Coach K and the National Team

[dukeforester]

Nice ESPN article. K really wants this!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=2987546&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos1

[YmoBeThere]

The defense was stifling an overmatched Canada. The final was 113-63. This team can score from the 3 point line(15 of 30).

[darthur]

It's fun reading about how into it the American team is as a whole:

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/olybb/columns/story?columnist=neel_eric&id=2991049

K is one heck of a motivator.

[Lord Ash]

It was very typical of the Inside Carolina crowd; they had a thread going there by a bunch of Carolwhina Tar Hole fans who were saying they couldn't root for the USA because of Coach K. I couldn't help but think that if Roy was coaching I would still root for them; I just don't care that much about Roy. I guess they take Coach K very seriously over there...

[mgtr]

At this point, it doesn't seem such a leap to assume the USA team wins out. However, the game tonight will really tell the tale. If the USA team continues its success, a) will Coach K get the credit? b) will that help reduce the Duke hatred tsunami?

[Lord Ash]

The articles I read made them sound VERY Duke like; intense, D first, and going start to finish.

[VaDukie]

At this point, it doesn't seem such a leap to assume the USA team wins out. However, the game tonight will really tell the tale. If the USA team continues its success, a) will Coach K get the credit? b) will that help reduce the Duke hatred tsunami?

Nothing will ever reduce the Duke hatred. If Duke/Coach K acts with class, we're arrogant. If we act 'normal or below angelic standards, then we're no better than anyone else and we're 'posers'.

[YmoBeThere]

At this point, it doesn't seem such a leap to assume the USA team wins out. However, the game tonight will really tell the tale. If the USA team continues its success, a) will Coach K get the credit? b) will that help reduce the Duke hatred tsunami?

against the Virgin Islands, 93-89 winners. Still, I think they will present the stiffest challenge of the preliminary round. Perhaps they were looking ahead to the the USA matchup?

[mapei]

Nothing will ever reduce the Duke hatred. If Duke/Coach K acts with class, we're arrogant. If we act 'normal or below angelic standards, then we're no better than anyone else and we're 'posers'.

That sums it up really well IMO. Unfortunately.

[crimsonandblue]

At this point, it doesn't seem such a leap to assume the USA team wins out. However, the game tonight will really tell the tale. If the USA team continues its success, a) will Coach K get the credit? b) will that help reduce the Duke hatred tsunami?

What exactly do you want Coach K to get credit for? Getting the team to the Olympics (assuming we handle this Americas tourney as we have been doing)? Whoopdeedo. Do we get to blame him for the third place finish at Worlds last year?

I appreciate his willingness to coach an Olympic team and thereby possibly cut in to his ability to focus on his real job. I appreciate that he's currently got a team including Carmelo, LeBron and Kobe playing well against overmatched opponents. But really, ultimately, he will only get "credit" if he brings home Olympic gold. And really, that will be on the players. If we had been able to take the Olympic qualifying team to Athens in '04 (the team that destroyed people like this one is now) we likely would have won in '04 too. But injuries and conflicts (as well as roster mismanagement) substantially changed the face of our '04 team.

Personally, I think US Olympic coach is a pretty thankless job, in light of the expectations. But K is probably used to that and it doesn't mean he deserves "credit" for doing the expected. I mean, George Karl got us to the Olympics.

[mpj96]

I agree that Caoch K isn't coaching the National Team for credit. That said, it is a lot of fun for us Duke fans to recognize -- in phenomenally gifted players -- some of the characteristics that have come to be recognnized by some Duke fans as characteristic of the work ethic of teams coached by K.

C&B, Team USA probably would have beaten Brazil last night even if Kobe didn't dive to the floor for a loose ball. But seeing him do that, for a game that he is playing for no pay, is pretty fantastic. Kobe may have dove to the floor even if the letters of his coach's last name that followed K were "arl" instead of "rzyzweski". But, looking at the game through a dark blue lens -- it looked a lot like Jason Williams, Chris Duhon, Shane Battier, Bobby Hurley et al diving to the floor. It looked good. It looked like Duke.

I don't expect K to get credit for that loose ball scramble or pressure defense. He doesn't deserve the credit for those plays, Kobe and the rest of Team USA deserve the credit -- credit which they will get if they bring home the gold.

In the meantime, it is a mixed blessing that Team USA has to qualify because we are seeing them play games they wouldn't have otherwise played. The games are a treat to watch if you like to watch a basketball game that is being played by great players with great intensity. I happen to like it and I've got my Tivo programmed accordingly.

[mgtr]

Cb-
So I guess your answer is no. You may be right, but I wonder how many coaches could get the players to do some of the things that they are doing. Ultimately, of course, the players play the game, the coach mainly watches (John Wooden rarely did any coaching during the actual game).
As has been pointed out, the USA team this year looks more like a Duke team than a group of NBA players. I believe that this will be increasingly recognized, and in this way Coach K will get the credit.
I can't explain what happened last year, since I didn't see any of the games, or really pay any attention at the time. I have heard it said that one player from Greece just destroyed us in the semis, but I don't know if that is really true.

