Paige Bueckers sends Team USA message after Italy scare at FIBA World Cup

Paige Bueckers sends Team USA message after Italy scare at FIBA World Cup originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

After flirting with disaster against Italy, United States star Paige Bueckers chose to look on the bright side while acknowledging the Americans had a few things to polish in order to win a fifth consecutive FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup.

"To be challenged like this early, for our group, I think it's great for us in the long run," Bueckers told reporters Sunday after Team USA held off Italy, 55-52, in the second of three group games.

"Long run" is a relative term; the World Cup ends next Sunday, one way or another.

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But after surviving Italy in an ugly defensive struggle in Berlin, Bueckers stressed how little time this particular group of US stars has spent with each other.

"We've been together here for five days," Bueckers said. "(We) have confidence in our ability to find ways to win, but also have room for growth and know that there's so much we have to get better at."

Team USA shot 29 percent from the field in the win over Italy, and Bueckers was the only American player to make a 3-point shot during the victory.

Though her chemistry with Caitlin Clark is a big plus, Bueckers knows that improvement across the board will be required when the US returns to the court on Monday to face Czechia, with a quarterfinal spot already locked up.

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