Undefeated in preparation, Team USA is attacking the World Cup with confidence, and we will remember that Steve Kerr’s players were able to roll up their sleeves against Spain and Germany when there was real adversity.
Certainly, the defense can still be improved, but the state of mind is there, and despite the inexperience of the players in an international competition, we feel more involvement than in 2019.
“The most important thing was to get used to the FIBA rules and play together” summarizes the coach of the United States. “We played against very difficult teams. We are confident, but we have also taken a beating. Spain and Germany tested us to the maximum of what we could handle, and that experience will help us because now we know how good those teams are. »
“What counts is the effort, the approach and the cohesion”
Gold medalist at the 1986 World Cup as a player, Steve Kerr knows better than his players what awaits them. He was also Gregg Popovich’s assistant in 2019 and 2021, and he knows the pressure of wearing the US shirt.
“Pressure is kind of what you make it. We all love what we do. I like to train. I like the pressure, or how to describe the competition. To be a competitor is to accept losing. That’s the whole point of competition. There are victories and defeats”.
What interests Steve Kerr is to see how cohesion is created in a group that has known each other for three weeks, and how this same group manages to respond to difficulties.
“What counts is the effort, the approach and the cohesion” continues the Team USA coach. “I like being part of a team. I love doing what we’re doing right now. That is to say to try to build something and to have a stake. And the beauty of sport is that no one is going to die. We’re going to fight, we’re going to play as hard as we can, we’re going to try to win a gold medal. If we don’t, we know there will be plenty of criticism, and we don’t mind that.”
All while bearing in mind that it is first and foremost a privilege to be there.
“Our approach is incredibly linked to pleasure. We are incredibly lucky to be able to do that, to compete, and to tell ourselves for the rest of our lives that we have done the maximum. Like I said, we try hard and we want to win, but whatever happens, we’ll live with it, and that’s part of the competition. »
