Steph better? Curry saves Steve Kerr, but NBA Twitter wants coach fired

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr dodged a bullet in the Olympics semifinal between Team USA and Serbia, and it's all thanks to his own player in Steph Curry. The Warriors sharpshooter, who has yet to win Olympic gold, was the leading scorer in Thursday's semifinal matchup, shooting 12-of-19 from the field, including 9-of-14 from three-point range in a historic effort.

Curry deserves the notoriety that comes with this accomplishment. The U.S. was down double digits entering the fourth quarter. They looked lackadaisical at times, as if they weren't taking a semifinal against Serbia and Nikola Jokic -- a two-time NBA MVP -- seriously. I highly doubt that was the case, but their style of play and tendency for iso-ball surely suggested it.

36 points scored is tough to accomplish in the Olympics, especially with shorter quarters than an NBA contest would offer. Curry is the best three-point shooter in the planet, and because of it he throws off his defenders in the process. An added 16 points from LeBron James and 19 from Joel Embiid surely helped matters, as the latter went against Jokic -- a notoriously subpar defender by NBA standards -- in the post.

Steph Curry saved Steve Kerr from embarrassment, but NBA Twitter doesn't forget

Coaching Team USA is no easy task. If anything, it is the toughest job in basketball given the amount of talent on the roster. Kerr has to decide on a starting five and a bench lineup, both of which are littered with NBA All-Stars. Unlike other countries, the Americans feature a roster full of future Hall of Famers. While France, their gold medal game opponent, can offer up Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama, it could be argued that one or both would struggle to make the American team right now.

So yes, Kerr got roasted, but by no means was it deserved. Winning with this amount of talent, while managing egos, is no easy task.

Kerr has benefitted by coaching the likes of Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Kevin Durant. He also knows how to manage egos, which is beneficial for this sort of job. He'll face similar scrutiny in the gold medal game, as the Americans face France.

Every team needs a fall guy, even Team USA men's basketball.