By Aris Barkas / info@eurohoops.net
LILLE, France – Team USA continues to show why they are the favorites to win Olympic gold in Paris.
Kevin Durant is back from injury, and Steve Kerr’s team is 2-0 after defeating Serbia and South Sudan.
“We’re not worried about expectations. We’re just trying to win and play a good brand of basketball. I think we did that tonight. For the majority of the game, we played well,” Durant said after the win over South Sudan.
Bam Adebayo had a great game in Team USA’s second tournament victory, rebounding, dunking, and shooting threes.
“When he’s knocking down that shot, our team goes to the next level. We’ve seen that in Abu Dhabi. He made four or five threes tonight. We need him to shoot with confidence and keep playing around the rim. He mixed it up well and helped us build a nice lead.”
Durant praised the whole team, despite Team USA not dominating as some might have expected before the tournament.
“It’s all about the group. We had great guys out there. The first unit got us started, maybe up 6-0, 8-0. We set the tone and played well off each other. People might expect big wins by 30 or 40 points, but we’ve still won the last two games by an average of 20 points against good talent. We just keep building. Defensively, we were all on the same page, playing great basketball.”
Jayson Tatum missed the opening against Serbia, while Joel Embiid sat out the second game against South Sudan.
“The amount of talent and IQ we have in the States allows us to mix and match. Last game, we had a champion and all-NBA player not playing any minutes, and tonight we had an MVP not playing any minutes. They didn’t complain, and other guys stepped up and filled those roles perfectly. Defensively and offensively, there are times when it doesn’t look perfect, but our intensity was there. Coach mixed it up with starting AD, who can switch out on a lot of things. It’s good to have a versatile group like that.”
Durant also praised South Sudan and Bul Kuol, who had a very good game against Team USA.
“Love his intensity. Respect how he approaches the game. Those guys didn’t back down. They played physical all night and felt like they had a chance to win. I respect that,” Kevin Durant said.
Photo credit: FIBA