Steve Kerr, USA Blasted by Fans for Shocking Loss to Lithuania at FIBA World Cup 2023

Team USA's lack of size finally came back to bite them in a 110-104 loss to Lithuania in their final game of the second round at the 2023 FIBA World Cup on Sunday.

The biggest concern for the United States coming into the tournament was head coach Steve Kerr's decision to go with a smaller roster. It was an attempt to zag because the style of play in FIBA tends to favor bigger teams.

Lithuania imposed its will against the U.S. team right out of the gate by taking a 31-12 lead at the end of the first quarter. Its eventually got the lead up to 21 points late in the second quarter.

Jonas Valanciunas had 15 points and Lithuania had a 26-15 rebounding advantage while going 9-of-12 from three-point range at the end of the first half. Team USA made just three of its 10 attempts from behind the arc through the first two quarters.

The Lithuanians finished the game 14-of-25 from three-point range. They also made 20 of their 25 free-throw attempts. Seven players scored in double-figures, led by Vaidas Kariniauskas' 15 off the bench.

Mindaugas Kuzminskas made arguably the biggest shot of the game when his off-balance three as the shot clock expired with 3:49 remaining to extend Lithuania's lead to 94-85 after the United States got within six.

The United States did go on a run in the third quarter that cut the deficit to four points. Lithuania kept responding and maintained a lead of at least eight points for most of the fourth quarter, though it was cut down to four at 108-104 with 16.2 seconds remaining.

Team USA stole the inbounds pass after Jalen Brunson made two free throws, but Mikal Bridges' three-point attempt that would have made it a one point game hit off the front of the rim. Tomas Dimsa's fastbreak dunk off Bridges' miss sealed the win for Lithuania.

As you would expect, Kerr was the subject of much criticism from fans and analysts coming out of the loss.

The criticism of Kerr is certainly fair, but the players weren't helping matters. Anthony Edwards scored 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting in the first half. The other four starters combined had four points on 2-of-10 shooting.

Austin Reaves had his worst game of the tournament. The Los Angeles Lakers guard had seven points, no rebounds and no assists before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges came alive in the second half. They scored 24 of their 28 combined points in the final two quarters.

Despite the loss, there was some good news for the United States. The Dominican Republic's loss to Serbia gave Team USA an automatic berth in the 2024 Olympics.

Team USA is also moving on to the quarterfinals where they will play Italy, which won Group I, on Tuesday.

This isn't a cause for mass panic because the 2019 World Cup team finished seventh overall with a 6-2 record, but the U.S. still went on to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

At the very least, Anthony Edwards has certainly put himself in contention to be on the team next summer. He put up 35 points in 29 minutes against Lithuania.