Pistons < Spurs
08-05-2008, 11:19 AM
Coach K leads Team USA
After the debacle that was the 2004 Athens Olympics, with the American men lucky to come away from Greece with the bronze medal, USA Basketball underwent an overhaul, totally changing the methods used for putting together the team.
At a 2005 summit in Chicago, hundreds of people involved in basketball, from former Olympic players and coaches to current NBA officials, were consulted and gave their opinions on what was needed. At the conclusion of the process, all that remained was choosing a coach. The favorite for the job was Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, the Air Force Academy graduate and well-respected coach whose team was in the midst of a run that would net three NBA championships in five years.
But instead of Popovich, who had firsthand experience of Team USA's hoops nightmare in 2004 while serving as an assistant to Larry Brown, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo opted for legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The future of Dr. Naismith's game, the one we took to the world and was now being stuffed back down our throats, was being placed in the hands of someone who wasn't an NBA coach. A man who, the first time he walked into the room to meet with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, et al., was probably facing more tattoos than he had seen in his entire 28-year run at Duke.
"I smile just thinking about it. I don't know if he was the obvious choice, but he was the right choice," said Carlos Boozer, the Utah Jazz star who played at Duke for Coach K. "I'll tell you what, he's still passionate, still greatly dedicated to the profession. He might be as excited now as I've ever seen him as a coach. He's so excited — for us, for him, for the USA."
As it concludes its pre-Olympic tuneup with an exhibition game this morning (Denver time) vs. Australia, Team USA finds itself playing with a joie de vivre that, if not actually rah-rah, sis-boom-bah, is nonetheless refreshing after watching the misery that transpired — both on and off the court — in Greece. At this point, Krzy-zewski likens his team, the core of which has played together part time for the last two years, to an NBA squad entering the final third of a season. There seems to be trust. There's definitely more communication than was displayed in Athens, with the players not only openly pulling for each other, but also being unafraid to call out a teammate when he doesn't perform as expected.
Part of that may be the difference between having consummate professionals such as Bryant, Jason Kidd and Tayshaun Prince on the team rather than, well, Stephon Marbury, but it still shouldn't belittle the work being done by Krzyzewski, who, while lacking NBA credentials, still knows something about the game.
"He was the guy"
At Duke, Krzyzewski has won almost 78 percent of his games, guided the Blue Devils to 10 Final Fours and won three NCAA championships — all of which would have made him a natural choice to lead Team USA if we were talking about the pre-Dream Team days before the Olympics became the province of the professionals.
Even Krzyzewski, an assistant to Chuck Daly on the 1992 Olympic team that spawned a worldwide basketball revolution, admitted he never thought he would be back on the bench for the Americans.
"I really felt that '92 was going to be my Olympic experience; (coaching the team) was never in my mind at all, because they're all NBA players now," he said. "I was fine with that. As long as the U.S. won, I was fine with that. So I was surprised when Jerry asked me. It just wasn't on my radar."
At the Chicago summit, Colangelo, the former owner of the Phoenix Suns and Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks, said there was a great deal of support for Krzyzewski, but admits it still took him a bit of time to come around.
"I had to come to the realization that he was the guy," Colangelo said. "Popovich would have been a terrific choice, but I eventually came to the conclusion that Mike was the guy I wanted to do this job.
"You couldn't go wrong either way, but I'm glad I made the decision I did. Everything that's happened over the last three years endorses that."
Even with as storied a career as Brown has had, winning championships both collegiately and professionally, it was clear from his ongoing battles with James and Anthony, then relative youngsters, as well as veterans such as Marbury and Allen Iverson, that there was a disconnect between him and players four years ago at the Athens Games.
According to Boozer, that's no longer the case.
"We've all accomplished stuff. Tayshaun has a ring, Dwyane Wade has a ring, Kobe has three of them. LeBron's gotten to the (NBA) Finals. You've got to bring in a coach that everybody respects," said Boozer, a member of the 2004 Olympic team.
"Everybody respects him," Boozer said of Coach K. "He just brings a different mentality where, whether you're No. 1 or No. 12 on the team — and we're all all-stars on our teams — we're all equals."
Krzyzewski says he feels that not going against the members of Team USA during the winter has worked in his favor during the Olympic cycle.
"It's helped me in gaining their trust," he said. "I'm not going to ever compete against them. We can be who we're going to be, and that doesn't have to change during the NBA season.
"I'm never going to try to defend you and you're never going to try to beat me. It's like I'm a completely different entity for them."
Team play in vogue
Even without the NBA background, in some ways, today seems very much Krzyzew-ski's time. During Duke's heyday, when the Blue Devils won NCAA championships in 1991 and 1992 (they won again in 2001), the coach and his players often came under fire, accused of presenting their program as "holier than thou" — charges Krzyzewski now admits "were almost as big an opponent as anybody we played against, really."
Now, however, in a sports landscape littered with fallen carcasses such as Michael Vick and Marion Jones, and the pedestals of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Lance Armstrong tilting precariously, it seems like we could use a few more straight arrows.
That certainly appears to be the trend in basketball, where team play is now all the rage, from sea (the 2008 NBA champion Boston Celtics) to shining sea, with Argentina coming to China as the defending Olympic champion.
Now, Krzyzewski says, Team USA is prepared to embrace the movement.
"One of the interesting things about this Olympic team is that all these guys are good guys," he said. "It's a great time for the NBA and basketball in the U.S. To see the star player be a team player, to be hustling, to be respectful, listening to coaching — all the things that these guys are doing.
"Hopefully we can win the gold medal while we're doing all that stuff."
