Coach K- Olympic Coach 2012

[BlueintheFace]

So will K do it again?

A new ESPN article claims that the core of the Olympic team might be back for 2010. It also states that Colangelo expects a coach to be named by the fall and that right now he is giving K time to consider.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/...ory?id=4187292

[rotogod00]

So will K do it again?

A new ESPN article claims that the core of the Olympic team might be back for 2010. It also states that Colangelo expects a coach to be named by the fall and that right now he is giving K time to consider.

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/...ory?id=4187292

selfishly as a duke fan, i hope not

[FireOgilvie]

I'm glad he did it for 3 years, it was great for him and the university got some benefit out of it as well. But, if he commits to another 3 years, I think his salary should be cut accordingly. Seriously. Duke pays him to coach Duke Basketball. If he wants to give 10% of his time to something else, cut his salary by 10%. He has already missed months of possible recruiting time. He has already helped to get the gold. He's done his part for the country, which is great. Time for someone new to step in.

[BlueintheFace]

I'm glad he did it for 3 years, it was great for him and the university got some benefit out of it as well. But, if he commits to another 3 years, I think his salary should be cut accordingly. Seriously. Duke pays him to coach Duke Basketball. If he wants to give 10% of his time to something else, cut his salary by 10%. He has already missed months of possible recruiting time. He has already helped to get the gold. He's done his part for the country, which is great. Time for someone new to step in.

His book sales alone will probably outdistance his entire salary for the year. If you want to reduce it out of principle or to send a message, I'm not sure that the result would be beneficial to the University/Duke Basketball. If you want to reduce it as a deterrent, I don't think it will be a very effective one.

[FireOgilvie]

His book sales alone will probably outdistance his entire salary for the year. If you want to reduce it out of principle or to send a message, I'm not sure that the result would be beneficial to the University/Duke Basketball. If you want to reduce it as a deterrent, I don't think it will be a very effective one.

Yeah, and his endorsement money from Guitar Hero, Nike, and American Express. I'm sure he'll be okay. I'm just saying, 80 percent of Coach K isn't that much better than 100% of a lot of other coaches, and it is unfair to the university that employs him.

[Billy Dat]

I expect him to continue his involvement, and I have feared for a long time that USA Basketball is going to be the thing that hastens his exit from Duke. He's a natural to take over the Managing Director job from Colangelo whenever that time comes. In the meantime, I am sure he feels like the World Championships are some unfinished business that he'd like to correct.

I am sure he doesn't believe that his involvement with USA Basketball hurt his Duke team one iota, so he wouldn't use that as a reason, publically or privately. He also is a guy for whom running a top basketball program has not been "enough" for some time. Most other coaches have a radio show, summer camps, instructional books and videos and are involved in numerous charities. Fewer run adult fantasy camps and collaborate on leadership books. Few, if any, others sit on the faculty of business schools, hold leadership conferences, head-up elite performance "labs", host XM radio shows, etc. K is a machine. I've seen him say that he always needs new challenges beyond running the program or he'd go crazy.

That's why I don't see him stepping away. If we're lucky, maybe he'll give up the head job to D'Antoni or someone else and simply serve as an assistant or "special consultant".

[BD80]

Yeah, and his endorsement money from Guitar Hero, Nike, and American Express. I'm sure he'll be okay. ...

Pretty sure the proceeds from the Guitar Hero gig went to charity.

[Billy Dat]

Chris Sheridan covers the story, K's potential role features prominently:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/column...TeamUSA-090501

[sagegrouse]

Seriously. Duke pays him to coach Duke Basketball. If he wants to give 10% of his time to something else, cut his salary by 10%. He has already missed months of possible recruiting time. He has already helped to get the gold. He's done his part for the country, which is great. Time for someone new to step in.

Lets do the math. Calipari was just hired at a salary two times what K makes from Duke. Now, how much do you want to dock his pay?

sagegrouse

[wolfpackdevil]

While pointing no fingers, I will say that some Duke fans need to be a little less selfish. He has earned the right to go and coach the USA team for three more years if he wants to. Duke is lucky he is even still coaching in college, after the Los Angeles debacle a couple of years ago.

I think him coaching the USA team actually helped Duke this past year and will keep helping them in the future.

Coach K learned a lot working with NBA players and coaches.

I hope he DOES coach again and brings home another gold medal in 2012

[roywhite]

One of the attractions for the Redeem Team players this time is that the time commitment is less than the first time around. Play in 2010 and 2012, plus they have time playing together, familiar with the system, more familiar with international ball, etc. An easier adjustment.

So that same attraction of less time commitment and a system already in place would seem to be a lure to Coach K, too.

Purely a hunch, but I think he signs up again as Coach. And fine with me, as I don't see this being a negative to Duke, either.

[cbnaylor]

I hope Coach K does decide to do it again if he wishes. This should be an honor. To know that the school you pull for coach is wanted to Coach the Olympics. Coach K has handle Duke and the Olympics well. Trust me, if K couldn't balance within the two, he wouldn't do it. He knows where he's heart is and that's Duke Basketball. He promised the student body when he decided to stay at Duke. If coaching the Olympics was to get in the way of that, he wouldn't do it. Pay cut...Pay cut...are you serious. Coach K has earned what he is being paid.

