USA Basketball names assistant coaches

[Kori Ellis]

USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team program Managing Director Jerry Colangelo officially announced today that Syracuse University (N.Y.) head coach Jim Boeheim, Phoenix Suns head mentor Mike D'Antoni and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan have been named assistant coaches of the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team program for 2006-2008. Duke University (N.C.) head coach Mike Krzyzewski was named on Oct. 26, 2005, head coach of the USA Senior Team for 2006-2008. The assistant coach selections were approved by USA Basketball's Executive Committee.

"Our goal was to assemble a first rate coaching staff with Mike Krzyzewski in the leadership role and a talented group of respected and successful coaches assisting him," said Colangelo, who was appointed Managing Director of the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team program on April 27, 2005. "I'm very excited about this coaching staff."

The USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team will compete in the 2006 FIBA World Championship (Aug. 19-Sept. 3 in Saitama, Japan); if necessary the 2007 FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament (dates and site TBD); and if the USA qualifies, the 2008 Summer Olympic Games (Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, China).

"This staff encompasses all the areas that need to be addressed. We have NBA experience. We have international experience. We have the backgrounds to teach different styles of basketball, including zone offense and defense. We also have coaches of different ages, which should give us the ability to teach and communicate well with a team of the best players in our country," said Krzyzewski. "We want to develop the team to produce gold medal-winning performances in 2006 and 2008. I am truly excited about the addition of Jim Boeheim, Mike D'Antoni and Nate McMillan to the USA staff. We are fortunate to have them on our team."

Since first fielding a USA Basketball team of legendary NBA stars in 1992, USA Basketball senior national teams comprised of NBA players have claimed gold medals in eight of 10 major international basketball competitions, while compiling an impressive 74-6 overall record (.925 winning percentage) in those international competitions and a record of 23-1 (.958 winning percentage) in exhibition games.

[CubanMustGo]

No real surprise, but who's missing? :pctoss

[101A]

Greg Hill

[Tek_XX]

Avery Johnson

[GoSpurs21]

so none of the coaches who have real influences on most of the US best players in the NBA are listed. Good Luck team USA.

[ducks]

just maybe if the usa does not send the best players they might play like a team and act like decent human beings and have good chemsitry
I am more worried about that then winning the gold medal

[sanman53]

No real surprise, but who's missing? :pctoss

Hubie Brown

[ShoogarBear]

Mo McHone.

[GoSpurs21]

just maybe if the usa does not send the best players they might play like a team and act like decent human beings and have good chemsitry
I am more worried about that then winning the gold medalwho didnt act like a decent human being on the 2004 team?

[drivanroca]

Mo McHone.

http://spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24578&highlight=McHone

:depressed

[pache100]

who didnt act like a decent human being on the 2004 team?

Good question. Even the ones who sometimes do not act like decent human beings (or at least have that reputation) acted like decent human beings in Athens.

[conqueso]

USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team program Managing Director Jerry Colangelo officially announced today that Syracuse University (N.Y.) head coach Jim Boeheim, Phoenix Suns head mentor Mike D'Antoni and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Nate McMillan have been named assistant coaches of the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team program for 2006-2008....

Hey guys, help me out with this one...I'm not sure I understand how those guys are going to work together.

I know D'Antoni has experience with the foreign game and different rules, but how the hell is his run-and-gun offense-only mentality going to mesh with Boeheim and Shuh-shev-ski? Is he going to be a just a consultant or what?

And what's up with McMillan? He's good at X's and O's, but he can't manage player personalities well at all. Seattle's success last season was because Ray Allen decided he was going to actually play in a contract year and because they jacked up a ton of threes...and they were in a weak division. I like McMillan a lot, but he's not the cream of the crop by a long-shot.

I know they don't want to touch Pop with a ten foot pole because he's been there already and he doesn't really want the commitment blah blah blah, but he's obviously the best person for the job. He's the best coach in the world, with maybe one exception. If USA Basketball was serious about turning around the program and competing on a global scale, it would take its head out of its ass and force Pop to coach the team.

[Spurminator]

Phoenix Suns head mentor Mike D'Antoni

?

[pache100]

?

I noticed that, too. The only thing I could figure out is he used the word "coach" six times in that short paragraph and it was an attempt to break up the monotony. Don't know why he picked D'Antoni to demote, though.

[PM5K]

I got a really easy solution to all of this.

Many people think coach Pop would be a good coach for the Olympics and I agree to some extent. The problem is that it's hard to coach a group of new guys to play the game the way you want it to be played, especially when you are a defense first coach.

So to solve that you take coach Pop and the Spurs to the Olympics.

But what, I hear you say that at least a couple of our top players aren't Americans, like Manu and Tony, simple you make a mix of the Pistons and Spurs. The offense and defense is pretty much the same, you use Pop and Larry as coaches and use the Spurs as the base and fill in the non-Americans with Americans from the Pistons, and voila, Gold Medals!

[polandprzem]

Mike and Jerry

[tlongII]

Nate McMillian is a great coach! He has the Blazers playing much better than I expected already.

[Brutalis]

I hate saying this but...


USA better get ready for another owning. Cause it's going to happen.

[ChumpDumper]

Pop should coach the Serbia-Montenegro team.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

That staff doesn't compliment each other at all.

At least when that team turns into a wreck Pop, Tim, etc. will be well clear of it.

[LilMissSPURfect]

No real surprise, but who's missing? :pctoss


the chicken [suns] mascot!!!!! :lol :lol

[ShoogarBear]

That staff doesn't compliment each other at all.

At least when that team turns into a wreck Pop, Tim, etc. will be well clear of it.

Guaranteed if Team USA doesn't win, the media will find some way to wash all blame off Krzyzewski. He's a Sainted College Coach, not one of those NBA bastards.

[pache100]

I got a really easy solution to all of this ... make a mix of the Pistons and Spurs. The offense and defense is pretty much the same, you use Pop and Larry as coaches and use the Spurs as the base and fill in the non-Americans with Americans from the Pistons, and voila, Gold Medals!

I think the Pistons would have a hard time playing for Larry now, after the drama they went through with him during the second half of the season last year and he would up leaving them anyway. I'm a Larry Brown fan, but I just don't see the Pistons being receptive to his coaching at this point.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

USA is going to have to keep waiting for another gold. They'll put together a talented team but this coaching team is not going to cut it.