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The second round of the 2023 FIBA World Cup has begun, and Brandon Ingram is ready to face one of his New Orleans Pelicans teammates on Sunday.
After Team USA beat Montenegro in a nailbiter on Friday night, Sportskeeda's Itiel Estudillo had the opportunity to tell Ingram about his previous conversation with Jonas Valanciunas before the start of the World Cup.
Estudillo shared with Ingram the story of Valanciunas preparing to potentially face his Pelicans teammate in the tournament. That time has finally come. About meeting Valanciunas, Ingram said that it's going to be a fun matchup and that his team will do everything to play their best basketball against Lithuania.
"It's gonna be fun. Seeing him as a basketball player, it's gonna be fun. Seeing him off the basketball floor too. Seeing what he's been up to this summer. Hopefully, we can come in and compete, and we could play our best against Lithuania."
Jonas Valanciunas says that he's prepared for Brandon Ingram's wrath
Jonas Valanciunas and Team Lithuania held a press conference at the Mall of Asia Arena last week. Valanciunas fielded several inquiries ahead of their tournament opener against Egypt at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Even though Egypt was Lithuania's main focus at the time, Valanciunas accommodated a question from Estudillo about his New Orleans Pelicans teammate, Brandon Ingram.
Valanciunas expressed his intention to leverage his deep understanding of Ingram's style of play should they cross paths during the World Cup.
"He's really, really good so it's hard to know him," Valanciunas said. "He's still gonna do his job. I think he's so talented. He's so humble, so wants to win that; it's hard to stop him.
"We gonna do our best if we get to the point we play against. We're gonna do our best to fight back. It's not gonna be easy, but as I said, every team in this tournament is capable (of winning)."
