By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Lille, France – On a night the USA destroyed Serbia, Jayson Tatum – and Tyrese Haliburton – weren’t used by coach Steve Kerr.
The decision to keep Tatum just a spectator raised eyebrows, but after the game Kerr explained why he did it
As he said: “You know, it’s really hard in a 40-minute game to play more than 10 guys. And with Kevin coming back, I just went to the combinations that I felt would make the most sense. And it seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything and determined these were the lineups I wanted to get to”.
Tatum was informed of this decision and took it like a pro, as Kerr explained: “Jason’s first team All-NBA, three years. He’s one of the best players in the world. I went with the combinations that I felt like would make sense and talked to him, and he’s incredibly professional. You know, that’s tonight. It doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way for the rest of the tournament. So he’ll make his mark. But the key and our guys know this, the key to this whole thing is to put all the NBA stuff in the rearview mirror and just win six games. And Jason’s the ultimate pro and champion, and he handled it well, and he’s going to be ready for the next one”.
“You don’t notice when KD comes back from a long absence”
Kerr also praised LeBron James and of course, Kevin Durant who had a spectacular first half.
“Obviously I coached Kevin for three years and maybe more than any player I’ve ever been around when he comes back from a long absence you don’t notice it“, Kerr explained.
“I mean, he’s so skilled and he just looked like he was in mid-season form after not playing in a real basketball game for a couple of months. I thought Serbia played well in the first quarter. And so Kevin coming in, the whole group, the whole second group, I thought they came in and did a really good job and kind of got the game back in our favor. And we were able to build on that from there”.