Kerr Confirms Tatum Will Play Against South Sudan; Refuses to Disclose Who Will Rest but Stresses Speed is Key to Victory

Prior to this, Team USA defeated Serbia 110-84. Steve Kerr’s decision not to play Jayson Tatum sparked much discussion.

After the game, Kerr explained that he and Tatum had communicated before the match and that everything was geared towards winning.

On Monday, Kerr informed reporters that Tatum will play in the upcoming game against South Sudan.

“Jayson will be playing against South Sudan,” said Kerr. “But I can’t answer yet who won’t be playing if he does. We need him, and part of my job is to keep everyone involved and ready because experience has taught me that unexpected things often happen in games.”

Kerr explained that when he and his coaching staff were strategizing for the game against Serbia, Tatum’s playing style made his position somewhat awkward. On one hand, with tall players like Nikola Jokic on Serbia’s roster, Kerr chose to use three big men (Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis, and Bam Adebayo) in the rotation. On the other hand, Serbia also had strong guards, which made Kerr heavily reliant on Derrick White’s defensive capabilities on the perimeter. Statistics showed that White contributed two steals and a block, and the US team outscored their opponents by 15 points while he was on the court.

Additionally, under FIBA rules, games are 40 minutes long and there is a tendency to use more big men, as there is no defensive three-second rule as in the NBA, and goaltending is called less strictly.

“The hardest part of this job is having to bench some world-class players, knowing they are among the best on the planet,” said Kerr. “I have to ask these players to focus on winning one game at a time and then move on to the next. And I would do the same for anyone. So, I believe the rotation I used against Serbia was the most reasonable one.”

The South Sudan team is athletically gifted and skilled at creating space with three-point shooting, making Tatum and his ability to defend perimeter players even more important. Tatum averaged 6.7 points per game in the five exhibition games for Team USA. In last week’s game in London, where he played 16 minutes and scored nine points, the US team only narrowly won by a single point. South Sudan hit 14 three-pointers in that game.

“Against South Sudan, speed is more critical,” said Kerr. “You have to be prepared for anything, which means we need everyone to perform at their best.”