Coach K- Olympic Coach 2012

[shoutingncu]

So what would you like to place Dean's nemesis on from 1983 - 1988?

Well, '83 is when my family moved to Raleigh... could it be me?

[Devil07]

For those who wanted the staff to stay at Duke, looks like Coach K is thinking of bringing everyone back with him. I personally was hoping that this time he'd leave the staff behind but guess that won't be the case.

From the Chronicle blog's article (http://sports.chronicleblogs.com/2009/07/21/krzyzewski-to-reprise-role-as-olympic-head-coach)


Krzyzewski said he hasn’t made any decisions yet, but he expects them to retain similar positions.

“If they’re at Duke, they probably will be involved,” he said. “In other words, if Wojo or Chris got head coaching jobs some place, then that would be difficult. Like, Johnny Dawkins would not be able to continue with us because he’s just taken over his program at Stanford. But those decisions will be made on a year-to-year-basis.”

There also are some real good quotes from some of the players at the bottom of the article that hopefully every recruit sees.

[roywhite]

There also are some real good quotes from some of the players at the bottom of the article that hopefully every recruit sees.

Amen, Devil07. Good for all Duke fans to read and enjoy.

For example:
Deron Williams: “This is the best possible news for USA Basketball. I am sure that those outside of the United States are disappointed. Coach K is King.”

[Bob Green]

It would also probably make sense to see who UNC played in those first round games b/c they were up against the likes of Magic Johson and Michigan State, Larry Bird, Zeke Thomas, Bob Knight and an undefeated Indiana squad, and a stacked Kentucky squad...

1978 - UNC lost to San Francisco 68-64
1979 - #1 Seed UNC lost to #9 Seed Penn 72-71
1980 - #3 Seed UNC lost to #6 Seed Texas A&M 78-61

The seeding in 78 was a little different with automatic bids seated 1 through 4 and at large bids seeded 1 through 4 separately. UNC was seated 1L and USF 3Q. The bottom line is UNC lost their first tournament game to a lower seeded opponent all three years. However, the relevance of this information to the current topic escapes me, while the "curiosity killed the cat" syndrome forced me to look it up.

[airowe]

K is scheduled to be on the Dan Patrick show at 11:20 AM this morning. I'm sure the Olympics will be a big topic of conversation.

[NSDukeFan]

K is scheduled to be on the Dan Patrick show at 11:20 AM this morning. I'm sure the Olympics will be a big topic of conversation.

I will be sure to listen in. The last time K was on the show, DP was discussing how he would do one-on-one with Wojo and how hew would just back him in the post to score. K did a great job defending the former DPOY and letting DP know he wouldn't score, let alone win a game.

[juise]

You can download the Dan Patrick interview here (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/).

[SupaDave]

Check this interview with K... I don't know about you guys but this has been a GREAT summer. From Greg's football exploits to G as a lottery pick to K re-upping with the Olympics with the full support of the team's core. We haven't had this much press in a while. Coach K is in the news from ALL angles. I can just feel the upswing. Our players are in magazines again. The team is getting time on the court and K is reloading. Oh my!

http://dimemag.com/2009/07/coach-k-talks-lebron-kobe-and-dwyane-wade/

[gep]

I think the neatest thing about this next USA Basketball team is that, for all that I've read so far, these young players WANT to be a part of the experience, whether they make the team or not. I remember, a few years ago, that the mere mention of a "try-out" would turn off essentially all of the elite USA players. So, they started picking players, who, one-by-one, declined... so the picking continued until they had their 12 players. Now, it's like it should be :) The best and brightest WANT to be a part of this. I would like think that Coach K had his part in this new culture... after all, I'm a Coach K fan...

[Devilsfan]

Coaching the Olympics is not your average part time job. I remember being in Vegas for an exhibition game and the entire Duke staff seemed to be there. Also I remember watching the games in Beijing and most of our staff was also in attendance. It does take an inordanate amount of time if you are going to bring back the gold. That said I think K did a trmendous job while this was going on, winning 25+ games a year even if some people argue that recruiting has slipped and we hven't gotten very far in March/April in recent years. I also think Coach K and his staff might have learned something coaching with the Syracuse coach (defensive techniques) and the Knicks coach (offensive techniques). I only wish they could now hang another NC banner to gold with all of our Gold we are obtaining.

