Mavs LISTEN: Luka's FIBA Pride, USA Upset; Dereck Lively II as Starting Center?

Luka Doncic and the Slovenian national team have been on a major slump heading into their FIBA World Cup finale, and Team USA was upset by Germany. The Mavs Step Back Podcast discusses all of that, as well as looking forward to Dallas Mavericks training camp.

The FIBA World Cup is coming to a close, and Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic's Slovenian national team is riding a three-game losing streak heading into its finale against Italy on Saturday. Despite Slovenia's recent struggles, though, Doncic is still proud of his team being able to make it to the final phase of the World Cup, which featured only eight countries.

"This is the World Cup," Doncic said after a tough loss to Lithuania. "We are in the top eight ... We tried, but it didn't work. For me, the motivation is to play basketball. Especially for the national team. It's true that we played for the second day in a row, it was very difficult to get our legs back, even to sleep yesterday, but that's how it is. I hope that we will play better in the next game on Saturday against Italy."

Meanwhile, the favorites to win the World Cup, Team USA, lost to a scorching hot Germany squad on Friday in the semifinals, setting up a finals match between Germany and Serbia on Sunday. Former Mavs and current New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson is an excellent player, but he didn't have his best outing in a loss that eliminated Team USA from gold-medal contention. Brunson finished with 15 points and seven assists on 4-9 shooting, which isn't terrible, but he was also a team-worst -19 in the 113-111 loss to Germany.

"The game has been globalized over the last 30 years," Team USA head coach Steve Kerr said after the upset. "These games are difficult. This is not 1992 anymore. Players are better all over the world. Teams are better. It's not easy to win the World Cup or the Olympics."

Luka Doncic operates off a screen in Slovenia's game against Lithuania on Thursday / FIBA

On the latest episode of the Mavs Step Back Podcast, we discuss Doncic's World Cup performance at length, as well as what Team USA needs to do going forward in order to be the best in the world again ... and yes, believe it or not, there are other ways of doing that aside from just having LeBron James and Steph Curry show up for the Olympics next summer.

From there, we preview Mavs training camp, which is three weeks from getting underway. More specifically, we discuss how rookie big man Dereck Lively II appears to have added some muscle to his frame in the two months that have passed since NBA Summer League. Given his high motor, basketball IQ and physical tools, does Lively have a better chance to be the Mavs' starting center from Day 1 than we initially thought?

"That's something that's circled on my board – to be a starter for the Mavs" Lively told DallasBasketball.com. "That's something I'm definitely not at right now, but I'm scraping away, getting closer and closer each day. But I'm not there now, so that just means I've gotta keep working so I can get to it and get better."

When it comes to having a mentor, Lively couldn't have asked for a better one than former Mavs champion big man Tyson Chandler. Chandler was the linchpin for the 2011 Mavs, helping them finally capture their first championship in franchise history by being a star in his role and doing the dirty work. He is teaching Lively to be that same type of player, and Lively is soaking in every bit of knowledge he can get before starting his rookie season.

"Man, It's honestly amazing," Lively told DallasBasketball.com when asked about Chandler's mentorship and coaching. "You know, I've never actually been coached by a big. I've never been coached by someone who's [a seven-footer], somebody who's been in this game, who knows the details, the tricks, the nitty-gritty things."

You can watch or listen to our entire Mavs Step Back Podcast below, and be sure to subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere else you get your podcasts from! As always, thanks for listening!