"...it's a Coach K thing -- and his stuff works with elite players. Why? I don't know; I'm not an elite player. But Kobe Bryant is, and before the 2008 Olympics he said he had been waiting years for the chance to play for Coach K. After the 2008 Olympics? Bryant shared a short conversation he had with Krzyzewski, a conversation that had him primed to produce.

"He wanted me to be who I am -- be a scorer," Bryant said. "I never had a coach come up to me and say, 'I want you to shoot it -- shoot it, shoot it, shoot it.' But that's one of the things he stressed to me: 'We want you to be who you are.'"

Said LeBron James, after the 2008 Olympics: "I'm not sure what makes Coach K the right guy -- but he is. I've played for a couple different coaches on the USA team, and he just fits perfect for us."

http://www.cbssports.com/columns/sto...ch-without-him