The United States Olympic Men's Basketball put together another dominant performance as they beat Brazil 122-87 in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Next up for Team USA: a rematch with Serbia.
After Team USA's win, head coach Steve Kerr spoke about what it will take for his team to beat Serbia again.
“It's a challenge. Serbia is really good, and we can't get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice. We have to be prepared for their best effort, we have to think about what are they gonna do differently, Jokic – does he play 40 minutes? What else could they have up their sleeve? Or do they just play their game and give it another crack? But every game is so different and unique.”
This will be the second time during this Olympics, and the third time in the last three weeks that Team USA will face Serbia. While the Americans have beat Serbia relatively easily during both their pre-Olympic tune-up and during Olympic pool play, it is notoriously difficult for any basketball team at any level to beat an opponent three times in a row.
The semifinal matchup between Team USA and Serbia will take place on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET in Lille.
Could Serbia upset Team USA?
If there's any opponent that could get in the way of Team USA's pursuit of a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, it may just be Serbia.
Serbia's roster has a significant amount of international experience, and a majority of the players who are on their current roster were part of the 2016 Olympic silver medal team and the 2023 FIBA World Cup runner-up team. Led by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, who is arguably the best player at the Olympics, the Serbians were picked by many as favorites to earn a medal and potentially upset Team USA. Atlanta Hawks wing Bogdan Bogdanovic has shown that he's a more-than-capable second option alongside Jokic.
During their pool play matchup, despite Team USA beating Serbia 110-84, the game was actually much closer than the final score indicated. Jokic had a 0 +/- in his 31 minutes on the floor. In the nine minutes he sat on the bench, Serbia was outscored 29-3 by Team USA. As Kerr mentioned, if Jokic is able to play 40 minutes, it's a toss-up.
Whether that means trying to put Jokic into foul trouble early and force him to head to the bench, going small to expose him on the defensive end, or double or triple-teaming and leaving other players open, it's clear that the playmaking superstar center will be a focal point heading into the semifinal rematch.
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