and-down final few games in the World Cup, losing three out of his last four games.

His performance in the final two games were particularly rough, whether it was his lack of defensive ability or his poor shot selection, which ultimately contributed to Team USA digging themselves a hole they could not get out of in time.

3 Positives, 3 negatives from Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton’s FIBA World Cup run with Team USA

However, Haliburton’s struggles should take away from the multitude of positive things we saw from him in these Team USA performances. Oftentimes, the Indiana Pacers point guard stole the show, whether it be with a deep three, a slick pass, or a spectacular alley-oop setup.

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Haliburton played 13 games for Team USA on the World Cup stage, including the five exhibition games I have already covered, and he had plenty of standout moments, as well as some failures on the big screen.

Obviously, Haliburton’s and Team USA’s run would have been much sweeter had they taken home a gold medal (or at least made the finals), but there were still plenty of takeaways to note when it comes to the point guard’s performances throughout the tournament.

With all that in mind, let’s take a look at three positives and three negatives from Haliburton’s run with Team USA at the World Cup, with one of the negatives being more of an inconsistentcy.

3 Positives, 3 negatives from Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton’s FIBA World Cup: Potisive – Shooting and Efficiency

We’ll start with the good. Tyrese Haliburton displayed the same shooting touch for Team USA that he showed off in his NBA performances with the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers.

Over the course of eight FIBA World Cup games, Haliburton took 4.5 threes a game and managed to hit 2.1 of them at a very impressive 47.2% clip, good enough for 23rd in FIBA play. He finished ahead of prolific shooters such as Bogdan Bogdanovic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Patty Mills, and Dāvis Bertāns.

In addition to sparkly averages, Haliburton also has the unique ability to completely take over a game with his shooting, as he did in the exhibition game vs. Germany and in Team USA’s last FIBA win against Italy, where he put up 18 points on six three-pointers, with some of them being heat-check shots from quite far out.

Haliburton’s shooting was been the reason Team USA has stayed in games at times. The most recent example was a game-tying three that helped Team USA stay in the game long enough to send it to overtime against Canada in the bronze medal game, which they would lose in overtime.

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But while Haliburton’s shooting can be his greatest strength at times, it can also be his worst enemy.

3 Positives, 3 negatives from Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton’s FIBA World Cup: Negative – Shot selection

While Tyrese Haliburton is a great shooter most of the time, other times, his shooting is what took himself, or even the whole team, out of a game.

For example, in the aforementioned Canada game, while Haliburton managed to tie the game up and keep Team USA in contention, he almost shot them out of the game with a couple of ill-advised misses from deep at the end of regulation.

These included a miss with a minute left from about eight feet behind the line, which led to a chain of events that almost saw Team USA lose in regulation. Luckily, Mikal Bridges saved them with a miracle shot.

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In addition to almost shooting his team out of games, Haliburton also had some rough shooting nights from the floor. Most notably, he struggled in the final two games, both losses, against Germany and Canada.

In the loss to Germany, Haliburton shot 2-for-7 (1-for-5 3PT) from the field and only scored seven points, and in the loss to Canada, he shot an even worse 2-for-8 (2-for-6 3PT) from the field and only had six points.

Through the two games, he shot a combined total of 4-for-15 (3-for-11 3PT) from the field in the final two FIBA games, equating to a field goal average of 26.6% (27.3 3PT%), a far cry from his NBA regular season averages.

Could this be due to fatigue and mailing it in for his final performances? Who knows. But the point still stands that Tyrese Haliburton did not shoot very well in Team USA’s final two games.

3 Positives, 3 negatives from Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton’s FIBA World Cup: Positive – Playmaking

On a day where Tyrese Haliburton’s defense isn’t there, or perhaps his shot isn’t falling as well as he’d hoped for, his playmaking is always something that Team USA could count on. No matter what.

During the 2022-23 regular season, Tyrese Haliburton dished out 585 assists, good for fourth in the league despite only playing in 56 games, and his 10.4 assists per game average was good for second in the league. However, due to missing games, he did not qualify for the league leaders list.

Sure enough, through all 13 of Team USA’s exhibition games, Haliburton’s playmaking was one thing that was always present, even on nights when his assist numbers weren’t as high.

Haliburton hit his career high in FIBA for assists in his very first game against Puerto Rico, dishing out 12, and he matched it two games later against Spain. While he didn’t reach this mark in the tournament games, he still notched some great games, including an eight-assist night.

The Pacers point guard has always been keen on finding the open man going back to his days in college, and with multiple star teammates in Team USA, he took full advantage of the opportunity. He threw no-look pass after no-look pass and got the crowd and his teammates excited about what he was going to pull out of his bag of tricks next.

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At times, Haliburton felt the need to get a bit more flashy, even throwing this between-the-legs alley-oop to Paolo Banchero, a move that had the announcers and social media buzzing.

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If there’s one thing you can expect from a Tyrese Haliburton performance, it’s that he will set his teammates up well, and his teammates love him for it.

