Damian Lillard: 'Not First Time I've Seen Team USA Get Tested'

Damian Lillard seems undeterred despite Team USA's consecutive losses in Olympic tune-ups.

Damian Lillard was honest about one of the driving forces that pushed him to play for Team USA this summer. In the aftermath of a disappointing season with the Trail Blazers, he wanted the chance to experience a history of success on the international stage that makes the Americans overwhelming favorites in the Tokyo Olympics.

Multiple games into its slate of exhibition tune-ups, though, Team USA is winless, a reality Lillard believes is a reflection of ever-improving competition worldwide—not to mention his side's comparative lack of experience as teammates.

"These teams are experienced, they've spent a lot of time together," Lillard said after the Americans' 91-83 loss to Australia. "We are still working at becoming a team. Still getting our legs under us, getting in shape. We're not just gonna come out here, roll the ball out and beat these teams. We gotta play the right way, compete, and we gotta come out here to win and do everything we can to give ourselves our best chance to win. If we don't, we can be beat."

Lillard scored a team-high 22 points on Monday, half of them in the first quarter, spurring Team USA to a nine-point lead at intermission. The Americans were thoroughly outplayed after halftime, however, a byproduct of both Gregg Popovich going deeper into his bench and lagging defensive intensity.

"After a short time together, there's a lot of things that have to be covered," Popovich said. "But the first half and the second half were two different beasts. In the first half we defended the way we wanted to defend, the way we did not defend against Nigeria. We were more physical. We sustained the defense longer. We rebounded better. We moved the ball better at the offensive end and had more pace. Second half, we tired out. When that happens you get hit mentally a bit, too."

Lillard also singled out Team USA's waning energy and commitment throughout the game as a major factor in the loss.

But the more he suits up for his country, the more Lillard is learning what his recent predecessors in red, white and blue have come to realize, too. 

"Now you go out there and the whole starting five is from NBA teams, and they're all rotation players. That's something that's stood out to me," he said of American foes. "But it's also not the first time I've seen Team USA get tested."

The Americans are coming off a disastrous seventh-place finish at the 2019 FIBA World Cup, Popovich's first action as head coach. Even Team USA's run of three straight Olympic gold medals hasn't been easy. Three of its wins in 2016 came by single-digits, and gold-winning victories over rival Spain in 2012 and 2008 were in doubt until their final moments. 

The world, clearly, continues catching up. A wildly hectic 2020-21 NBA season and their inexperience playing together are factors that will continue affecting the Americans in Tokyo, too.

Exhibition losses be damned, though, Team USA's coach and point guard still seem confident about taking home Olympic gold. Popovich insisted that the Americans "got better" against Australia. Lillard, meanwhile, can sense his team coalescing despite some surprising—yet ultimately meaningless—losses in the runup to Tokyo.

"The more time we spend on the floor together," he said, "the more we'll figure each other out."

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