Team USA steps up quest for fifth straight Olympic gold

USA’s #06 LeBron James dunks the ball in the men’s preliminary round group C basketball match between Puerto Rico and USA during the Paris Olympics 2024 at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-d’Ascq, northern France, on August 3, 2024. (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)

The unbeaten USA squad led by NBA superstar LeBron James aims to take their pursuit of a fifth straight Olympic basketball gold to the next level when they face Brazil in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

The Americans rolled through the group stage with a perfect 3-0 record and a tournament-leading plus-64 point differential — but coach Steve Kerr said there are things the United States must improve if they want to emerge with the Paris Olympics gold when men’s basketball concludes on Saturday.

“We know we have to play better,” Kerr said after the United States prepared to shift from Lille to Bercy Arena in Paris for the knockout phase.

“Part of this tournament is it gets harder as you go,” Kerr said. “We have to take better care of the ball.

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“We don’t need to make home run plays. We just need to hit singles. Our talent is overwhelming if we make the right play, and I think that’s part of it.”

The winner of USA-Brazil will face either NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic’s Serbia or Tokyo bronze medallists Australia in the semifinals.

Australia surprised the Serbs in an Olympic tune-up game last month.

In the other side of the draw, host nation France and its fledgling NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama take on Canada while Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece faces World Cup champion Germany.

‘Grind out a win’

Kerr is spoiled for choice with a roster that includes James, two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant, Golden State sharp-shooter Stephen Curry and the NBA champion Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum, to name just a few.

But he says his array of superstars must focus on the basics.

“Offensive rebounds,” Kerr said. “Our opponents are getting a lot of offensive boards, so just continuing to harp on box outs and extra possessions and making sure that teams aren’t able to even out the game with all those extra possessions from our doing.”

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Brazil’s former NBA first-round draft pick Bruno Caboclo averaged 16 points and 7.3 rebounds as Brazil went 1-2 in group play.

Vitor Benite connected on 56.3 percent of his three-point attempts, but Brazil just don’t look like having the firepower to challenge the United States offensively.

James has been the driver of a US offensive that averaged more than 105 points per game in group play.

Durant erupted for 23 points against Serbia. Anthony Edwards scored 26 points against Puerto Rico.

However, whatever the remaining matchups look like on paper, Curry cautioned that the United States must be prepared for adversity on the way to what would be a 17th Olympic gold.

“Winning a gold medal, whatever year you look in the history books, maybe besides the 1992 team, everyone has had a battle somewhere,” Curry said.

“Whether it’s shots not falling or it’s a team that is playing amazing, you’ve got to grind out a win.”

‘Good energy’

France, silver medallists in Tokyo, lost their group finale to Germany to fall in the seedings.

Now they’ll have to become the first team to beat Canada to keep their dream of gold on home soil alive.

“I think we’ve all got the good will, the good energy,” Wembanyama said.

“But now I think we’ve got to trust the coaching more, just trust our teammates more and do the little things that don’t show up on the stat sheets — setting screens, boxing out, all that.”

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France coach Vincent Collet tried to put a positive team on France’s lower seeding.

“They have more to lose than us in this position,” he said of the Canadians, who haven’t won an Olympic medal since 1936.

Germany goes into the quarters as the second seed, but, like Kerr, Germany coach Gordie Herbert said the supposed easier matchup that provides is an illusion.

“You hope you get a little bit easier team (in the quarterfinals),” Herbert said. “But I think you really don’t because every team here is really good.”