Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich is a big fan of Boston Celtics small forward Jaylen Brown.
After finishing with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists in Team USA's win over Brazil on Monday, Brown drew high praise from the legendary San Antonio Spurs coach.
“He’s a strong player,” Popovich said of Brown, via Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “For his size and strength, he moves well and he will penetrate. He can catch and pull it. Get to the rim. And he’s unselfish and finding other people. He’s just kind of an all-around player. He has stepped in and given us good minutes at both ends of the floor for sure.”
Jaylen Brown has been playing a lot more since his Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum went down with an ankle injury against Turkey. By beating Brazil on Monday, Team USA guaranteed itself a spot in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Team USA will now face France next in the knockout round. France has four NBA players in Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum, Frank Ntilikina and Rudy Gobert — two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Brown will have to continue his strong play to help Team USA win the gold for the third consecutive time at the FIBA World Cup. This is a great experience for the Celtics swingman, who is going to come out of this as a more polished basketball player.
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