VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — Stephen Curry’s mere entrance onto the court for pregame warmups sparked a thunderous roar at Pierre Mauroy Stadium. The crowd of 27,056 came to watch the U.S. Olympic basketball team, and one of the biggest attractions is Curry sinking long, majestic shots.
That didn’t happen Wednesday. Not once.
Team USA still rolled merrily along, coasting to a 103-86 victory over South Sudan to clinch a spot in next week’s quarterfinals. The U.S. built a 21-point lead late in the first half, withstood two South Sudan surges in the third quarter and earned its second consecutive emphatic win in these Summer Games.
Just imagine if Curry gets going.
He went 1-for-9 from the field, 0-for-6 from long distance, and scored only three points. Curry now is 7-for-29 (24%) from deep over his past four games, including the final two on the U.S. exhibition tour (after scoring 24 points against Serbia on July 17).
Curry, as he has during any shooting slump in his Golden State Warriors career, insisted he’s not worried. One reporter asked if he was frustrated or annoyed with his shooting in Wednesday’s game.
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“You’re always annoyed — you want to make shots,” Curry said. “But you can’t let that rob you of all the other stuff you need to do to help the team win — making good cuts, setting good screens, moving the ball.
“If the shots come your way, the floodgates could open at any time. So you don’t ever want to get down on yourself. You just want to shoot shots you think you can make.”
Curry mostly did that against South Sudan. The “Bright Stars” bothered Curry with their length and quickness at times — including one rare, blocked 3-pointer — but he also flat-out missed open looks he’s made, oh, a few million times over the years.
In some ways, Curry figures to find even more open shots than he does with the Warriors, given the All-Stars around him (including LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Devin Booker and Anthony Davis in Wednesday’s starting lineup). In other ways, Curry’s signature movement without the ball seems less impactful on Team USA, which must simplify its offense given the short sprint of the Olympics.
Curry also pointed to the fewer number of shots he naturally gets in a 40-minute game (not 48), and on a loaded team with many other big-time scorers.
“I know teams are going to be locked in on tracking me,” he said. “So that puts a little more pressure on the shots you get. I kind of forced a couple and I still only got (nine). You go from shooting 20-something a game to maybe 6 to 10, so you have to be ready for them.”
Curry showed rare frustration as shots disobediently skidded off the rim. Once, after beckoning Tatum for a screen in the corner, Curry launched an open 3-pointer — and reacted with dismay when the ball didn’t drop.
Curry did collect four assists, including an underhand alley-oop pass to Tatum for a resounding dunk.
Head coach Steve Kerr knows from firsthand experience — 10 years of it, actually — how quickly Curry can unlock his shooting stroke.
“He just had a tough night,” Kerr said. “Steph is Steph: I’ve seen him have tough nights before and then he gets 40 the next night.”
The Americans still won decisively, in stark contrast to their one-point exhibition win over South Sudan on July 20 in London. The U.S. again struggled to contain South Sudan’s quickness, but Kerr’s team was more active defensively, with 13 steals and seven blocked shots.
Kerr also had his players apply full-court pressure in the first half, and it often worked. Anthony Edwards poked the ball loose in the waning seconds of the first quarter, leading to an easy bucket for Bam Adebayo.
Another example in the halfcourt: Kevin Durant jumped into a passing lane to steal a South Sudan pass.
Kerr knew the scrutiny awaiting him as the national team head coach — he was an assistant on Gregg Popovich’s staff at the Tokyo Olympics, and Kerr absorbed sharp criticism when Team USA finished fourth in last year’s World Cup. But the controversy started early in France.
He aggravated Boston Celtics fans by not playing Tatum in Sunday’s win over Serbia, and he no doubt angered Philadelphia 76ers fans by leaving Joel Embiid on the bench Wednesday. Kerr has said it’s impractical to use more than 10 players in a 40-minute FIBA game, though he played 11 (all but Embiid) against South Sudan.
Wednesday’s loss slowed the remarkable South Sudan story. The country officially gained independence from Sudan in 2011, endured a civil war that ended only six years ago and ranks among the least developed countries in the world, according to the United Nations.
Many players on South Sudan spent part of their childhood in refugee camps in other countries, given the strife in their homeland.
But Luol Deng, who played 15 seasons in the NBA and was a two-time All-Star, has done an astounding job as president of the country’s basketball federation. The Bright Stars are coached by another former NBA player, Royal Ivey, whose regular job is as an assistant coach with the Houston Rockets.
South Sudan, making its inaugural Olympic appearance, earned its first win Sunday against Puerto Rico. Team USA proved too difficult a mountain to scale in the encore.