USA head coach Steve Kerr is wary of Brazil’s challenge ahead of their Olympic basketball quarterfinals on Tuesday. The Americans registered wins against Serbia (110-84), South Sudan (103-86), and Puerto Rico (104-83) in the group stages of the Games and they will look to keep up the winning impetus in the knockout stages.
All of these were convincing wins but Kerr feels Brazil is the No. 1 offensive rebounding team in the tournament and they will have their work cut out.
Brazil, on the other hand, defeated Japan in Lille, France to make it to the quarters. Furthermore, Brazil has all the experience under their belt as they have several former NBA players in their squad.
“They’re very physical. I think they’re the No. 1 offensive rebounding team in the tournament,” Team USA coach Steve Kerr said Sunday. “They’ve got a lot of really good shooters, and they just play hard. They compete play after play, so we’ll have to be ready for their physicality and their shooting, and we need to be on edge and ready for them because they’re not going to back down.”
“I’ve watched all the games,” LeBron James said. “They’re very dedicated to their offensive and defensive systems.”
Meanwhile, Forward Bruno Caboclo, who played for four NBA teams over seven years, scored 33 points for Brazil in the 102-84 victory against Japan and he is going to hold the key against the US.
“In the spirit of the Olympics and the marathon/sprint metaphor that I’ve used, now that we’ve been through it, I would call it the 800 meters,” Kerr said. “We’re running really hard, but it’s not the 100 meters.”
If the U.S. goes past Brazil, they will play the winner of Serbia-Australia.