3 Positives, 3 negatives from Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton’s FIBA World Cup: Negative- Minutes and Touches

While Tyrese Haliburton showed obvious flashes of being the best player on Team USA at times, head coach Steve Kerr was insistent (some would say stubborn) on keeping Haliburton on the bench and having him lead the second unit. He was usually kept to around 19-21 minutes.

For the tournament, Tyrese Haliburton averaged 21.5 minutes per game, a figure heavily influenced by his 31 minutes in Team USA’s OT loss to Canada in the bronze medal game. If you take that game away, Haliburton averaged 20.3 minutes per game, which is more appropriate for how much playing time he was earning.

Of course, there were times when Kerr gave in and left Haliburton in for the fourth quarter, or overtime, such as their win against Montenegro, where Haliburton played the entire fourth quarter. But the norm was still seeing him stuck at about 20 minutes per game, which infuriated some fans on social media, especially fellow Pacers fans.

In addition to the minutes problem, Haliburton also struggled to get touches in Team USA’s loaded offense, sometimes even resorting to begging for the ball, as his teammates seemed to ignore him.

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This is another one of the reasons Haliburton may have worked better as a starter. While Team USA’s starting backcourt of Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards was plenty talented, there was not enough playmaking to comfortably lead an offense.

That, in part, is what led to Team USA’s undoing near the end of the tournament. All the while, Haliburton was still a huge factor on the court, and his +/- regularly showed his efforts, despite the losses.

3 Positives, 3 negatives from Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton’s FIBA World Cup: Positive – Chemistry

When the majority of your playstyle is making sure you and your teammates get on the ESPN highlight reel, they will be sure to appreciate you for that, and Tyrese Haliburton’s Team USA teammates made sure to let him know how much they appreciated his setups.

Throughout the tournament and exhibition games, Haliburton built up a very strong connection with his USA teammates, most notably with Austin Reaves. Their chemistry and love for playing with each other could be felt the moment they stepped on the court.

The two combined for plenty of showtime-worthy moments on the court, such as a one-handed touchdown pass by Haliburton, which led to an easy Reaves layup.

And who could forget when Reaves threw down a dunk in transition that had Haliburton jumping with excitement, a moment that both will remember fondly.

In addition to Reaves, Haliburton developed plenty of chemistry with the bench unit, especially Paolo Banchero and Cameron Johnson. Those guys were usually on the floor whenever Team USA blew a game wide open and dashed the other team’s hopes of a comeback.

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At times, Haliburton and Reaves were even being talked about as the best players on Team USA, and the guys Steve Kerr should turn to if times got rough.

But while Haliburton’s chemistry with his teammates was a constant, some areas of his game were less consistent…

3 Positives, 3 negatives from Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton’s FIBA World Cup – Negative (Inconsistent) – Defense

Defense has never been Tyrese Haliburton’s strong suit. While, at times, he uses his above-average height for a point guard and his quickness to get sneaky steals in transition and even a few blocks, other times, he is caught slipping on the defensive side, giving up open shots and drives.

Of course, the most infamous example comes from Team USA’s semifinal loss to Germany. Haliburton was put on the floor by Andreas Obst, giving up an open three-pointer that ultimately helped Germany come away with the win, thus eliminating Team USA from a potential gold medal.

However, despite these blunders, Haliburton also showed some improvements on the defensive side of the ball, delivering some flashes of improved on-ball and point-of-attack defense, which should definitely have Pacers fans excited for next season.

Haliburton has also shown some surprisingly good shot-blocking ability, even setting his FIBA career-high in blocks against Greece with three for the game. This makes sense due to his high basketball IQ, combined with his size and impressive athleticism at the guard spot.

I don’t think Tyrese Haliburton is ever going to evolve into a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate or anything, but if his FIBA flashes are anything to go by, his defense is steadily improving. He can definitely be an above-average defender with his current size and skilllset.

3 Positives, 3 negatives from Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton’s FIBA World Cup: Final thoughts and takeaways

All in all, Tyrese Haliburton showed plenty of talent during his FIBA performances. Whether it be the good, like making a three-point bomb or throwing a fancy alley-oop, or the bad, like slipping on defense or getting subbed out during a run, he showed the world stage what he was made of, for better and for worse.

Perhaps Team USA would have gotten a medal, maybe even gone all the way in the World Cup tournament, if Haliburton got the ball in his hands more, or even started a few games. Or perhaps Haliburton was better off coming off the bench and leading the second unit, backing up Jalen Brunson.

One thing’s for sure, We got to see the whole Tyrese Haliburton experience in Team USA, and, at least in my opinion, he would be a fine addition to the Paris Olympic team in 2024, with superstars like LeBron James and Steph Curry likely sitting out due to risk of injury, old age, or lack of desire.

Haliburton certainly seems to think so, with his response being very optimistic following the loss to Canada, and Steve Kerr harping plenty of praise for the Indiana star through the tournament. This is certain to help his status around the league when the 2024 selection process starts up.

Haliburton put on a show in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, and fans should be excited to see him on the world stage again in the future.