[BD80]

I think the neatest thing about this next USA Basketball team is that, for all that I've read so far, these young players WANT to be a part of the experience, whether they make the team or not. I remember, a few years ago, that the mere mention of a "try-out" would turn off essentially all of the elite USA players. So, they started picking players, who, one-by-one, declined... so the picking continued until they had their 12 players. Now, it's like it should be :) The best and brightest WANT to be a part of this. I would like think that Coach K had his part in this new culture... after all, I'm a Coach K fan...

How about the decision of three of the world's best coaches to sign on for three years as Assistant coaches to Coach K? Boeheim won't have many chances after 2012 to be the head coach of the Olympic team - but he still is willing to do what he can for the cause. D'Antoni and McMillan might be the top two choices for 2016, but they are still sacrificing huge amounts of time for the team.

I still think there will be a big drop off in 2016. I don't see Kobe, Lebron, Melo, DWade, Chris Bosh, or Dwight Howard returning. I doubt Chris Paul or Deron Williams would return without the others.

Durant, Griffin, Gay, Roy, Rose, Devin Harris, Mayo (Harrison Barnes?). Should be a really good core in seven years, but there is no guarantee that the Olympics will still be cool enough to pull in the best players. Even getting the best players, the new coaches will not have an easy time of it.

[superdave]

I think having try outs for the team gets everyone's competitive juices flowing. No one wants to be the next Gilbert Arenas.

Sounds like everyone has Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant as near-certain for the team, leaving two spots.

It sounds like they need one more big man and one more all-purpose guy. Could be Rudy Gay, Tayshaun Prince or maybe even Shane Battier. Sounds like Brandon Roy has not participated much though.

For the big men, who knows....Kevin Love, Greg Oden, or more than likely Blake Griffin.

Glad to see so many people eager to be a part.

[RainingThrees]

I think having try outs for the team gets everyone's competitive juices flowing. No one wants to be the next Gilbert Arenas.

Sounds like everyone has Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant as near-certain for the team, leaving two spots.

It sounds like they need one more big man and one more all-purpose guy. Could be Rudy Gay, Tayshaun Prince or maybe even Shane Battier. Sounds like Brandon Roy has not participated much though.

For the big men, who knows....Kevin Love, Greg Oden, or more than likely Blake Griffin.

Glad to see so many people eager to be a part.

So who is taking Michael Redd's spot? He was one of my favorites of the redeem team.

[SupaDave]

How about the decision of three of the world's best coaches to sign on for three years as Assistant coaches to Coach K? Boeheim won't have many chances after 2012 to be the head coach of the Olympic team - but he still is willing to do what he can for the cause. D'Antoni and McMillan might be the top two choices for 2016, but they are still sacrificing huge amounts of time for the team.

For the record, Coach K calls Boeheim "Co-head coach" - kinda like Johnny D was also considered a co-head coach.

[roywhite]

So who is taking Michael Redd's spot? He was one of my favorites of the redeem team.

Well, Durant for one is an excellent 3-point shooter.

Last year's NBA stats on shooting percentage from 3-pts:

Durant 42.2%
D-Wade 31.7%
LeBron 34.4%
Kobe 35.1%
Melo 37.1%
Redd 36.6%

For new guys to be on the 2012 Olympic team, I'll go with Durant, Rudy Gay, Derrick Rose, and Kevin Love.

And I'm delighted to see the participation and interest in the USA national team. Great job by Colangelo, K, and others to build such a solid program.

[studdlee10]

Well, Durant for one is an excellent 3-point shooter.

Last year's NBA stats on shooting percentage from 3-pts:

Durant 42.2%
D-Wade 31.7%
LeBron 34.4%
Kobe 35.1%
Melo 37.1%
Redd 36.6%

For new guys to be on the 2012 Olympic team, I'll go with Durant, Rudy Gay, Derrick Rose, and Kevin Love.

And I'm delighted to see the participation and interest in the USA national team. Great job by Colangelo, K, and others to build such a solid program.

My dark horse for the team is Devin Harris. The staff is supposedly in love with his defensive abilities. As good as Rose is, he does not shoot particularly well from outside and his skill set seems to overlap with what CP3 and Deron Williams would provide. Devin Harris would be a monster on D and would help keep in check guys like Rubio, Barbosa, etc.

[roywhite]

My dark horse for the team is Devin Harris. The staff is supposedly in love with his defensive abilities. As good as Rose is, he does not shoot particularly well from outside and his skill set seems to overlap with what CP3 and Deron Williams would provide. Devin Harris would be a monster on D and would help keep in check guys like Rubio, Barbosa, etc.

