Turner Struggles as Team USA Falls to France

Team USA lost in the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup this morning to France and is officially out of the World Cup. Team USA had won fifty-eight straight games in international competition before this morning’s 89-79 loss. This is only the second time in the last ten FIBA World Cups that Team USA will not qualify for a medal. Fortunately for Team USA they still qualified for the Olympics next year in Japan.

Before the game, Pacers’ center Myles Turner had some words for reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and Frenchman, Rudy Gobert, stating that he was “Looking forward to it. He’s a good defensive player. I’m a good defensive player. So it’s going to be a good game. You know, he’s the Defensive Player of the Year according to some,” per thejnotes.com. This is in reference to the fact that Turner believed he should have won or at least garnered more attention for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

France's Rudy Gobert drives against Team USA's Myles Turner. Photo Courtesy of Amico Hoops.

While I enjoy the confidence that Turner had it seems as if all he did was throw gasoline on what was already a pretty large bonfire for Team France. John Schuhmann, a writer for NBA.com, asked Gobert’s teammate Nicolas Batum about Turner’s comments. Schuhmann tweeted, “Nicolas Batum says that Rudy Gobert saw Myles Turner’s comments comparing their defense, & that provided extra motivation for the DPOY.” That motivation seemed to work as Gobert had twenty-one points and sixteen rebounds in thirty-four minutes for France, while Turner was unable to stay on the floor. Turner had two points and one rebound in just over ten minutes.

Now listen, I am a big fan of Myles Turner. I own his jersey, but if there is one thing you are always taught - DO NOT GIVE THE OTHER TEAM BULLETIN BOARD MATERIAL! That is what Turner did here. In a game that he challenged the reigning Defensive Player of the Year he put together his worst outing of the tournament for Team USA. You have to be able to back up what you say and in this case Turner was not able to do that. I enjoy the confidence, I really do, but maybe he should pull the reins back on challenging other players until Turner can consistently put together solid performances night in and night out.