United States head coach Steve Kerr is expecting a tough game against underdogs Brazil when the sides meet in the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games on Monday. (Medal Table | Schedule & Results | Full Coverage)
The USA qualified for the knockout round as the top seed after staying perfect in the group stage, rounding it off with a 104-83 victory over Puerto Rico on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Brazil are the underdogs in the competition and squeezed into the last eight thanks to a tiebreaker and some excellent 3-point shooting to see off Japan in what turned out to be the deciding game.
While the USA are on the opposite side of the draw to the powerhouses of Canada, France and Germany, Kerr is not letting the four-time reigning Olympic champions rest on their laurels.
"They're very physical. I think they're the number one offensive rebounding team in the tournament," Kerr said.
"They've got a lot of really good shooters, and they just play hard. They compete play after play, so we'll have to be ready for their physicality and their shooting, and we need to be on edge and ready for them because they're not going to back down.
"In the spirit of the Olympics and the marathon/sprint metaphor that I've used, now that we've been through it, I would call it the 800 meters," Kerr said. "We're running really hard, but it's not the 100 meters."
In the opening three games, Brazil had six different players averaging eight points or more in the Olympics, while the team averaged 13 offensive rebounds per game.
The USA have already given up 16 more offensive rebounds than they have got, one of the few weak spots in the team challenging for a fifth consecutive gold medal.
Kerr's team face Brazil on Monday, with a place in the semi-finals against either Serbia or Australia at stake.
