US Basketball coach Steve Kerr: "This is not 1992 anymore"

After the US National Team's 111-113 loss to Germany in the FIBA ​​World Cup 2023 semi-finals, head coach Steve Kerr affirmed that the international arena is no longer easy to conquer for the American team.

The captain of the Golden State Warriors shared with reporters that the level of international basketball has reached a very different level compared to the time of the Dream Team at Barcelona 92.

"This sport has been globalized over the past 30 years," coach Kerr commented. "These matches are difficult. This is not 1992 anymore."

"Players around the world are better, teams are stronger, and it's not easy to win the World Cup or Olympic gold."

The US men's basketball team has won gold medals in four consecutive Olympics and seven of the last eight Olympics, starting with the Dream Team's dominant performance in Barcelona in 1992.

It was the first time NBA players were allowed to play on FIBA's playground and the US team assembled an all-star squad including Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing and Charles. Barkley, contemporaries of coach Steve Kerr.

Dream Team took the throne in Barcelona with a winning record and an average difference of 44 points per match. However, over the past 20 years, the gap between international basketball and the United States is no longer that large. Starting from the 2004 Olympics

4 years ago, the US team had the worst performance in the world championships, only ranked 7th overall.

A more star-rich squad has been summoned. Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton and Jaren Jackson Jr. were all All-stars last season, but this group of stars could only advance to the semi-finals, where they lost to a German team that included many NBA talents such as Franz Wagner, Dennis Schroder, Daniel Theis and Mo Wagner.

Three players scored 20 points or more for Germany, including EuroLeague star Andreas Obst with 24 points. That shows that there are still many outstanding talents outside the NBA.

With the US eliminated, Serbia and Germany will compete for the gold medal on Sunday, while they will finish the tournament against Canada in the third-place match.