Team USA seeks Paris semis, won’t get ‘lulled to sleep’ vs Serbia
Team USA seeks the Paris Olympics men’s basketball semifinals as coach Steve Kerr vowed they won’t “get lulled to sleep” against Serbia.
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TEAM USA SEEKS PARIS SEMIS, VOWS NOT TO BE COMPLACENT VS JOKIC, SERBIA
Furthermore, Team USA seeks the Paris Games semis on Thursday.
Moreover, Kerr assured them they won’t be complacent against Nikola Jokic and Serbia.
“We can’t get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice,” Kerr said.
He referred to Team USA’s twin blowout victories over Serbia in exhibition matches before the showdown in Paris.
“We have to be prepared for their best effort. What else do they have up their sleeve?” he asked.
Kerr reminded his team Serbia has Jokic, the three-time MVP with the Denver Nuggets.
The 7-footer averages 19.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks for Serbia in Paris so far.
“We’ve got to think about what are they going to do differently., Jokic, I guess he could play 40 minutes,” Kerr said.
SERBIA’S COMEBACK WIN OVER AUSTRALIA STILL IN KERR, AMERICANS’ MINDS
Moreover, Serbia’s comeback 95-90 win over Australia in the quarterfinals is still in Kerr and the Americans’ minds.
Jokic led Serbia’s spirited comeback from 24 points down to keep their gold medal hopes alive.
Furthermore, Joel Embiid doesn’t have to be reminded of what Embiid can do in these Games.
“I guess we’ll be ready for that,” said Embiid, who will be one of three Team USA centers tasked to slow down Jokic.
“If that’s what they think that they have to do to try to beat us, then they won’t hesitate to do that,” he added.
Incidentally, Serbia was plus-17 with Jokic in the game against Australia and a minus-12 when he sat on the bench for seven minutes.
LEBRON CITES NEED FOR TEAM USA TO GET ‘LOCKED IN’ AGAINST SERBIA
Furthermore, LeBron James cited the need for Team USA to get “locked in” against Serbia.
This would be regardless of their past two wins against them, he added.
“Every game is its own test. No matter what happened in the final two, it’s about what goes down Thursday night,” James said.
“So we need to lock in our film session, lock in during the day on Thursday, and then come out and be ready to go,” he added.
Meanwhile, Serbia coach Svetislav Pesic also has another ace up his sleeve.
Aside from Jokic, Pesic also has Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The Atlanta Hawks guard has averaged 18.5 points on 48% shooting from 3-pointers and 90% from the free-throw line for Serbia.
Incidentally, the Serbians have won their last three games since their previous loss to the US.
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