[Duke #33]

I don't remember where I saw it, but it said that if coach K doesn't choose to coach the olympic team, he would still like to involved as an adviser to the team.

[Edouble]

Coach K is a great coach, maybe the best of all time. He is not Superman though. He is human. Coaching a Division I NCAA NC-calibre program is a full time job. Probably full time and a half.

I really hope he doesn't coach the National Team again. It seems illogical to think that it doesn't take time away from the Duke program, and therefore have an effect on the program.

Although I've heard the argument that coaching LeBron and Co. will lead to increased recruiting success, we never had any huge recruiting issues before the Olympics. I'm confident we'll get the recruits we need with Coach K at the helm full time.

[UrinalCake]

Seconding edouble's thoughts... the last thee years have not been up to Duke's usual standards. Yes we've done well compared to most other schools, and yes we've brought in some solid players, and yes our record this decade still speaks for itself. But we've also missed out on several key recruits (even with the understanding that no program gets every single recruit they want) and have three tournament wins in three years. Is it just a coincidence that this has happened during Coach K's tenure with the National team? Maybe it is. Maybe we would have done the same had he not been the coach; maybe we would have done even worse. But Occam's razor seems to suggest that his time away from Duke has hurt the program.

Not to say that he shouldn't be allowed to do it again if that's what he chooses, because he's earned that right, but I don't buy the notion that it doesn't affect Duke at all. How could it not?

[SupaDave]

I'm glad he did it for 3 years, it was great for him and the university got some benefit out of it as well. But, if he commits to another 3 years, I think his salary should be cut accordingly. Seriously. Duke pays him to coach Duke Basketball. If he wants to give 10% of his time to something else, cut his salary by 10%. He has already missed months of possible recruiting time. He has already helped to get the gold. He's done his part for the country, which is great. Time for someone new to step in.

For the record - this isn't taking Coach K's full role to the University into ANY kind of perspective. He's an advisor, spokesperson, elder statesmen, and oh yeah - Professor in the biz school. And you want to CUT his pay? (shakes head...)

[COYS]

Seconding edouble's thoughts... the last thee years have not been up to Duke's usual standards. Yes we've done well compared to most other schools, and yes we've brought in some solid players, and yes our record this decade still speaks for itself. But we've also missed out on several key recruits (even with the understanding that no program gets every single recruit they want) and have three tournament wins in three years. Is it just a coincidence that this has happened during Coach K's tenure with the National team? Maybe it is. Maybe we would have done the same had he not been the coach; maybe we would have done even worse. But Occam's razor seems to suggest that his time away from Duke has hurt the program.

Not to say that he shouldn't be allowed to do it again if that's what he chooses, because he's earned that right, but I don't buy the notion that it doesn't affect Duke at all. How could it not?

I'm willing to entertain the notion that K's commitment to USA basketball could potentially have had a negative effect on recruiting, but I really don't think there's much non-circumstantial evidence to support that claim. If I recall correctly, there may have been a quote from Boynton about how Billy D had been pursuing him really hard while K was in China to coach the Olympic team from that long ESPN piece, but that's about it. But that's about it. Patterson supposedly liked the Kentucky players better. Monroe was wooed by Georgetown. And that's about that. Maybe it did hurt a little with Boynton, but maybe it will help a little with a future recruit. I think it definitely affects Duke, but I'm not sure that the effect won't be positive, even when it comes to recruiting.

[TheBrianZoubekExperience]

His book sales alone will probably outdistance his entire salary for the year. If you want to reduce it out of principle or to send a message, I'm not sure that the result would be beneficial to the University/Duke Basketball. If you want to reduce it as a deterrent, I don't think it will be a very effective one.

How much do you think he's making off the book? Are you basing that off anything? I'd be really surprised if its more than his salary.

I'm not in favor of cutting his salary. I just don't think it would be good for the relationship. I would prefer he doesn't do the Olympics again unless he feels there is really no coach who is able or willing to step in and do a great job. I think there are going to be plenty of fine coaches so I don't think he should do it.

[JG Nothing]

During the Wake Forest game on January 28, Dick Vitale mentioned a conversation he had with K. Vitale paraphrased K as saying that he was not able to take a break because of the Olympics and, consequently, was more worn out than usual at that point in the season.
So, at least this past season, being an Olympic coach apparently did affect K's health and I would assume his performance as Duke's head coach.

[Kewlswim]

Hi,

I know what happened last time someone else took over for a short while. So, this is written with a heavy heart.

Perhaps it would make sense, if indeed Coach K was a bit worn out from the Olympic qualifying etc, to turn the reigns of the Duke team over to Wojo or Chris so he does not have so much on his plate. This is where I was sad that Coach Dawkins left. I would have liked him to have a season to run the club as its "actual" coach if Coach K needed to take time off.

Please note I am not advocating this. I am thinking that sometimes if one tries to do too much one does nothing well and it makes more sense, if his heart is with trying to get another gold medal, that someone else have a chance to coach Duke for a season while Coach K gets the USA another gold. I would rather, if it were up to me, that he give up USA coaching because I think it spreads him too thin and I want him at Duke giving his all.

GO DUKE!