Team USA silenced their critics after a dominant quarter-final victory against Italy in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The American squad blew out Italy 100-63 following their embarrassing group-stage loss against Lithuania. After going undefeated in the first four games of the World Cup, Team USA was brought back to earth by the Lithuanian squad when they handed them their first loss. It is not that they lost, it is how they lost that bothered the fans.
Despite qualifying for the semi-final match of the tournament, fans could not let go of Team USA’s group stage loss. The 9-time NBA champion Steve Kerr was on the receiving end of the stick as fans obliterated Team USA’s Head Coach on social media.
How did Team USA lose to Lithuania?
The young and inexperienced USA squad could not handle the size and hustle of the Lithuanian team. Led by Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania outrebounded Team USA 43-26, exposing their size disadvantage to the world. Even rising star Anthony Edwards’ monstrous 35-point performance could not save Team USA. No other player from the American squad scored more than 14 points in the match. Lithuania, on the other hand, showed great teamwork and a winning mindset as 7 of their players scored more than 10 points in the huge win.
Fresh from World Champion Noah Lyles’ NBA comments controversy, fans quickly started slandering Team USA for their underwhelming performance. Although they lost to Lithuania by just 6 points, fans were not happy with the outcome of the match. Head Coach of Team USA and 9-time NBA champion Steve Kerr received the worst of the situation as he was criticized for not making any significant adjustments after going down 12-31 in the first quarter.Fans mock Warriors Head Coach for his embarrassing performance
Steve Kerr has won 4 championships as the Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors. But many fans disregard his coaching skills. Fans argue that Kerr won his championships by luck as he already had a championship team in the Stephen Curry-led Warriors. His playing with Michael Jordan and Tim Duncan during his NBA career and winning 5 easy championships does nothing to help his case. So, when Team USA lost to Lithuania without any superstar players, fans were quick to target Steve Kerr.A fan compared Steve Kerr with American Soccer player Megan Rapinoe after the Women’s soccer team got eliminated from this year’s World Cup:
Many fans targeted Coach Kerr’s political stance:
Fans also talked about Kerr’s inability to win without superstars:
Team USA Basketball suffered a massive upset loss to Lithuania at FIBA World Cup.
Woke crybaby Steve Kerr's group was unfocused.https://t.co/19PAKHUW0d
— OutKick (@Outkick) September 3, 2023
Leave a Reply