NBA legend Oscar Robertson didn't like the way Team USA chose to contain Nikola Jokic at the recent Olympic Games. The 12-time All-Star player thinks Steve Kerr's tactics allowed the Serbian big man to take advantage of mismatches and wreak havoc.
Nikola Jokic led Serbia to a bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Paris. The 2-time NBA MVP finished the semifinal contest against Team USA with 17 points, five rebounds and 11 assists in his team's losing (91-95) effort.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
38
|
| Stephen Curry | |
| Points | 36 |
| Accuracy | 12-19 |
| Rebounds | 8 |
| Assists | 2 |
However, NBA legend Oscar Robertson didn't like the way the US team chose to defend against the versatile big man.
Robertson argued that "Jokic made a fool out of Team USA."
"What bothers me more than anything is how does a guy just come up to you and drive around you so easy?" Robertson asked on the 'All The Smoke podcast' with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, referring to what he perceived as defensive laziness from the American team.
"They don't slide [their feet]! Jokic made a fool out of USA all because that guard didn't fight through to get to his man. I would never have screens switched onto my man," the 85-year-old continued.
"Why am I gonna go inside to play through the 7-foot-4 (2.24 m.) guy and USA kept doing that and Jokic kept scoring bad. What was the coach doing, [Steve] Kerr?" the 12-time All-Star player wondered.
"You can't say you want Steph Curry to switch off on Jokic inside. Well, Curry wouldn't switch anyways so it wouldn't really matter."
Robertson played in the NBA from 1960 to 1974 with the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks becoming one of the league's top all-time point guards.
He was the first to record a triple-double average over a season, winning the championship title in 1971.
Jokic averaged 18.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 8.7 assists at the Paris Olympics.
He played Team USA twice – in the first game, he had 20 points, five rebounds and eight assists, where Serbia lost 84-110.
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