Ingram stepped up his production from a two point performance vs. New Zealand with a five piece against Greece.
BI is just the latest example of how the transition for some players from the NBA to FIBA can be difficult. He even said as much the other day:
> “This is totally different than what I am used to,” Ingram told The Athletic Sunday, prior to the Americans’ practice at a Manila business district hotel. “The team is winning right now, so I can’t be selfish thinking about myself. But it’s a little frustrating right now for me, and I’m just trying to figure out ways I can be effective.”
Can he break out of his slump before Team USA advances to the knockout rounds?
[Source](https://www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup/2023/game/2808/Greece-USA#|tab=boxscore)
by iksnet
36 Comments
Compared to previous games, I thought he got more of his typical looks on-ball with the starting lineup – just missed. The tradeoff was that Edwards was standing still for 3s. Imo, he needs mins with the Haliburton/Reaves backcourt to get his offense back up.
Is he playing good defense?
His tour as the most overrated man in basketball continues ✌️
Pray 4 Ingram y’all
I respect the honesty and also not trying to make it about himself when the team is winning. Totally get it from a player stand point of atleast wanting to contribute and feel like you’re being effective when you’re on the floor.
Don’t need to hear his bellyaching when Walker-Kessler and Portis look better out there and team USA has won all eight quarters of play.
Some guys would rather score 20 and lose than score 5 and cruise. Bad fit for this team.
He needs to come off the bench instead of starting
I do think people underrate people who can completely shift their games to contribute on the international stage. There are a lot of great players who struggled to make the shift for whatever reason (Duncan, Iverson, Butler, Klay, Lillard come to mind).
Dame had the same problem. When you’re a high-usage player that hogs the ball, it’s hard to make the transition from star/#1 option to a role player. On the other hand, players like LeBron, KD, Steph can be effective in FIBA since they are ok without holding the ball for long stretches of time.
Bench his ass
I wish Team USA would stop chasing stars for the lineups and instead go out of their way to pick known great role players so we stop getting stories like this at every single tourney we play in.
*edit*
“Why are you booing? I’m right!”
Who complains about minutes on team USA? It has no implications on money and contracts
Smh
He could just focus more on the little things, the stats dont need to be his thing. Just focus on loose balls defense rebounding boxing out.
Play better
It’s weed withdrawals.
This dude doesn’t deserve to get compared to KD.
KD holds multiple team USA scoring records, both in all time and points per game, meanwhile Ingram doin this.
Ingram has always been at his best when he’s the #1 option. He didn’t really take a leap as a player with the Lakers until Lebron’s injury, then with the Pels, he plays better when Zion is out. I don’t think he is super comfortable with a smaller role and seems checked out at times, and i think he’s particularly ill-suited for a national team, but it may also be a great learning experience for him.
Funny how bad some of these players look when you can actually play defense
Love BI but this is why they should be tryouts instead of just picking guys.
BI came in as the number two pick and has never in a true sense had to play like a role player. Even going to the Pels he’s been the alpha due to Zion’s injuries. So I understand why it takes a lot of getting used to. But at the same time, this is the beauty of a deep USA team. He can pop off one game and ride a hot streak, or his minutes can be completely ceded to someone and the rest of the team can step up. I thinke Kerr and co. were counting on him being a strong defensive presence even if his offense doesn’t work out, but hey, that’s why you have a 12-man roster to refine your rotations as goings get tougher.
Wow, this is a bad sign, I know it seems like national team performance doesn’t matter but this hows Ingram can’t work with other stars and we know he is not good to it by himself, so just trade him.
A lot of “pure hoopers” get exposed in Fiba play.
He aint him
Ingram going to request a trade to bahamas
I worry about his mental, he seems way too passive to live up to the potential he clearly has with his skill. I don’t see a competitive fire in him at all. Introverts can succeed in the NBA of course but I have my doubts on him. There’s no reason why he should be saying things like this while playing for the national team, it’s a red flag
I think this guy needs to start playing heavy D , play as a team instead of just lazily prancing up the court and expecting the world to stop as he scores fancy buckets.
Doesnt matter. It’s Team USA, not Team BI. Someone else stepped up.
Austin Reeves stealing his time.
These are the very lessons that countless other “stars” before him have had to learn on NT duty. If he’s not at his best as a scorer he’s actually a liability to his team, so he has to learn to round his game out some. If he’s able to take that back with him to the day job, he may well make a jump.
His “role” isn’t the problem. His play is the problem.
“This is totally different to what I am used to”
“The team is winning”
Lol.
This is also on the coaches not putting him in a position to play to his strengths
Lol he got 18 minutes and sucked. That’s on him.
The title is just completely misrepresenting what he said. He hasn’t complained about his role whatsoever. Plus he’s taking a step back to let what is working work.
BI is the man.
I remember when people were arguing who the best player on this team was. I got absolutely downvoted to hell for saying BI was no where near top 5. Literally called and idiot with negative BBIQ. I love BI and wish him well, but holy shit if the average fan(Lakers fans mainly) isn’t the most loudest and proudest dorks I have ever seen lol.