Team USA dominated group C, as expected, winning all 3 of their games; 110-83 vs. Serbia, 103-86 vs. South Sudan and 104-83 vs. Puerto Rico. Germany and Canada also went undefeated topping their respective groups but, due to point differential, the US lands the top overall seed in the knockout stage and will face Brazil on Tuesday, August 6th at 12:30pm. Steve Kerr did a good job navigating this stage, including Jayson Tatum’s DNP, Joel Embiid vs. the French and trying to keep everyone satisfied with their roles and minutes. 3 games was more than enough to shake-up the rankings!

1. LeBron James (1) – Proved he’s still the guy during group play, especially against Serbia. Also, the emotional leader and tone-setter. He can go into overdrive and carry the team for a few minutes.
2. Kevin Durant (4) – Was a question coming into these Olympics due to a calf injury, but showed up and balled out. The first half against Serbia was legendary and proved to Steve Kerr he was available. KD settled into being the 2nd unit captain nicely, which kind of encapsulated the USA’s biggest advantage; Coach Kerr can bring multiple future hall of famers off the bench.
3. Anthony Edwards (6) – The Ant-Man is having a blast at the Olympics. Marc J. Spears wrote a good piece detailing how Edwards is soaking up his first Olympics experience, including cheering on the US table tennis team. He, along with KD anchor the 2nd unit.
4. Anthony Davis (2) – Was seemingly irreplaceable, but Bam Adebayo played very well, while Embiid regained some of his lost mojo, resulting in an easing of the front-court duties for AD. Plus, he falls so often Coach Kerr needs to protect him from himself by limiting his minutes.
5. Bam Adebayo (10) – First time around Bam was ranked near the bottom and called a discount Anthony Davis, that was harsh and uncalled for. Throughout group play, no one was more impressive that him. He was flying all over the court grabbing rebounds, seamlessly switching between guarding the post and on the perimeter, making corner 3’s and, surprisingly, doing a fair amount of ball-handling and play-making.
6. Derrick White (8) – He’s the perimeter stopper of the team. If an opposing guard catches fire, he’ll be there to extinguish it. No one reads screens better, can avoid them and stay attached to his man better than him. Plus, he can hit 3’s consistently, handle the ball and will defer to the bigger stars on offense – the ultimate low maintenance player.
7. Devin Booker (7) – Handled his role transition with dignity and did whatever Coach Kerr asked of him, which mostly amounted to playing perimeter defense, spacing the floor and handling the ball every so often.
8. Stephen Curry (3) – His Olympic debut couldn’t have gone much worse. He scored single-digits in 2 of the 3 games and couldn’t make a 3 consistently, while being provided great looks. He’s also being victimized in the pick-and-roll, either by being switched on to a bigger man or dribbled around. Coach Kerr will, most likely, keep starting him, but needs to have a quicker hook if Steph’s shot isn’t going down early.
9. Jayson Tatum (9) – Had the 2nd weirdest Olympics besides Embiid. He didn’t play against Serbia, but was inserted into the starting lineup the following two games and performed just fine. Strangely, his biggest impact has come on the glass.
10. Joel Embiid (11) – The biggest lightning rod of the entire Olympic games after rejecting France and choosing to represent the USA. He was poor during the showcase, bad against Serbia, DNP against South Sudan and, finally, played well against Puerto Rico – quite a mixed bag of results. With his volatile nature, Coach Kerr will need to closely monitor and manager the big-man.
11. Jrue Holiday (5) – Started against Serbia, came off the bench and twisted his ankle against South Sudan and didn’t play against Puerto Rico. He’s normally an indispensable asset, but Derrick White’s skill-set and Jrue’s skill-set overlap. His defensive effort is key to getting him back into the rotation.
12. Tyrese Haliburton (12) – A very good player, who after not playing against Serbia, saw some action over the next two games. Unlikely he sees more than a few minutes in the knockout stage.

It’s all for real now. No more warm ups, no more exhibitions and no more time to mess around in group play and play nice. If Team USA is to win their 5th goal medal in a row, they’ll have to navigate a single-elimination tournament. One bad game by this group and it’s over. Steve Kerr can’t mess around, play everyone and hope for the best. He, along with Ty Lue, Mark Few and Erik Spoelstra will need to make sure everyone is on the same page, as far as playing time and rotations. Distractions must be eliminated so everyone can focus on the task at hand. Even with such an enormous talent gap between the US and the field, they can’t think it will be easy and the other nations will just let the American’s win. The journey to gold begins in earnest.