PARIS — Team USA head coach Steve Kerr openly appreciates the adaptable stars on his roster and might make more plug-and-play decisions in the Group C finale against Puerto Rico on Saturday.
Juggling lineups and mixing starters has been part of the plan for Team USA, which is 7-0 since reporting to training camp in Las Vegas last month and 2-0 since arriving at the 2024 Games.
Kerr did not play Jayson Tatum in the opener in Paris, then gave Joel Embiid the DNP earlier this week against South Sudan.
He plans to blend starting lineups against Puerto Rico with Embiid back with the first five and point guard Jrue Holiday likely to rest with an ankle injury. Tatum and Holiday started against South Sudan.
“It’s basketball, it really doesn’t matter who starts,” said Kevin Durant, who said he’s ready and willing to come off the bench if Kerr prefers. “It’s about really who finished the game, who put their impact on the game while they’re in the game. So I just try to do my best to impact it any way I can.”
Kerr pointed to guard Devin Booker, a supreme scoring guard who plays with the ball in his hands for the Phoenix Suns alongside Durant, as one of the most adaptable players on his roster. Booker has deferred ball-handling duties to LeBron James and Steph Curry and focused on defending opponents’ top guards.
“Devin is probably the guy who’s been most adaptable to go from a different role in the NBA to a new one here,” Kerr said. “The offense clicks when he’s out there. The defense is really good. That’s why he’s started every game and seems to be good with any combination.” Puerto Rico enters the matchup as the lowest team in the Pool C standings. But Kerr said he opened meetings Friday stressing to his team that no opponent can be taken lightly if Team USA is serious about being the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals, which begin Tuesday.
“We talked to them this morning,” Kerr said. “We showed the standings. We showed them the point differential. We want that (No. 1 seed). It gives you the best matchup in the quarterfinals. If we drop down to two or three — which I think is unlikely but we’ve got to take care of our business — we possibly have a much tougher opponent.”
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