Team USA needed a late comeback on Thursday to defeat Serbia and advance to the men’s basketball gold medal game at the Summer Olympics, and they may have benefitted from a very questionable decision late in the contest.
Despite trailing by as many as 17 points and 13 heading into the fourth quarter, Team USA beat Serbia 95-91. Stephen Curry iced the game for the U.S. by hitting a pair of free throws with 8.1 seconds remaining, but many were wondering why Serbia did not foul sooner.
Nikola Jokic made a layup with 24 seconds left to cut Team USA’s lead to 93-91. The expectation was that Serbia would foul immediately on the ensuing possession, but they waited until there were 8.2 seconds remaining and fouled Curry, who is Team USA’s best free throw shooter.
Serbia head coach Svetislav Pesic faced a great deal of criticism over the strategy:
Why did Serbia let so much time come off the clock before fouling? Once USA got it into the frontcourt, you needed to foul immediately.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) August 8, 2024
Why the hell did Serbia wait so long to foul?
At that point better off just letting the US throw up a shot. Strange decision
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) August 8, 2024
Serbia is INSANE for waiting 16 seconds to foul and then fouling the best shooter ever. Have you never played basketball before? Foul quickly or not at all
— Knicks Memes (@KnicksMemes) August 8, 2024
Serbia could have extended the game to two or three more possessions if they fouled immediately. That does not mean the U.S. would have missed their free throws, but Serbia had almost no chance after they went down four with under 10 seconds remaining.
Curry had a massive game to help Team USA avoid a huge upset, but it is fair to wonder if Serbia missed an opportunity by waiting so long to foul on that last defensive possession.
