Team USA just lost a FIBA game, what the heck is Coach Kerr doing?!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH (or is it?).

Wait, did the Americans just lose a basketball game to Lithuania?! ON HEAD COACH STEVE KERR’S WATCH??? Nononononono.

Random tangent: one thing about the failed James Wiseman experiment that often pops back in my head when thinking about how Kerr eschews giant centers was a quote former GM Bob Myers made about signing a buyout center.

"It's also determining how the coaches will use that player," Myers said. "For us to say, 'Here's a big guy,' and the coaching staff to say, 'We're not playing that guy,' it doesn't matter if he's 7-feet tall or 8-feet tall. Any buyout conversation has to be done in collaboration with the coaching staff, because why bring a player in if they're not going to use him?

WHY BRING A BIG MAN IN THEY WON’T PLAY HMMMM.

Flash forward to the current situation of Team USA in FIBA world cup, where the Americans have suffered their first and only loss before medal play, falling 110-104 to Lithuania.

Fortunately, this loss has more of an emotional sting to it than a practical effect on Team USA’s final outcome in the tournament.

The immediate consequence of the loss for Team USA isn't severe, as it had already secured its place in the medal round. Team USA will play Italy on Tuesday in the quarterfinals and is still a strong contender to win the title. The Americans may not see Lithuania again, and no team can give the USA size issues like Lithuania.

Size issues, eh? On a Steve Kerr team??? MAYBE THAT AFOREMENTIONED TANGENT WASN’T SO RANDOM AFTER ALL. Dub Nation is well acquainted with this style of ball and elite champion Coach Kerr’s philosophy around it.

Coach Steve Kerr has elected -- and not this week or this month, but when he put the team together with USA Basketball leadership -- that instead of fighting this problem, they are going to embrace it. Instead of trying to find big players to go head-to-head, they are going to lean into all the great American guards and wings who have the quickness and ability to guard bigger players.

Jaren Jackson Jr. is 6-foot-11 and the closest thing to a traditional center Kerr has on hand besides Walter Kessler at 7 feet. Jackson Jr. was saddled with foul trouble in the game while Kessler is getting very little playing time.

If you care at all about America, then you’re watching Kerr’s every coaching move during this World Cup knowing that the future of global basketball power weighs in the balance. Can Kerrball have the same success on a world stage that it has on a national one?

TUNE IN SEPTEMBER 5TH, 5:30AM CALI TIME. TO FIND OUT.

Also if Kerr wins this FIBA world cup I don’t ever wanna hear #FireKerr again. This man has done it all, including saving Michael Jordan and taking the foundation Pastor Mark Jackson gave him to create the modern, living, breathing dynasty that is the Golden Empire.

But if Kerr loses, I REALLY don’t want to hear #FireKerr because that means that Coach Kerr ran mind games on Team USA players (who happen to be rivals to the Dubs during the regular season) to get them used to losing, thereby poisoning their spirits before they face the new and improved Chris Paul-era Dubs.

*Drinks more Warriors Kool-Aid* AND ANOTHER THING—I’m sorry folks, I forgot it’s the offseason and I need to save these rants for GSW basketball. Enjoy your Labor Day, thank y’all for always holding it down for The HQ and being the finest of Dub Nation.