Steve Kerr has promised to focus on the World Cup, easing himself off from thinking about the Paris Olympics next year in which Team USA has already qualified.
“My worry is about the World Cup and I intend to win it,” he said after his team rolled past Italy,100-63, in the quarterfinals on Tuesday to gain a semifinal seat.
Then, Germany emerged as their semifinal opponent after holding off Latvia, 81-79, in a separate quarterfinal pairing. Germany was led by Franz Wagner with 16 points, becoming the only team in the World Cup to emerge unbeaten way back from the classification stage.
The US-Germany semifinal showdown is set at 8:40 PM on Friday (Sept. 8) at the Mall of Asia Arena after the 4:45 duel in the other semifinal pairing between Serbia and Canada.
Whatever happens in the semifinals, Germany has already outdone its best performance thus far in the 2002 World Championships, the pre-cursor of the FIBA World Cup, where it finished third in the rankings.
The Americans are looking for their 6th World Cup crown, hoping to redeem themselves from their worst seventh-place finish in the last World Cup held in Beijing, China in 2019. The five-time champs have advanced to the top four for the 15th time.
The current Team USA and German players have already laid a familiar setting between themselves as they met in a pre-tournament practice game won by the US, 99-91, but not after a 16-point rally down the stretch.
What it meant for the Germans though is that they can know they take the lead against the Americans.
Germany has never beaten the USA in six encounters—including three World Cups (1986, 2002, 2006). But that was in the past.
Meanwhile, Canada will play in the FIBA World Cup semis for the first time ever. RJ Barrett recorded a FIBA World Cup career-high 24 points on top of nine rebounds in Canada’s win over Slovenia in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Canada has already made history by securing their first-ever top-four finish.
Serbia and Canada have never played against each other.