An excellent point.

As good as the 2008 USA team was, they had a hard time stopping Spain (who, admittedly, was shooting lights out) in the Gold Medal game. The Spanish guards and the Gasol brothers, among others, were really, really good on the 2-man game, producing high-quality shots. CP3 and Deron Williams were not esp. effective defensively in that game.

Matter of fact, that Gold Medal game was a heckuva game. I'm assuming ESPN has no rights to the game, or we likely would have seen it re-run on ESPN-Classic a time or two.

International basketball, esp. in a one-loss format, is no sure thing for the USA. We really need to bring our best and play well.

[roywhite]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOTqhOinv3E&feature=player_embedded

Nice clip of Coach K's welcoming remarks to players at recent mini-camp for USA Basketball National Team

[ice-9]

What's even more amazing about Durant's high 3-point percentage is the number of threes he took, and the fact that he was often a focal point of the opposing team's defensive plan.

Durant is gonna go to town with the international game's 3-point line...

[airowe]

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/nba/audio/5652876/

[Newton_14]

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/nba/audio/5652876/

Yes. That happened way back in 2004 or so when there was the big meeting with lots of big name coaches and players to help reshape USA Basketball. Dean was in the meeting along with several other top coaches from college and the NBA and also former players such as Larry Bird.

In the meeting Dean stated that Coach K was the best choice in his opinion.

[COYS]

Yes. That happened way back in 2004 or so when there was the big meeting with lots of big name coaches and players to help reshape USA Basketball. Dean was in the meeting along with several other top coaches from college and the NBA and also former players such as Larry Bird.

In the meeting Dean stated that Coach K was the best choice in his opinion.

And of course, this only means that old Dean knew that Duke would lose out on a ton of important recruits while K was away on national team duty, allowing UNC to regain ascendancy in the the rivalry. The real question is whether we should be annoyed that K fell for it twice or happy that UNC must use dirty tricks in order to win ;) . . . especially when we swing it back in our favor over the next few years.

[airowe]

And of course, this only means that old Dean knew that Duke would lose out on a ton of important recruits while K was away on national team duty, allowing UNC to regain ascendancy in the the rivalry. The real question is whether we should be annoyed that K fell for it twice or happy that UNC must use dirty tricks in order to win ;) . . . especially when we swing it back in our favor over the next few years.

Happy PUNC must use dirty tricks. I'm feeling the sarcasm. ;)

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

It's not particularly relevant whether any recruit says (or doesn't say) it matters (or not) that Coach K is the USA Team coach. What no one can measure is the extent to which coaching the national team is a commitment of Coach K and his staff that takes time and attention away from their many duties in coaching the Duke team, including recruiting. It seems logical that it's a bit negative in that respect. There's no way to know for sure whether the positives outweigh the negatives.

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

No one can measure the extent to which coaching the national team is a commitment of Coach K and his staff that takes time and attention away from their many duties in coaching the Duke team, including recruiting. It seems logical that it's a bit negative in that respect. There's no way to know for sure whether the positives outweigh the negatives.

[jimsumner]

Why would it not be relevant?

[MChambers]

No one can measure the extent to which coaching the national team is a commitment of Coach K and his staff that takes time and attention away from their many duties in coaching the Duke team, including recruiting. It seems logical that it's a bit negative in that respect. There's no way to know for sure whether the positives outweigh the negatives.

Seems logical to many of us that it is quite a bit positive to have Duke's coach win Olympic gold, and have many NBA greats signing up to do it again, in part because K's the coach.

I'd say it's quite unlikely that the negatives outweigh the positives.

[Kedsy]

It's not particularly relevant whether any recruit says (or doesn't say) it matters (or not) that Coach K is the USA Team coach. What no one can measure is the extent to which coaching the national team is a commitment of Coach K and his staff that takes time and attention away from their many duties in coaching the Duke team, including recruiting. It seems logical that it's a bit negative in that respect. There's no way to know for sure whether the positives outweigh the negatives.

Well, I don't think any part of this debate is measurable. And since you bring up logical, it's only logical that the national (and international) exposure of being the Team USA coach is a very good thing when it comes to recruiting. You say "[t]here's no way to know for sure whether the positives outweigh the negatives," but clearly the opposite is also true. Why are you pooh-poohing the fact that a key recruit's coach thinks it's a good thing?

