US basketball team players with forward LeBron James (C) attend a training session at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-dAscq, northern France, on July 24, 2024, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic games. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)
United States coach Steve Kerr sent a message to his NBA-powered squad, which finished with an exhibition record of five wins in five games.
Five players who will see action in Paris averaged in double figures in that undefeated run and five players also shot better than 35 percent of their three-pointers.
And yet Kerr wants one thing from his guys: Raise their game a notch—two, in fact—higher.
“We have another level,” Kerr said. “I think we have another two levels that we can get to.”
The Americans get their bid going in a Group C preliminary match against Serbia on Sunday at 11:15 p.m. (Manila time).
Despite going 5-0, the Americans did show that there was much to work on as they look to defend their crown.
The NBA stars went through close calls against the likes of World Cup champion Germany and African qualifier South Sudan, which became a country in the last three times Team USA won the Olympic basketball gold.
And Kerr wants enough of those close calls, of playing to the level of their foes.
“I think that’s what today is about—it’s the reminder [that], ‘It’s time,’ you know?” Kerr said after a Team USA practice earlier this week.
“We’re not traveling around anymore [for exhibition games in Las Vegas, Abu Dhabi and London]. We’re here. We’ve got six games. We’ve got to get into the pool play, advance, and … we need 40 minutes of force, attention, and focus; and we can’t let teams outplay us with effort and energy like we did the other night against Germany [and] like we did against South Sudan.”
No urgency yet
“[It’s] just effort and energy, play after play after play,” Kerr added. “This is different. This is not an 82-game [NBA] season. They’re not going to play 125 games total with preseason and playoffs and all that. It’s literally six games.”
And so far, the sense of urgency isn’t there yet and the team has yet to unlock the level Kerr wants the players to be once they step on the Olympic hardcourt.
“[W]atching the tape, we’re jogging through some possessions, not hitting bodies on box-outs. And so it’s time. It’s time to lock in on that. And as I said, that’s for all of us—coaches and player to get to that point.”
While many expect Team USA to romp its way to the title what with the talent level of its roster, team officials warned that things will be different once the ball is tipped off.
“The [international] game is different,” said Team USA assistant coach Tyronn Lue, saying the physicality of international rules may make NBA players used to getting calls from the refs a bit uncomfortable. —INQUIRER SPORTS STAFF