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Brian Windhorst, ESPN Senior Writer
LILLE, France — Jayson Tatum went from out of the rotation to a starter for Team USA.
Coach Steve Kerr promised Tatum would play Wednesday against South Sudan and hinted he would have a totally different game plan than he deployed in the Americans’ Olympic opening win over Serbia.
That included moving Tatum into the starting lineup in place of Jrue Holiday with LeBron James and Devin Booker likely to split point guard duties.
Kerr also moved Anthony Davis into the starting lineup in place of Joel Embiid.
“Each game’s different and we’re going to need everybody,” Kerr said before the game. “And so, matchups will determine at times who we play, but we need everybody ready to roll and whatever it takes to win that game, that’s what we need to do.”
South Sudan plays a much more athletic lineup than Serbia and spreads the floor with 3-point shooters.
Kerr used three centers — Embiid, Davis and Bam Adebayo — and three defenders who specialize in defending guards — Jrue Holiday, Anthony Edwards and Derrick White — and that squeezed the wing rotation where Tatum would usually get minutes.
Against the Bright Stars, who made 14 3-pointers against the U.S. two weeks ago in London and 10 against Puerto Rico in their Olympic opening win, Kerr decided to use a wing-heavy lineup.
“Part of this job for me is to keep everybody engaged and ready,” Kerr said, “because my experience with this is crazy stuff happens.”