Dallas Mavericks: 2 former Mavs play well in USA vs. Australia

The USA National team has been preparing for the World Cup coming up next month with some warm-up games. In the 2nd warm-up game with Team Australia, two former Dallas Mavericks players played particularly well.

Team USA is far from a perfect team leading up to this year’s FIBA World Cup. The big superstars of the league have decided to spend their summers in other ways, leaving some guys who likely would not have even gotten an invite to fill out the roster. That is not to say the team is not talented, but it is the truth.

After Team USA beat Team Australia handily in their first matchup, game 2 didn’t go quite as well for the Americans. Aside from the international matchup, there was also an internal competition that no one cared about: which former Dallas Mavericks player would perform the best?

For the USA team, Harrison Barnes is there to represent as a former Mavs player. For the Boomers, Andrew Bogut and his very short stint in a Mavericks uniform made the cut. One of these guys clearly had a more impressive time in a Mavs uniform, but they both have had solid NBA careers overall.

In the first game between the United States and Australia, neither Barnes nor Bogut did particularly well. HB put up only 3 points and 3 rebounds in 13 minutes of play. Bogut did a little bit better with 6 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists in just under 20 minutes of time. Neither player made a particularly large impact for their team.

Last night, however, both Barnes and Bogut did a lot better with their time on the court. Even with a little bit less time than last game, Bogut improved a lot, scoring 16 points, grabbing 9 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists. Barnes, on the other hand, had his playing time doubled which he took full advantage of. In 26 minutes, Barnes dropped 20 points and 6 rebounds.

Harrison Barnes will have an important role off the bench for this Team USA, who are still going to be heavy favorites to win it all at the World Cup. Although Barnes may not be the biggest star on the team, he is a good scorer and a smart player and will do well with the big international team.

For Bogut and Team Australia, the big man represents a great NBA career that can help with leadership and guidance for a really talented team. Australia is not the favorite for this one, but they are definitely one of just a few teams that could easily be picked to win it all.

Team USA will start group play for the World Cup on September 1 with a game against the Czech Republic which has only one current NBA player, Tomas Satoransky. The Aussies play on the same day against the Canadian team, which has a handful of NBA talent.