With ten days to go until the start of the 2024 Olympic Games, Steve Kerr does not intend to rule out experimenting.
His starting five could thus be led to evolve. Particularly on the pivot position that is being disputed Joel Embiidthe holder until now, and his replacement Anthony Davis.
The latter made an impression yesterday against Australia with a 17-point, 14-rebound performance. With the feeling of being unstoppable in the paint, on both sides of the court, like a ” Wilt Chamberlain » compares The Athletic squarely.
After two small friendlies, the Lakers' interior clearly seems to be in a better dynamic than his Sixers counterpart. Joel is getting better and better. It usually takes the big guys longer to find the rhythm and the flow. But I love Joel, he's a dominant player, and I think it's going to be important for us to find the best combinations and put the right people together. “, Steve Kerr says.
Against Canada in the opening of the preparation, the Cameron native, who had knee surgery last February, had to settle for 5 points in 12 minutes, where “AD” had already finished with a double-double (10 points and 11 rebounds). Against Australia, Joel Embiid contributed 10 points and 5 rebounds.
Three more games to think about
While Team USA seems to like the pairing of Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo a lot, the team's starters are trying to get Joel Embiid up front. But Embiid, as The Athletic points out, plays at a different speed than LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Anthony Edwards.
” He requires a lot of attention, so we have to use him and put him in position. We still have to find our spaces around him to give him opportunities, whether he's trying to score or whether he's getting the balls out. And if he's not in the position, we try to find other angles and the chemistry of this group. ” notes Stephen Curry.
He finds that the American team did better in the match against Australia, and points out that Team USA still has three matches ahead of it (Serbia, South Sudan and Germany) to optimize the use of each player.
After all, having Anthony Davis off the bench can also have its advantages. We remember what Dwyane Wade was able to bring as the 6th man of the American team during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Steve Kerr hasn't finished thinking about his rotations anyway, since Kevin Durant still hasn't played, just like Derrick White, who took Kawhi Leonard's place.
