Team USA came from a 16-point deficit to defeat South Sudan, the youngest country to play international basketball, 101-100, extending the country’s undefeated practice games this summer.

Although Team USA ultimately took the win thanks to a game-winner by LeBron James, head coach Steve Kerr was unhappy with how things went, blaming himself, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

“I didn’t prepare our team well,” U.S. coach Steve Kerr said. “I don’t think we focused enough on what they can do and that’s my fault.”

Kerr also said the Americans didn’t use their only training session in London to properly prepare. He said part of the problem was a dominant win in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, followed by a long flight from the United Arab Emirates to the UK on Tuesday, which he said set the stage for a “disappointment.”

Kerr’s point guard role with Team USA and in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors played a key role, also according to Vardon.

“We can get beat if we don’t play our brand of basketball, and our brand of basketball is defense,” said Curry, who made 3 of 10 shots. “But we also learned that if we have that equipment, no matter who’s on the court, we can overwhelm teams for 40 minutes and it’s a great reminder of both.”

Steve Kerr’s Reasons for LeBron and Steph to Let Joel Embiid Start at the Olympics

Team USA head coach Steve Kerr has a stacked roster for the 2024 Paris Olympics in men’s basketball. The 2024 roster is being dubbed the Redeem Team 2.0, as Team USA looks to exact revenge after failing to win a medal at the 2023 FIBA ​​World Cup. The United States has revamped its basketball roster, assembling a roster full of true megastars as it strives to bring home its 17th Olympic gold.

But such a talented roster can lead to rotation challenges. On Wednesday, Kerr explained what he likes about the trio of LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid starting together.

Kerr said: “Yeah, I like those three guys in the starting lineup. We’ve looked at other guys around them, and we’ve got a lot of great options, obviously, but I like those three guys together.”

Embiid has had mixed performances during the team’s warmup games thus far.

Anthony Davis, meanwhile, has been Team USA’s most impressive player in the two games with back-to-back double-double performances. He and Bam Adebayo have teamed up for the Americans’ second unit, and that group has looked very good in the warm-up games thus far.

The Olympic Games begin on Friday, July 26.