Capturing guard Anthony “Ant-Man” Edwards hailed the chemistry in america crew because it received its third sport out of three on the Basketball World Cup on Wednesday.
Edwards took centre stage because the U.S. beat Jordan 110-62 in Manila, scoring 22 factors and claiming eight rebounds and 4 assists in an all-action efficiency.
Edwards, an NBA All-Star final season on the age of 21, is a part of a younger and hungry U.S. squad that got here into the World Cup with no earlier match expertise.
He’s completely happy to share the limelight together with his teammates, saying: “We like one another so much, that’s the primary factor”.
“Coach does an awesome job of placing all people in the proper positions to succeed,” mentioned Edwards, the primary general decide by the Minnesota Timberwolves within the 2020 NBA draft.
“It’s super-important that we like one another and I feel it’s going to go a good distance.”
U.S. head coach Steve Kerr has given loads of enjoying minutes to everybody in his squad and has been rewarded with a string of spectacular performances.
Paolo Banchero led the crew in scoring with 21 factors of their opening 99-72 win over New Zealand, earlier than Austin Reaves took up the slack with a team-high 15 factors of their 109-81 victory over Greece.
Edwards mentioned it was “super-important that we’ve received depth”.
“All 12 of us can put the ball within the hoop,” he mentioned. “All of us simply feed off each other.”
The U.S. certified for the second spherical as the highest crew in Group C and can face Lithuania and Montenegro within the subsequent section.
When requested about his crew’s probabilities, Edwards mentioned: “I feel we’re going to win”.
He additionally mentioned he’s feeling no strain, regardless of the U.S. seeking to atone for a seventh-place end on the earlier World Cup in 2019.
“I like the sport of basketball, it’s enjoyable for me,” he mentioned. “I am going on the market and do what I like. I put within the work daily so it’s no strain in any respect.”