It’s logical even if Tatum got a DNP
After not playing Jayson Tatum against Serbia, people had questions for Team USA coach Steve Kerr which basically came down to: WTF, dude?
Admitting he “felt like an idiot” for not playing Tatum, Kerr said this:“It’s really hard in a 40-minute game to play more than 10 guys. With Kevin [Durant] coming back, I went with the combinations that made the most sense.”
“It seems crazy. I thought I was crazy when I looked at everything and determined these are the lineups I want to get to. Jayson’s one of the best players in the world. He’s incredibly professional, and that’s tonight. That doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way the rest of the tournament, so he’ll make his mark.”
There are a couple of things to look at here.
First, there has been a noisy anti-Kerr movement lately. Let him do his job. If he is a bad coach, he won’t be back.
And second, his argument makes sense. Getting Durant re-integrated into the rotation is a huge deal. It’s extremely important.
For a lot of us, it’s easy to sit out in TV Land and pontificate about decisions without much awareness and zero consequences. That’s not the case for Kerr.
Few of us realized that, as Grant Hill said, the chemistry between Bam Adebayo and Anthony Edwards made Jaylen Brown less desirable than Derrick White, who is another superb and versatile perimeter defender.
Similarly, getting Durant back in the groove is a big deal and those minutes have to come from somewhere.
And Kerr said that Tatum took it like a true professional and that he’ll get his chances. He certainly will.
And it’s impossible to argue with the results. Durant was spectacular in the first half and the US beat an outstanding Serbian team by 26. Everyone wants their favorite player to do well but that’s not the goal. The goal, and the only goal, is to win gold.
