Jaylen Brown had a message for his United States men’s national basketball team teammates after they fell to Australia on Saturday, and they took a step in the right direction with their latest win.
Team USA defeated Canada on Monday behind Brown’s team-high 19 points (8-of-11 FG), but the Boston Celtics wing says they’re still “nowhere near” their full potential. According to the 22-year-old, there’s plenty of room for improvement.
“I wouldn’t say impressed would be the word. But, it’s a journey. It’s a process,” Brown said, via USA Basketball. “There is a lot of room to improve I think for this team, especially offensively. Defensively, we came out with the right mindset, and that’s half the battle, more than half the battle, having the right mindset. Now, we got to execute. Now, we got to take care of the ball. We got to rebound and play unselfishly, and we’ll be pretty good.”
Yes, the mindset appears to be there, but when asked if they’re closing in on their peak, Brown responded with a definitive answer.
“I think we are nowhere near. I think we are just scratching the surface. That’s just me saying what I’m saying. Obviously, I think we have a lot of room to improve. I’m biased of course. But, we still come out and play. We have some good talent. We just have to continue to work together until it falls in place like seamlessly. It’s a little bit rugged. It’s not fluid yet, but we will get there.”
Brown looked very solid Monday and has shown to be one of the more aggressive players on Team USA’s roster. He averaged 9.5 points and four rebounds in just over 18 minutes per game during USA’s exhibition slate.
