USA Takes Back Nike Hoop Summit Title
It wasn’t the prettiest of games but Team USA took back the Nike Hoop Summit on Saturday by the final score of 84-73.
Turnovers, turnovers and more turnovers were the theme of the day.
There were a total of 38 turnovers by both teams but for team USA who lost the last two seasons, none of that matters.
“We realized that we lost the last two years here in this game so it was a great feeling to be a part of this,” said Duke commit Jahlil Okafor who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for Team USA.
Team USA was far more successful in the turnover battle, forcing six more than the World team and scoring 21 points off the 22 turnovers.
Another major factor in Team USA’s victory was bench scoring. Justise Winslow scored 16 points off the bench while no players on the World team scored in double-figures.
Winslow also helped Team USA take momentum into the second half by hitting a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the second quarter.
Tyus Jones also had a solid game running the show with 13 points, six assists and five steals.
The World team struggled with turnovers and few other players showed the control of Emmanuel Mudiay. Mudiay–who will be play at SMU next season under legendary coach Larry Brown–led all scorers with 20 points and dished five assists looking like he was in complete control.
Mudiay, even though he played better than anybody on the World team, pointed the finger at himself.
“I blame myself. It’s my fault,” he said in the post game press conference.
Roy Rana was happy with the effort that his team showed and felt like the game which featured 45 personal fouls was a little sloppy.
“It’s such an incredible week for everybody involved but losing is losing,” said Rana who is also the Canadian Junior National Team coach.
“I’m going to remember this game for the rest of my life,” said Mudiay vowing to use the game as motivation for when he faces his USA counterparts when he goes to the next level.
“Whichever one has USA on their chest, I’m going to try and go at them,” he said.
Erik Gundersen
Erik Gundersen is the Trail Blazers beat reporter for The Columbian. He's a graduate of the Allen School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon in addition earning a degree in Spanish. He's covered the NBA for four seasons. You can also occasionally find his work on ESPN.com's NBA section for their TrueCities series. He also fist-bumped with Kanye West once. Follow @BlazerBanter on twitter for more Blazers and NBA news.