Team USA battered Brazil 122-87 and will face Serbia in the semifinals on Thursday, August 8th at noon. Steve Kerr was able to find everyone minutes, as the US controlled the game from the tipoff and were never in danger. The big dogs like LeBron James and Kevin Durant played fine, not having to expel themselves too much. A special nod to the aforementioned KD, as he passes the great Lisa Leslie as the all-time leading scorer (men or women) in Team USA Olympic history. If the USA go on to win gold, it will be KD’s 4th, tying Carmelo Anthony for the most medals, but surpassing him by going 4/4 in gold, while Melo has 3 gold and 1 bronze. A remarkable feat if accomplished.

Devin Booker had his best all-around game of the Olympics, scoring 18 points on 6-9 FG’s (5-7 3-pt). Up to this point, he had been sacrificing his shot for the greater good of the team and really trying to affect the game through perimeter defense and rebounding. Against Brazil, he found his rhythm early and it carried over for the entire game.

This being Anthony Edwards’ first Olympic experience, you’d think he’d be slightly intimidated or overwhelmed. Not a chance! Instead, he’s met the challenge head on and impressed Steve Kerr enough to be trusted to lead the 2nd unit, along with his idol Kevin Durant. He added a quiet 17 points on 6-10 FG’s (3-7 3-pt).

Joel Embiid had yet another strange performance. He began the game with an ugly turnover, followed by a poor defensive possession and looked fairly shaky. But he overcame his early woes to go on and score 14 points on 5-6 FG’s (3-3 3-pt). A solid performance. Again, anytime he touched the ball a cascade of boo’s reigned down from the Parisian crowd. And, whenever he hit a shot, he would cup his hand to his ear as if he couldn’t hear the booing crowd. At one point, after taking contact and making the shot, he even did his favorite ‘crotch-chop‘ towards the USA bench, but also to the crowd. The tension between him and the French is vitriolic, so much so, that Steve Kerr picked up on it and didn’t play the big-man in the 2nd half. Against Serbia and Nikola Jokić, he’ll definitely play.

Bam Adebayo and Anthony Davis were called upon to provide their unique switchability on defense. In the 2nd quarter, Brazil figured out Joel Embiid was in drop coverage, so they kept running a pick-and-roll with their guard being freed up to shoot whatever shot he wanted. It was supremely effective and essentially chased Embiid off the court. Once the much more mobile big’s were inserted, Brazil could no longer exploit the matchup. AD and Bam were more than capable of staying in front of the smaller Brazilian players without being beaten off the dribble instantly like Embiid. Also, neither guy wants to be the focal point like Embiid, which serves the team well as both can float around on offense and pick where and when they want to shoot.

Stephen Curry, again, was not good. 7 points on 2-3 FG’s (0-1 3-pt) isn’t the type of production you’d expect from the best shooter in the world. At least his defensive intensity was there and didn’t get beaten too many times. It’s confounding how he hasn’t hit found his shot yet and it’s the semifinals. It just might not be his time.

Another guy who’s struggling is Jayson Tatum. This one is mostly on Steve Kerr though for not having a definite plan or defined role for him. Not playing against Serbia set a bad tone that he couldn’t figure his way out of, even after starting against South Sudan and Puerto Rico. JT should focus on defense and rebounding since his shot isn’t falling consistently.

No matter who the other four on the court are Jrue Holiday or Derrick White needs to be out there. Both defend the perimeter, rebound, hustle, block shots and generate turnovers without needing to shoot or score, although they can. Steve Kerr knows exactly how to deploy them. As far as knowing their roles, the duo have that down and can deliver in spades.

Team USA sits one game away from the gold medal game. It hasn’t been pretty or consistent, but the US have dominated every team they’ve played at the Olympics, including their semifinal opponent: Serbia. In the group stage meeting, the Americans won 110-84 with Kevin Durant dropping 23 point and LeBron James scoring 21 points to lead the team. Nikola Jokić had 20 points, but the rest of the Serbian team was severely limited especially from 3 where they went 9-37 as a team. An upset seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.