Although it’s an exhibition game, there will plenty of heat in the Team USA v Canada exhibition game ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Dillon Brooks acknowledged that Canada’s bronze medal-winning performance and USA’s shock loss at the FIBA World Cup spurred Team USA on to send their biggest and best superstars this time.
“Yeah, because there’s new USA players, you know, that spoke up after (the bronze medal game), and wanted to play,” Brooks told reporters. “So, you know, I’m happy that they’re playing because, you know, we get to test our talents against theirs. And you know, it should be a fun one.”
Canada won a solitary silver medal in the 1936 Olympics, but after FIBA last year, Brooks says the team is aiming higher.
“Our time was last year,” Brooks said. “And now (it’s) our time for this year. But instead of getting bronze, we want the gold.”
Brooks was asked how he measures the challenge of going up against a super Team USA roster, headlined by three incredible NBA veterans in LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
When answering, Brooks couldn’t help but throw out a bit of trash talk.
“They’ve gotta guard. They’ve gotta play defense,” Brooks said. “That’s my main thing. Every team that has to play against us has to guard, has to scout against us. And we’re just going to play our game and make adjustments during the game.”
Brooks added, “I take it as another game, but me being who I am, I like to make a statement. So I’ll be ready to play. Team Canada will be ready to play, and we’re gonna go balls to the wall and watch the film after and see if we got better.”
Wednesday will be the last time Team USA and Canada will play before a potential meeting in the knockout stage in Paris.
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