Team USA head coach Steve Kerr appears to be worried that Serbia might catch his players sleeping when the two teams play for the third time in less than a month.
Kerr issued a public warning Wednesday suggesting that the Americans cannot be “lulled to sleep” by Serbia. Team USA beat Serbia by 26 points in a pre-Olympic exhibition in July, then opened the Olympics by beating them by 26 again in group play.
“We can’t get lulled to sleep because we beat them twice,” Kerr said, via Brian Windhorst of ESPN. “We have to be prepared for their best effort. We’ve got to think about what are they going to do differently. (Nikola) Jokic, I guess he could play 40 minutes. What else do they have up their sleeve?”
Jokic and Serbia actually tied the US team during their Olympic matchup in the 31 minutes he was on the court, but lost 29-3 in the non-Jokic minutes. Kerr certainly thinks Serbia could lean more heavily on Jokic in a must-win semifinal.
Jokic has been on a mission since arriving in Paris. The US will have its hands full with him in Thursday’s semifinal, though they have more than enough talent to rotate in and neutralize him.
