American Basketball Named Steve Kerr’s Next Coach: How Warriors Coach Compares to Gregg Popovich, Coach K

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr will become the next head coach of the United States Senior Men’s National Basketball Team.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Kerr will replace Gregg Popovich as Team USA’s head coach, starting with the 2023 FIBA ​​Basketball World Cup and continuing through to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

As reported by Wojnarowski, Kerr’s staff will include Suns head coach Monty Williams, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and Mark Few, University of Gonzaga head coach.

Kerr’s extensive history with Team America dates back to 1986, when he played for the team at the FIBA ​​World Championships. He joined as an assistant coach in 2018, serving in that capacity at the 2019 World Cup and the 2020 Olympics.

What will Kerr bring as the head coach of Team USA? His coaching history suggests there will be a similar, but different approach to his predecessors.

How does Steve Kerr compare to Coach K, Gregg Popovich is the coach of Team USA

Kerr’s time as an assistant coach for American Basketball began with Popovich, who succeeded Mike Krzyzewski after the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

The 2019 World Cup was a forgettable performance for Team USA as they took seventh place after losing twice in the final round. The road to redemption is twice as long as intended as the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the 2020 Olympics into 2021, where Popovich could lead the team to a gold medal.

Kerr, who spent four seasons playing for Spurs, is one of Popovich’s long list of coaches but their strategies could be radically different.

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Since Kerr took the helm of Golden State in 2014, his Warriors have been at the forefront of a 3-point revolution that has changed the entire landscape of the NBA. During the same time period, Popovich’s Spurs remained bottom of the table in terms of 3s tried and done.

That said, the NBA game and the FIBA ​​game are very different and Popovich’s Team USA tried 34+ times for each competition on their way to the gold medal in Tokyo, a notable increase from 29.8 tries per game during the team’s disappointing World Cup in 2019. In Coach K’s last tournament? Team USA managed to get 28.1 triples for each competition.

It should be noted that the time gap between tournaments gives way to drastic changes in the game, which can make for amazing statistical differences. There’s also something to be said about personnel, as a team built specifically around 3-point shooting will always result in a higher 3-point shot count.

The Warriors’ reliance on three balls is like owning two of the all-time greats Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson is like having Kerr at the helm.

Leading to the importance of personnel.

Will Stephen Curry play for American Basketball?

Kerr’s appointment means the focus will inevitably shift to Warriors superstar and 3-point king Stephen Curry.

With a resume as illustrious as Curry’s, he’s yet to win an Olympic gold medal. At 36, would Curry go it alone as a track athlete if his head coach were at the helm? One player’s coach, Kerr will likely have plenty of players to choose from for the upcoming tournaments he is expected to lead.

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And there’s a good chance that more stars will appear over the next three seasons.

With much to say about Kerr’s reliance on the trio, his team’s defense should not be mentioned as an afterthought. In each of the Warriors’ tournaments, they’ve boasted dominant defense, another product of their personnel.

In a FIBA ​​game of a different kind of physicality, Kerr and his new recruits will be tasked with planning to keep the United States at the top of the basketball world. Given the precedent set in previous years and the quality of the assistants he will have by his side, Kerr can continue his domination for the long term.