- Team USA bounced from World Cup after a 113-111 loss to Germany
- Fans rip USA players and coaches for early tournament exit
- Steve Kerr admits it’s not “1992” anymore for Team USA
In the aftermath of Team USA’s elimination on Friday, head coach Steve Kerr admitted that his team had the pieces to win the championship this year but that they just “didn’t get it done” when it counted most.
“The game has been globalized over the last 30 years or so. These games are difficult,” said Kerr. “This is not 1992 anymore. Players are better all over the world, teams are better and it’s not easy to win a World Cup or an Olympic game.”
USA Basketball coach Steve Kerr after FIBA World Cup semifinal loss to Germany: "This team is very worthy of winning a championship. We just didn’t get it done."
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) September 8, 2023
It’s a pretty simple message from Kerr, but it speaks volumes about the state of Team USA basketball right now and does little to ease the public’s concerns about the future of the program. But the truth is, the world is catching up with the USA and it’s becoming increasingly harder for the US to win and dominate like they used to.
Team USA started off strong enough, going undefeated before their first loss to Lithuania. But even before that game, the cracks were starting to show and everyone knew that this team was far from unbeatable.
With many of the top-tier stars electing to skip the World Cup entirely, Team USA was left to pick up the “B” team of sorts, which includes an assortment of young risers and borderline All-Stars like Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, Mikal Bridges, and Austin Reaves. Sadly, those guys weren’t enough to make up for the lack of size and playmaking on the roster, which is ultimately what ended this year’s run for the USA.
Basketball Fans Are Reeling After Disappointing Elimination
It’s clear that Team USA is far from the days of MJ’s legendary ‘Dream Team’ but many people were taken aback by just how vulnerable the US looked this year. With losses to Lithuania and Germany, the US provided basically no resistance around the rim and teams basically did whatever they wanted against them in the paint.
On offense, Team USA often looked confused and the only sign of relief was when Tyrese Haliburton had the ball and was allowed to run the offense. Even Jalen Brunson admitted after the game that he didn’t meet expectations as the team’s leader and head playmaker. “Terrible. Plain and simple,” said Brunson on his performance.
On social media, fans have been blasting the team and everyone on it for letting them down. Team USA was among the top trending topics on X all day, along with Steve Kerr and Austin Reaves. The fact is, people want answers to this failed tournament run, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens next year during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Is The USA No Longer The Top Basketball Country?
For most of basketball’s existence, the USA has had a pretty steep lead as far as talent level and overall understanding of the sport. Since basketball was invented by Canadian-American physician James Naismith, it makes sense that this part of the world would be the best at it.
Over time, however, the balance of power started to shift as the NBA began to globalize its influence. Slowly but surely, as more and more international stars broke out in the NBA, the talent pool worldwide began to close the gap on Team USA.
Today, while Team USA is still the best when they’ve got their top players, they can be beaten by other countries, just like Lithuania and Germany proved this year with their wins over the USA. Times are changing for basketball and unless we see something similar to the 2008 Redeem Team, this could be the new normal for international competition.
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