When Steve Kerr decided to bench Jayson Tatum in the Team USA Olympic opener against Serbia, it was weird. When he benched the Boston Celtics star in the semifinals against the very same Nikola Jokic-led team, it was malpractice.
Kerr seemingly decided to stick to his guns, claiming he was rolling with the players that matched up best. It’s a tough job, and that cannot be overstated, but in this one instance, he failed.
Steve Kerr playing Anthony Edwards over Jayson Tatum in Team USA vs. Serbia was malpractice
Throughout the game, as Serbia drained three after three over Team USA’s three-guard lineups and outmatched the Americans on the glass, Tatum remained glued to the bench.
Meanwhile, Edwards struggled with turnovers, couldn’t hit his open threes, and looked lost when he didn’t have the ball in his hands. Am emphatic volleyball block caught the eyes of social media, but his impact on the court left much to be desired.
Yet Kerr stuck with his rotations. And it was an embarrassing display of coaching.
Rather than going to a 6-foot-8 versatile defender who is one of the best rebounders on the roster, Kerr played with three guards. For much of the first half, Edwards shared the floor with two of Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White. The size advantage was gift-wrapped to Serbia.
Devin Booker and Kevin Durant struggled as well, but Edwards’ uncomfortability being anything other than a score-first guy was painfully clear.
Edwards is a scorer for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He’s a ball-dominant, isolation-heavy guy. That’s not what he is for Team USA, and the awkwardness of that transition cost them against Serbia.
That’s simply not the case for Tatum. For as much as people have criticized Tatum’s lack of scoring, he was an elite offensive connector for Boston during their championship. But Kerr refused to give him a chance. Staying the course is one thing, but being stubborn is another, and failing to play Tatum against Serbia was a perfect example of the latter.
Kerr has a ton of defensive talent at his disposal, but he ran with three guards. Booker isn't a great defender, and neither is Curry. The Golden State Warriors star was on fire, so he had to be in the game, but putting other subpar defenders around him when you have a ton of better options on the pine is questionable at best.
Instead of consistently rolling out guys like Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Holiday, or White, Kerr continued to put out less-than-stellar defensive lineups while playing a less-than-ideal defensive style. Instead of switching, Team USA was fighting through everything and sending multiple bodies at Jokic. It gave Serbia way too much space on the offensive end.
Team USA scraped together a win thanks to a fourth-quarter surge, but this game was far too close or comfort, especially for a USA squad with so much talent.
Edwards was not the right lineup decision against Serbia, especially as they were red-hot from three and Team USA could have used some extra length on the floor.
Having Tatum at your disposal and deciding to bench him should be grounds for firing on the spot, especially with the way everything panned out vs. Serbia.