I am a Boston Celtics fan.
Look this blog up if you want proof.
I find nothing wrong with Steve Kerr benching Jayson Tatum in Team USA's first game in the Paris Olympics.
Yes, he said he felt like an idiot, but he also came away with a resounding victory against a two-time MVP and a European powerhouse in Team Serbia.
Players win games and coaches lose them. That's the maxim we know. For powerhouse teams full of all-stars and NBA starters, it's less for both sides. It's like in Gilas Pilipinas. We might universally hate Chot Reyes' style, and we could bring up the fact that he never used June Mar Fajardo right, especially during his peak.
We never questioned his benching of Gary David in 2013 and 2014. The same can be said with Tim Cone giving Arvin Tolentino, Marcio Lassiter, and Chris Ross limited playing time when Gilas finally gave the country its first Asian Games gold medal in 60 years.
I know Kerr should have given Tatum and at least, Tyrese Haliburton garbage time minutes.
And yeah, Haliburton didn't even play as well.
But at the end of the day, they are bound to play in the succeeding games with a random crowd favorite getting a rest.
Joel Embiid only had four points in eleven minutes. Derrick White, Team USA's late addition, played for 16 minutes. Why aren't we talking about this? If this was the NBA, the Embiid versus Nikola Jokic matchup would have been noise-worthy.
In some ways, this is the unfortunate luxury of coaching 12 players. Steve Kerr has to massage a player's ego and at the same time, make sure his direction propels his squad to a victory.
I get that Tatum and Haliburton's Olympic debut is a must. That said, fans will now anticipate the players that will take a rest against South Sudan. Kevin Durant, who had 23 points and 5-for-5 in the three-point zone in just 17 minutes, was absent in their squeaker win. Meanwhile, Tatum had nine points and missed all of his three attempts during that game. With KD and JT playing in the same position, are we going to see one of them resting or both of them timesharing?