SAN FRANCISCO (USA) - USA's Olympic gold medal winning coach Steve Kerr looks like he's a true believer in the old sporting adage that offense sells tickets but defense wins championships.
The spectacular dunks and the three-point shots this summer, many of them made by his Warriors legend Stephen Curry, got all the headlines when the USA won the gold medal for the fifth straight time.
But what should have received even more attention, perhaps, was Kerr's ability to get his players to commit to defending, and his decision to go deep to his bench.
It was something the world witnessed in the Olympic men's basketball tournament, and now that the NBA is in full swing, basketball fans are seeing Kerr use the same approach with his Warriors.
The Dubs can shoot. There's no question about that. Steph Curry and Buddy Hield are absolutely on fire right now.
But there is more to that 2024-25 Warriors team. They have won seven of their first eight games this season, their latest coming on the road against defending champions Boston on Wednesday night.
"The way Steve Kerr is playing with the Warriors right now is a very Olympic-style game plan," reporter Brian Windhorst said on ESPN's First Take.
"In the Olympics, and (former USA boss) Mike Krzyzewski really pioneered this when he was the coach, what they would do is, (because) the USA have so much more depth than everybody, he would play five guys and all those guys would go out there and run around like crazy until you're exhausted on defense and then he'd bring five new guys in."
Kerr's using the Olympic style - Brian Windhorst
Coach K led the USA to gold medals at the Olympics in 2008, 2012 and 2016, while in 2021, Gregg Popovich coached the USA to gold in Tokyo.
This summer, it was Kerr at the controls and his teams really got after opponents on defense.
"The idea is you're taking five All-Stars out and bringing five All-Stars in and it's won the USA five straight gold medals," Windhorst said. "That's what Steve Kerr did largely in Paris.
"He was 5 and 5, and (Jayson) Tatum was the 11th guy against Serbia. What he's using now (at Golden State), 12, 13 players and he's using the Olympic style. He's playing like seven of them between 13 and 20 minutes.
"They're going out there, they're exhausting themselves on defense and he's doing mass subbing. And he's letting Draymond Green and Steph Curry do the heavy lifting at each end of the court and it's working. If you watch the way the Warriors play, they play high-pressure defense.
"They're double teaming, the players get exhausted. Out comes two, two more come in. And they've got the No. 2 defense in the league right now and if you can limit the Boston Celtics, who have an absolutely dynamic offense, you can do special stuff."
In Paris, USA's defense allowed Steve Kerr's team to speed up the game and become the highest-scoring team at the Olympics with 105.3 points per game, enabling the USA to play at their preferred pace. When it mattered most, the USA was also capable of shutting down opponents. They held Serbia below their average of 94.3 points per game twice, beating them 110-82 in the group phase and 95-91 in the semifinals. Even red-hot-Final-Phase France, led by Victor Wembanyama's 26 points in the final, scored only 87 against them - not enough for the host nation to claim gold.
The Warriors have had strong defenses in the past and bring a wealth of experience - not just in the NBA, but also in FIBA play. Draymond Green and Stephen Curry have won with USA Basketball, Buddy Hield was superb in the OQT with the Bahamas this summer, Andrew Wiggins has played for Canada, Jonathan Kuminga attempted to qualify the Democratic Republic of Congo for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, and Kyle Anderson suited up for China in 2023.
Steve Kerr may indeed have the right personnel to implement a USA Basketball-inspired FIBA defensive style - a winning style.
Could this formula bring a fifth ring to the Bay's dynasty?
FIBA