[doctorhook]

Well, I don't think any part of this debate is measurable. And since you bring up logical, it's only logical that the national (and international) exposure of being the Team USA coach is a very good thing when it comes to recruiting. You say "[t]here's no way to know for sure whether the positives outweigh the negatives," but clearly the opposite is also true. Why are you pooh-poohing the fact that a key recruit's coach thinks it's a good thing?
Kedsy,

I think many are just not sure that it is only logical. If what you say is the case, why did recruiting not improve significantly during K's last tenure as the USA coach? As I stated earlier, I am undecided on the issue, but I am suprised so many believe it is a positive with no evidence to support that conclusion.

[Kedsy]

Kedsy,

I think many are just not sure that it is only logical. If what you say is the case, why did recruiting not improve significantly during K's last tenure as the USA coach? As I stated earlier, I am undecided on the issue, but I am suprised so many believe it is a positive with no evidence to support that conclusion.

Well, I think the answer is recruiting is not an exact science. If Monroe or Boynton or Patterson had decided to come to Duke, would you think recruiting had improved? I wouldn't. I think getting into the kid's final grouping reflects on recruiting but I'm not sure you can judge the recruiting effort by who ultimately says "yes." There are too many extraneous factors. Besides, for all we know we may have had even less recruiting success if K had not coached Team USA. There's no way to tell.

However, having said all that, I don't claim for certain that K coaching Team USA has ultimately been a good thing for Duke. Personally, I think it's probably a wash, neither good nor bad. My "only logical" comment was directed at BADF's statement that it was "logical" that being coach of Team USA was a negative because of the time commitment, when I believe it's impossible to say whether the pros outweigh the cons in this scenario or vice versa.

[rotogod00]

Well, I think the answer is recruiting is not an exact science. If Monroe or Boynton or Patterson had decided to come to Duke, would you think recruiting had improved? I wouldn't. I think getting into the kid's final grouping reflects on recruiting but I'm not sure you can judge the recruiting effort by who ultimately says "yes." There are too many extraneous factors. Besides, for all we know we may have had even less recruiting success if K had not coached Team USA. There's no way to tell.

However, having said all that, I don't claim for certain that K coaching Team USA has ultimately been a good thing for Duke. Personally, I think it's probably a wash, neither good nor bad. My "only logical" comment was directed at BADF's statement that it was "logical" that being coach of Team USA was a negative because of the time commitment, when I believe it's impossible to say whether the pros outweigh the cons in this scenario or vice versa.

Really, the only true way to know if coaching Team USA has been a good thing or a bad thing for recruiting is if a recruit flat out says that he chose Duke because K taught Xs & Os to LeBron and Kobe or he chose a different school because K wasn't in his living room as much as Calipari and Williams.

[ice-9]

Really, the only true way to know if coaching Team USA has been a good thing or a bad thing for recruiting is if a recruit flat out says that he chose Duke because K taught Xs & Os to LeBron and Kobe or he chose a different school because K wasn't in his living room as much as Calipari and Williams.

Boynton did kinda say that, but I don't know if it's true that the Olympics are necessarily bad for recruiting.

It's inconclusive at the moment, so we'll just have to see.

[NSDukeFan]

Seems logical to many of us that it is quite a bit positive to have Duke's coach win Olympic gold, and have many NBA greats signing up to do it again, in part because K's the coach.

I'd say it's quite unlikely that the negatives outweigh the positives.

Especially if Duke has a rejuvenated coach K who is more excited about coaching, learns some more coaching techniques and ideas and most importantly is willing and able to coach a few more years than he otherwise might have. Priceless.

[Indoor66]

Boynton did kinda say that, but I don't know if it's true that the Olympics are necessarily bad for recruiting.

It's inconclusive at the moment, so we'll just have to see.

I don't understand. What significance do you place on the opinion of one 17 year old young man who chose to go to his home state university? In Florida, going to play in Gainsville is much like going to play at Carolina in North Carolina - a dream from childhood. It is where your friend go to school. Can anyone extrapolate that into a generality with any meaning?

[ice-9]

I don't understand. What significance do you place on the opinion of one 17 year old young man who chose to go to his home state university? In Florida, going to play in Gainsville is much like going to play at Carolina in North Carolina - a dream from childhood. It is where your friend go to school. Can anyone extrapolate that into a generality with any meaning?

Boynton did kinda say that, but I don't know if it's true that the Olympics are necessarily bad for recruiting.

