Steve Kerr and Team USA knew that their trip to Paris to play in the Olympics was not going to be a vacation. That point was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt Thursday when the LeBron James and his teammates were pushed to the limit before the Americans pulled out a 95-91 victory over Serbia.
The United States will face a talented French team in the gold medal game Saturday. France features talented big man Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert, and the home team got to the title game with a hard-earned victory over Germany.
Just because Kerr and Team USA survived a scare does not mean the team is out of the woods. Fans of the team would like to think there will not be another close call, but that is not necessarily the case.
Defensive effort for Team USA was deficient against Serbia
Team USA will have to come with a sensational effort, and one of the factors may be the team's three-point defense. Serbia was able to take advantage of some lax U.S. defense in that area to connect on 15 of 39 shots from beyond the arc.
It will be up to James, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Steph Curry to make sure that all shots — including those from beyond the three-point stripe — are contested in the most competitive manner.
In addition to the three-point defense, the United States has to be concerned with its interior defense. Serbia had great success behind Nikola Jokic and Nikola Milutinov, so it seems likely that France will try to attack with Wembanyama and Gobert. In addition to that pair, athletic forwards Guerschon Yabusele and Mathias Lessort are capable of causing problems.
The French team has improved as the Olympic tournament has progressed, and Kerr has taken notice.
“It's been very impressive to see their team evolve, change styles on the fly,” Kerr said, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. “What jumps out on tape is just how hard they're playing at both ends. And so we have to be prepared for that physicality and that force, and we have to not only match that but exceed that. And that's the challenge.”
Kerr involved in controversy over Jayson Tatum's lack of playing time
Kerr has been criticized throughout the Olympic tournament for his limited use of Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics. Tatum, a three-time, first-team NBA All-Star, did not play at all against Serbia. He is the 11th man in Kerr's 12-team rotation.
The coach attempted to provide an explanation on how the leader of the NBA champions could be kept on the bench for Team USA throughout the game.
“It’s not what I’m not seeing from Jayson, it’s what I’ve seen from the other guys,” Kerr said, per Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. “Like I’ve said many times during this tournament and the last six weeks, it’s just hard to play 11 people, even in an NBA game.
“Our second unit was not great last night, but that group has been one of the bright spots on this team, especially on the defensive end. So it’s not about what Jayson is doing or not doing. It’s just about combinations and the way that group has played together, the way Kevin [Durant] has filled in since he came back from his injury. It’s just a math problem more than anything.”
Tatum has not fired any shots of his own against Kerr, but it's unlikely that Kerr's words were satisfactory.
United States turned it on in late stages against Serbia
The U.S. team was in quite a bit of trouble against Serbia throughout the game and it did not clinch the victory until Curry made a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to give his team a four-point advantage.
Curry had the kind of game that NBA fans are used to seeing from the Golden State Warrior guard. He scored 36 points on 12 of 19 shooting, including 9 of 13 from beyond the arc.
During the fourth quarter, the U.S. outscored Serbia by a 32-15 margin, and that decisive margin allowed the team to overcome a 13-point deficit at the end of three quarters. Curry, James, Joel Embiid and Kevin Durant keyed the American surge in the final 10 minutes.
James had 16 points and 12 rebounds, Embiid scored 19 points while Durant tallied 9 points off the bench.
The rally by the United States was impressive, but the American players know that they have to come up with a much more consistent effort and play well from the start if they want to win the gold medal against the host team.
Follow Us
Subscribe