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Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer
PARIS — Team USA got tremendous production up-and-down its lineup in its Olympic-opening 110-84 victory Sunday over Serbia. But it was unavoidable that some of the focus on was coach Steve Kerr choosing to sit first-team All-NBA player and champion Jayson Tatum.
Kerr dealt with the awkward reality head on, first meeting with Tatum before the game to explain the decision and then in multiple meetings with the media. That included Monday when Kerr made it clear that Tatum would be in the lineup Wednesday when the Americans face South Sudan.
“Jayson will play [Wednesday],” Kerr said. “I’m not going to answer your next question, which is if he plays, who doesn’t. But we’re going to need him, and part of this job for me is to keep everybody engaged and ready because my experience with this is crazy stuff happens.”
Kerr explained that when he and the coaching staff studied the matchups against Serbia and reviewed how lineup combinations performed in the exhibition games, Tatum became a bit of an odd man out.
With Nikola Jokic and other strong big men on Serbia’s roster, Kerr went with three centers (Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo) in his rotation. Serbia also has strong guards, leading Kerr to rely on Derrick White as a leading bench player. White had two steals and a block, and Team USA was plus-15 when he was on the floor.
FIBA-rule games that are played in the Olympics are 40 minutes long and favor using big men as there is no defensive three-second rule like in the NBA and goaltending is relaxed once the ball hits the rim.
“The hardest part of this job is you’re sitting at least a couple of guys who are world-class, some of the very best players on earth,” Kerr said. “On one hand, it makes no sense at all. On the other, I’m asking these guys to just commit to winning one game and then move on to the next one. I have to do the same thing. And so I felt like last night those were the combinations that made the most sense.”
Kerr then went chapter-and-verse over situations when he has been with the national team when unforeseen circumstances stretched the U.S. roster. Kerr was an assistant coach in 2019 at the World Cup in China and in 2021 at the Olympics in Tokyo and was the head coach last summer at the World Cup in Manila when the team had to deal with injuries, illness or travel issues.
Against South Sudan, a team that is loaded with athleticism and spreads the floor with 3-point shooters, Tatum and his ability to switch on wings makes much more sense.
Tatum averaged 6.7 points in Team USA’s five exhibition games. He played 16 minutes and scored nine points against the Bright Stars last week in London in a game the U.S. won by a single point.
The Bright Stars made 14 3-pointers in that game.
“With South Sudan, it’s more about the speed, and speed is a killer,” Kerr said. “You have to be prepared for everything, and that means we need everybody.”