“I Must Say…”: Worriors’ Steve Kerr Slams at Crucial Incident and Claims its Time For Team USA To Stop Fooling Around…

Go time is nearly here, and Coach Kerr is not pleased with his team’s effort.

Olympic Basketball starts on Sunday, and Team USA coach Steve Kerr is unhappy with the current state of his squad. After a video review, Kerr found the team’s effort against South Sudan and Germany lacking.

Kerr stated, “It’s got to be 40 minutes of force, attention, and focus. We can’t let teams outplay us in effort and energy like we did against Germany and South Sudan. We have another level—maybe even two levels—that we can reach, but it’s a collaboration, always.

“We can show them, ‘Let’s do this, let’s do that. Let’s learn personnel.’ We need to know the shooters, the non-shooters, all that stuff. Where they can help themselves is just effort and energy, play after play. This is different.”

Kerr’s comments echo the criticism from Australia’s Josh Giddey earlier this week: “If you look on paper, obviously they’re the most talented team. It’s no secret. But the difference is these guys have been thrown together, whereas a lot of other countries have had a core that’s been together for years.”

This criticism isn’t new, and there’s some truth to it. This is why Mike Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo required a multi-year commitment to the program. It may be somewhat muted by the presence of three Celtics (Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Jrue Holiday) and the fact that LeBron James and Anthony Davis are teammates, with Steph Curry and Kevin Durant having played together before.

Still, Giddey’s point is valid and ironically harks back to the criticisms of previous USA teams, notably the 2004 team, which was poorly coached by Larry Brown.

Fortunately, most of these problems are correctable. Kerr is demanding more intensity and effort, and the US should have a much higher defensive ceiling than anyone else. A loss in pool play wouldn’t be fatal and might even help drive Kerr’s points home effectively.

Let’s hope they figure it out on their own, and remember, some of the criticisms we’re hearing now were also heard in 2020 when Gregg Popovich was in charge.

The clock is now ticking.