It's inconclusive at the moment, so we'll just have to see.

:)

[airowe]

Boynton did kinda say that, but I don't know if it's true that the Olympics are necessarily bad for recruiting.

It's inconclusive at the moment, so we'll just have to see.

:)

Having a hard time finding where Boynton said that K's Olympic duties took time away from him recruiting KB. This article seems to make the case that there were a number of different issues that went into his decision beyond the Duke staff's attendance at KB's summer league games:

http://sports.espn.go.com/highschool/rise/basketball/boys/news/story?id=3592275
This is a great article that goes behind the scenes of recruiting.

The article below seems to both make the case that Donovan was able to put on the full court press at KB's summer league games while K was not and make the case that Kenny grew up a Florida fan and was blown away that he even had a chance to play scholarship ball in Gainesville. Was K gone during these summer league games or were we recruiting other players at this time? Anyone?

http://gxweb.ny.atl.publicus.com/article/20090627/ARTICLES/906279906

I haven't been following this stuff as closely as some of you until recently, so if you have the article where Boynton attributes choosing UF over Duke to Olympic commitment - recruiting conflicts, I'd love to see it.

[SoCalDukeFan]

I just read K's book on building teams and coaching in the last Olympics.
It made me re-realize what a treasure we have in K. I also got a better understanding of the importance to basketball people in winning the Olympics.
I also got a better understanding as to how much coach K meant to the players. I also now understand that changing the culture of the national team should probably take two cycles, so it is important to that effort that K repeat.

Coaching the Olympic team takes time and focus away from Duke basketball. There is no way you anyone can convince me otherwise. Unless K was going to neglect his family or his other activities, then there are only so many days in a year and those spent on the national team were not devoted to the Duke team. Furthermore the Roy Williams' etc of the world did not have the same distraction.

The benefits to Duke are less clear. Maybe we will get a recruit because he is impressed with Duke's closeness to Kobe. Maybe K will get rejuvenated. Maybe K will learn something about basketball or coaching or players. The time commitment is real, the benefits are maybes.

When I worked for a large company we have had large meetings at resorts with work related stuff in the morning and golf/tennis whatever in the afternoon. Managers tried to justify these meetings with benefits from team building, morale, etc. What is clear is that the costs were tangible, the benefits intangible. I think this is similar.

K is going to coach the national team. While I would prefer that he did not, he is. He is also going to coach the Duke team. He will still be a treasure for Duke. Hopefully the benefits will be real and obvious. If not, we will still have a treasure.

SoCal

[Greg_Newton]

I'll admit to once upon a time being one of the "supportive skeptics" of K's involvement with the national team... but reading some comments made by top-tier recruits lately has made it very clear just how much it really will end up helping the program in the long run, IMO. The tone has gone from just "K's a great coach so it was great to meet with him" to "I was in awe of Coack K the whole time and it was just incredible to hear him talking about ME in his system!" Certain posters have long been maintaining we would begin to reap the rewards around now, and it certainly looks like that is what is happening.

To play the hypothetical game for a minute...if K can nail down at least 4 of 5-6 top targets for 2010 and 2011 that are all at least considered moderate Duke leans by some (knock on wood), we could be looking at a 3-year haul to rival the unprecedentedly epic 1997-1999 stretch that led to the 2001 NC team and the legendary 1999 runner-up.

Too early to really speculate of course, but I think the 2009-2011 classes have the potential to be K's best 3 year run ever if things shake out like many are hoping. For comparison's sake:

1997-1999: Elton Brand, Carlos Boozer, Corey Maggette, Shane Battier, Jason Williams, William Avery, Chris Burgess.

2009-2011: Harrison Barnes*, Austin Rivers*, Kyrie Irving*, Mason Plumlee, Quincy Miller*/MP3*, Ryan Kelly, Andre Dawkins, Seth Curry.

That's big time.

(*= Hypothetical)

[NashvilleDevil]

Obviously we do not know how the incoming recruits will play once they get to Duke but it seems that Duke is now reaping the recruiting rewards from Coach K being the national team coach. I know some posters thought that it was going to hurt Duke because the benefits in recruiting were not immediate after the '08 games.

But these kids that are being looked at by Duke have gone through middle school and HS seeing the effort of Team USA to right the ship and how Coach K handled coaching the greatest players in the world.

It also helps that the baddest man on the planet is now sitting on Coach K's bench.