Steve Kerr Is Pushing Team USA Men’s Basketball After Low-Effort Exhibition Wins

After a pair of close victories over South Sudan and Germany, United States men’s basketball coach Steve Kerr put his team through a rigorous practice Thursday. Team USA plays Serbia in the 2024 Paris Olympics opener on Sunday, and Kerr wants to ensure that the team is better prepared.

“That’s what today is about. It’s the reminder. It’s time. We’re here,” Kerr said. “So it’s got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can’t let teams outplay us effort-and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.”

In exhibition play heading into the Olympics, Team USA has been inconsistent despite winning five straight games on three different continents. After meandering victories over Australia and Canada and a commanding win against Serbia, the United States nearly fell to South Sudan and Germany.

In what would have been an incalculably huge upset, South Sudan led the United States by double digits for most of the game before LeBron James led the team to a grinding 101-100 victory. The team trailed against Germany as well before James intervened again and drove the U.S. to a 92-88 win.

In a film session before practice Thursday, coaches pointed out repeated instances of low-effort play by key contributors during exhibition games. Team USA has an overwhelming wealth of talent compared to its competitors, but this has meant very little thus far in several hard-fought friendly matches.

“I hated our pace against Germany. We were just walking the ball up the floor. The tape was tough to watch,” Kerr said earlier this week. “So we know we’ve got to play a lot better at both ends, and I’m confident that we will. But we have to make some adjustments, both strategic and emotional.”

To combat the team’s slow pace, which starkly contrasts with the European style, Kerr is using a creative substitution strategy, swapping five players on the floor at once. It closely resembles shift changes in hockey and is meant to keep players fresh.