Steve Kerr - Team USA must raise intensity for Paris Olympics - ESPN

PARIS — After games on three continents and a whirlwind of ceremonies and travel, Team USA has finally arrived in the Olympics' host city.

And coach Steve Kerr had a corresponding message: It's time to act like it.

After a sobering film session Thursday that showed clips of some lackadaisical play, Kerr put Team USA through its most aggressive practice since coming overseas, hoping to ignite more spirit ahead of its Olympic opener Sunday against Serbia.

«That's what today is about. It's the reminder. It's time. We're here,» Kerr said. «So it's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can't let teams outplay us effort- and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.»

Kerr specifically felt the team played slowly and didn't take advantage of its depth in those two games. Germany especially was beating the U.S. to loose balls, and the extra possessions were a major factor. The U.S. won by just four points against Germany after surviving three last-second shots to beat South Sudan.

The Americans are significant favorites in Paris, as usual, but Kerr and the coaching staff are emphasizing how fragile the nature of the Olympic tournament can be. The U.S. could likely afford a loss in the three-game pool play — it had them in 2004 in Athens and 2021 in Tokyo and advanced to the medal round both times — but after that, it's single-elimination for the gold.

The way Team USA played in London was not the type of energy required for such a reality.

«It's literally six games and, watching the tape, we're jogging through some possessions,» Kerr said. «We're not hitting bodies on boxouts. And so it's time. It's time to lock in on that.»

The Americans began their