So they just won the Gold medal! So what? It was expected of them frankly. Call it hubris, call it arrogance- I call it what it is: winning a tournament they were expected to win in a way that no one expected them to win it. Simply put, it was a struggle. It was a struggle like when I lie to myself and still try to squeeze into those size 34 waist pants hanging at the back of my closet. A struggle like the price of Dogecoin after Elon Musk went on SNL and made no one laugh. This version of the USA men’s team lost to Nigeria, Australia, and France. That’s like losing to a team on every continent except South America and Asia. My only relief? Thank God they didn’t have to play Slovenia in the gold medal game because Luka would have given them that work as he would have inevitably racked up points and dimes like the U.S. Mint if it was relocated to Wall Street.
I’m going to say the quiet part out loud. I’m going to say what everyone is thinking but no one has the guts to say into the microphone. Coach Pop- we love you and all that you’ve done for the game, but it’s time to hang them up buddy. Time to ride off into the sunset and enjoy some of those aged wines that you’ve been collecting in your cellar all of these years. The fire to coach players tough and be innovative is gone. Additionally, the game has changed a bit from when he was dominating the league with three international players from the USVI, France, and Argentina. I watched as this team jacked up bad three after bad three and no timeout was called to demand the team attack the rim and get to the free throw line. The old Pop would have gotten in Durant’s face and demanded that he lead the team in a more efficient direction. He would have demanded better attention to detail from Tatum on the defensive end. He would have stopped playing Draymond at the 5 when they were getting killed on the boards.
The rest of the world isn’t catching up talent wise but they are in skill. Patty Mills smelled blood in the water and he legitimately thought his Australian side could take down the Kaiju that is Team USA basketball, or maybe a Kaiju is what it used to be? Who could blame Patty for thinking that way? Based on what Team USA was putting on film, Team USA was definitely vulnerable. Rumors began coming out of Tokyo stating that there were some players unhappy with the basic “San Antonio” offensive sets that Pop had them running. The players didn’t believe in what they were being asked to do on the court and it showed. Thankfully the team got hot and got a favorable draw that culminated in a gold medal, but let’s be honest- this did not feel like the Dream Team or the Redeem Team.
Steve Kerr should absolutely be the new head coach for the Olympic Basketball team. He’s done enough for club basketball and can translate that into a nice career as the head man for his country. The NBA and International basketball are very different at their core. International basketball is less about talent and more about playing with sound fundamentals at an extremely high level within a teamwork based structure. Want to beat King Kong? Pool the resources of all the military defense systems in the world, or become Godzilla. That’s what it feels like international teams are working towards. Conversely, the NBA relies much more on the raw individual talent of a player than their fundamental skills. Coach Kerr has 5 championships as a player and 3 Championships as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors. He was a fundamentally sound player. He coaches up players to be fundamentally sound. He is also innovative and understands how to reach his players and communicate on their level. Coach Kerr also adapts well to game time situations. Coach Kerr has the pedigree top to bottom to lead future American Olympic teams to the gold medal. As long as his back medically complies and his family agrees, I am hoping to see him as the head coach in charge of the red, white, and blue in the next Olympic cycle.