[mapei]

I didn't see the early games, but I have watched parts of the last three and been MAJORLY impressed. Yeah, I know they are far superior to the competition and should clobber them, but this team is overperforming, not underperforming like so many recent US teams (including the last one of K's).

What has impressed me the most is the amazing passing (which the announcers pretentiously call "ball movement"; whatever). Man these guys are good. Only downside, really, has been mediocre FT shooting.

[bird]

I am going to reserve ultimate judgment until the results of the Olympics are known.

But if I were to identify where on the trajectory chart we should be now in order to win at the Olympics, and based on what I seeing from the current squad, it looks like it is all coming together:

1. Superstars willing to participate.
2. Superstars willing to play as a team.
3. Energy and hustle.
4. Some fairly robust three-point shooting.
5. First class point guard play.

My theory here is that to be a superstar you actually need to have a burning desire to win and be good and do things the right way, so long at the context permits those qualities to come out. I think these guys are enjoying an opportunity to play team basketball.

The only downside I see here is that I don't know what Battier would add to the team. When you have a Kobe Bryant acting as defensive stopper and floor-slamming hustle guy, what would be Battier's role?

[-jk]

I am going to reserve ultimate judgment until the results of the Olympics are known.

But if I were to identify where on the trajectory chart we should be now in order to win at the Olympics, and based on what I seeing from the current squad, it looks like it is all coming together:

1. Superstars willing to participate.
2. Superstars willing to play as a team.
3. Energy and hustle.
4. Some fairly robust three-point shooting.
5. First class point guard play.

My theory here is that to be a superstar you actually need to have a burning desire to win and be good and do things the right way, so long at the context permits those qualities to come out. I think these guys are enjoying an opportunity to play team basketball.

The only downside I see here is that I don't know what Battier would add to the team. When you have a Kobe Bryant acting as defensive stopper and floor-slamming hustle guy, what would be Battier's role?

Easy: backup defensive stopper and floor-slamming hustle guy. And K's backup brain.

-jk

[dkbaseball]

Cb-
I have heard it said that one player from Greece just destroyed us in the semis, but I don't know if that is really true.

One play destroyed us -- the pick and roll. Let's hope we know how to defend it now.

[SilkyJ]

One play destroyed us -- the pick and roll. Let's hope we know how to defend it now.

It appears as though we still dont know how. Even though we crushed Uruguay, the game was close (within 5 points) most of the first quarter, and not because we were shooting poorly. We put up very solid numbers, but uruguay was getting wide open 3 point looks. And lots of them were the results of pick and rolls. After Uruguay hit a couple, you could see that the team was then determined to over play the 3 pt shot and rotated well and closed out hard, but that opened the door for uruguay to attack inside when a rotating defender would close out too aggresively, which they did. Then Uruguay started missing some shots and it was over, but its still something we need to work on...

[hc5duke]

It was very typical of the Inside Carolina crowd; they had a thread going there by a bunch of Carolwhina Tar Hole fans who were saying they couldn't root for the USA because of Coach K. I couldn't help but think that if Roy was coaching I would still root for them; I just don't care that much about Roy. I guess they take Coach K very seriously over there...

I wouldn't go as far as rooting against the U.S. team, but if the U.S. team loses any game under Roy, we'd all know the coach is at fault :D

[hc5duke]

Ok rant time: whoever has that foghorn needs to be shot in the head... Seriously, this ain't futbol - occasional Ole-Ole is fine, and I could even tolerate the damn thing during free throws. But it got to the point where the idiot was blowing it at random times while the ball was alive - quite possibly more annoying than Dickie V. This has got to be against the rules... or is it some sort of a stadium rule? I'm pretty sure I've seen some fan being thrown out of Cameron (or maybe had the foghorn confiscated) for using foghorns during a Duke basketball game.

[SilkyJ]

It is certainly unsportsmanlike, and should be against the rules if it isn't.

[FewFAC]

And Larry Brown was not at fault? Or is he no longer a "Carolina" guy?

[mapei]

The demographic of people who associate Larry with UNC is probably advanced senior-citizen at this point.

Anyway, who cares? The team has been doing great. K deserves credit for that, and so does a new generation of players. Let's hope they keep it up. And, though Shane is my all-time favorite basketball player, I wouldn't change this team at this point. Maybe add some beef in the post.

[Indoor66]

The demographic of people who associate Larry with UNC is probably advanced senior-citizen at this point.

I'm getting to resemble that remark. I remember Larry playing at the Dump on the Hump at Wollen Gym.

[captmojo]

To Hell with Larry Brown.:mad:

[Brian913]

The demographic of people who associate Larry with UNC is probably advanced senior-citizen at this point.

Anyway, who cares? The team has been doing great. K deserves credit for that, and so does a new generation of players. Let's hope they keep it up. And, though Shane is my all-time favorite basketball player, I wouldn't change this team at this point. Maybe add some beef in the post.
"The demographic of people who associate Larry with UNC is probably advanced senior-citizen at this point."

That's IC's demo. They should be worried.