THE basketball landscape globally has indeed, evolved.
Team USA coach Steve Kerr dished off some real talk on Friday night after the Americans were stunned by Germany, 113-111, assuring another four-year cycle that they will go home without the FIBA World Cup trophy.
READ: Germany stands ground in face of US comeback, makes World Cup final
Kerr noted how teams and players have become better over the course of time that the Americans no longer have a firm grip of the sport they used to dominate in the past.
The Golden State Warriors mentor even made allusion that this is no longer the era of the ‘Dream Team.’
“It means the game has been globalized over the last 30 years or so. These games are difficult. This is not 1992,” said Kerr in the post-game presser at the end of the semifinal match at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The 57-year-old Kerr, an NBA champion both as a player and coach, obviously was referring to the 1992 USA squad dubbed as the ‘Dream Team,’ a collection of NBA superstars led by Michael Jordan who won the gold in the Barcelona Olympics by running through the opposition with an average winning margin of 44 points.
A ‘Dream Team’ was likewise assembled in 1994 which dominated the FIBA World Cup in Toronto, Canada by beating Russia in the finals by 46 points.
But that was 31 years ago. It's different now.
“Players are better all over the world, teams are better,” noted Kerr. “It’s not easy to win a World Cup or the Olympics.”
Team USA battled its way back from as much as a 12-point deficit and threatened at 108-107 inside the final two minutes.
But the Mannschaft kept their composure behind a clutch trey by Andreas Obst and Dennis Schroder to keep the Americans at bay, 113-107, on the way to clinching a first ever berth in the World Cup finals.
Team USA will battle Canada for the bronze on Sunday, and win or lose, it has already surpassed the seventh-place finish it had during the 2019 World Cup in China.
Kerr believed Team USA had a good shot of making back to the finals.
“I’m proud of our guys. They were courageous and fought, and gave themselves a chance. We just couldn’t quite get there,” he said.
The last time Team USA won the World Cup was in the 2014 edition in Seville, Spain, with a 129-92 demolition of Serbia.
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