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_10097886
After the debacle that was the 2004 Athens Olympics, with the American men lucky to come away from Greece with the bronze medal, USA Basketball underwent an overhaul, totally changing the methods used for putting together the team.
At a 2005 summit in Chicago, hundreds of people involved in basketball, from former Olympic players and coaches to current NBA officials, were consulted and gave their opinions on what was needed. At the conclusion of the process, all that remained was choosing a coach. The favorite for the job was Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, the Air Force Academy graduate and well-respected coach whose team was in the midst of a run that would net three NBA championships in five years.
But instead of Popovich, who had firsthand experience of Team USA's hoops nightmare in 2004 while serving as an assistant to Larry Brown, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo opted for legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The future of Dr. Naismith's game, the one we took to the world and was now being stuffed back down our throats, was being placed in the hands of someone who wasn't an NBA coach. A man who, the first time he walked into the room to meet with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, et al., was probably facing more tattoos than he had seen in his entire 28-year run at Duke.
"I smile just thinking about it. I don't know if he was the obvious choice, but he was the right choice," said Carlos Boozer, the Utah Jazz star who played at Duke for Coach K. "I'll tell you what, he's still passionate, still greatly dedicated to the profession. He might be as excited now as I've ever seen him as a coach. He's so excited — for us, for him, for the USA."
As it concludes its pre-Olympic tuneup with an exhibition game this morning (Denver time) vs. Australia, Team USA finds itself playing with a joie de vivre that, if not actually rah-rah, sis-boom-bah, is nonetheless refreshing after watching the misery that transpired — both on and off the court — in Greece. At this point, Krzy-zewski likens his team, the core of which has played together part time for the last two years, to an NBA squad entering the final third of a season. There seems to be trust. There's definitely more communication than was displayed in Athens, with the players not only openly pulling for each other, but also being unafraid to call out a teammate when he doesn't perform as expected.
Part of that may be the difference between having consummate professionals such as Bryant, Jason Kidd and Tayshaun Prince on the team rather than, well, Stephon Marbury, but it still shouldn't belittle the work being done by Krzyzewski, who, while lacking NBA credentials, still knows something about the game.
"He was the guy"
At Duke, Krzyzewski has won almost 78 percent of his games, guided the Blue Devils to 10 Final Fours and won three NCAA championships — all of which would have made him a natural choice to lead Team USA if we were talking about the pre-Dream Team days before the Olympics became the province of the professionals.
Even Krzyzewski, an assistant to Chuck Daly on the 1992 Olympic team that spawned a worldwide basketball revolution, admitted he never thought he would be back on the bench for the Americans.
"I really felt that '92 was going to be my Olympic experience; (coaching the team) was never in my mind at all, because they're all NBA players now," he said. "I was fine with that. As long as the U.S. won, I was fine with that. So I was surprised when Jerry asked me. It just wasn't on my radar."
At the Chicago summit, Colangelo, the former owner of the Phoenix Suns and Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks, said there was a great deal of support for Krzyzewski, but admits it still took him a bit of time to come around.
"I had to come to the realization that he was the guy," Colangelo said. "Popovich would have been a terrific choice, but I eventually came to the conclusion that Mike was the guy I wanted to do this job.
"You couldn't go wrong either way, but I'm glad I made the decision I did. Everything that's happened over the last three years endorses that."
Even with as storied a career as Brown has had, winning championships both collegiately and professionally, it was clear from his ongoing battles with James and Anthony, then relative youngsters, as well as veterans such as Marbury and Allen Iverson, that there was a disconnect between him and players four years ago at the Athens Games.
According to Boozer, that's no longer the case.
"We've all accomplished stuff. Tayshaun has a ring, Dwyane Wade has a ring, Kobe has three of them. LeBron's gotten to the (NBA) Finals. You've got to bring in a coach that everybody respects," said Boozer, a member of the 2004 Olympic team.
"Everybody respects him," Boozer said of Coach K. "He just brings a different mentality where, whether you're No. 1 or No. 12 on the team — and we're all all-stars on our teams — we're all equals."
Krzyzewski says he feels that not going against the members of Team USA during the winter has worked in his favor during the Olympic cycle.
"It's helped me in gaining their trust," he said. "I'm not going to ever compete against them. We can be who we're going to be, and that doesn't have to change during the NBA season.
"I'm never going to try to defend you and you're never going to try to beat me. It's like I'm a completely different entity for them."
Team play in vogue
Even without the NBA background, in some ways, today seems very much Krzyzew-ski's time. During Duke's heyday, when the Blue Devils won NCAA championships in 1991 and 1992 (they won again in 2001), the coach and his players often came under fire, accused of presenting their program as "holier than thou" — charges Krzyzewski now admits "were almost as big an opponent as anybody we played against, really."
Now, however, in a sports landscape littered with fallen carcasses such as Michael Vick and Marion Jones, and the pedestals of Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Lance Armstrong tilting precariously, it seems like we could use a few more straight arrows.
That certainly appears to be the trend in basketball, where team play is now all the rage, from sea (the 2008 NBA champion Boston Celtics) to shining sea, with Argentina coming to China as the defending Olympic champion.
Now, Krzyzewski says, Team USA is prepared to embrace the movement.
"One of the interesting things about this Olympic team is that all these guys are good guys," he said. "It's a great time for the NBA and basketball in the U.S. To see the star player be a team player, to be hustling, to be respectful, listening to coaching — all the things that these guys are doing.
"Hopefully we can win the gold medal while we're doing all that stuff."
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_10097886