By George Efkarpides/ info@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – The job is not finished yet for Team USA, even if only the bronze medal is still on the line.
However, coach Steve Kerr wants his team to get the win over Canada and he hopes that the familiarity with Canadian players can make a difference compared to the semifinal against Germany.
As he said just hours after the semifinal defeat to Germany about Canada and the mentality of his players: “Well, we know these players pretty well. Five or six of them, obviously, we see every night in the NBA. They’re a little more familiar with this team. We understand their strengths. They’ve had a great tournament. They’ve really played at a high level, so it’ll be a big challenge for them”.
The USA wants to leave the Philippines on a high note. As Kerr explained: “We want one more game. We want to finish this fight. This group is… They’re such high-character guys. They’re so competitive. They want to finish with a really good game. A game where we’re committed and connected. That’s the plan. You need to get off the bat. That’s the plan for tomorrow”.
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However, Kerr also was asked about the semifinal game and the performance of Andreas Obst: “I thought he was the key to the game. We did a much better job on him in Abu Dhabi. We lost sight of him a couple of times. We gave him the first shot of the game. It was a wide-open shot because we didn’t box out. We had several plays where we fouled him, where we were too aggressive. It’s just a great reminder that everything matters. Every play in a basketball game matters. And with a guy like that, who is such a good shooter, you just can’t let your guard down. I thought we let our guard down in a constant state”.