Duke Blue Planet BLOG

On Monday, USA Basketball announced 20 finalists for this summer’s Olympic Team.  The stacked roster features eight 2008 Olympic gold medalists and 10 members of the 2010 USA World Championship gold medal team.  Before the Olympics kick off in August in London, the roster must be trimmed to 12.

“Jerry has built an extremely deep and talented USA National Team roster of 35 players and I want to thank each player for their incredible commitment to being part of USA Basketball. Reducing to 20 players was unbelievably difficult,” stated Coach K, who has guided USA National Teams to a 48-1 record since 2006 and three championships.

“Aside from the obvious special basketball talents that all of these players possess, what struck me most about the finalists was their commitment to USA Basketball and the international basketball experience they have compiled.  Among our 20 finalists, we have two players who possess 55 or more games of international experience, two with 40 or more international games under their belts and eight others who have played between 23 and 38 international games – that’s a lot of experience, which is going to be extremely valuable.”

The roster includes LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland Trail Blazers); Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks); Chauncey Billups (Los Angeles Clippers); Chris Bosh (Miami Heat); Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers); Tyson Chandler (New York Knicks); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (New Orleans Hornets); Blake Griffin (Los Angeles Clippers); Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); LeBron James (Miami Heat); Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); Lamar Odom (Dallas Mavericks); Chris Paul (Los Angeles Clippers); Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); Dwyane Wade (Miami Heat); Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder); and Deron Williams (New Jersey Nets).

“These players have helped restore the winning tradition of USA Basketball while also gaining the respect of people around the world for the manner in which they have done it,” added Krzyzewski.  “This will be the most talented of the teams that I’ve had the opportunity to coach.”

With a potential starting five of Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Derrick Rose and other options such as D. Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Deron Williams, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, Kevin Love and many others, this team not only will be Coach K’s best-ever squad but also could be among the best in the history of basketball.

MORE FROM COACH K

“It’s been an exciting day for USA Basketball. To have these 20 men commit to the selfless service that a number of them, 18 of them, have served already, which is an example that our military has set for our program.  We have used the military as a good example for selfless service and I’ve had many members of the military speak to our teams. I like the fact that we have a roster full of guys who have been champions, either in the Olympics or the World Championships, and people who are excited to play. It’s an honor for us to coach them and to work with Jerry. They are not playing for us; they are us, and that’s where the program has developed thanks to Jerry’s leadership.”

“The guys who have played now for us know what to expect so they understand that they are not going to be overworked. And what we did after the first year was adapt to each other; in other words, we would have one practice a day, but schedule their workouts — most of those guy, all of those guys, have some type of individual workouts in conditioning, stretching, you name it. What we did is we carved out time so that they could get all that done, and it didn’t mess up their normal routine. In other words, we tried to incorporate normal routines for these outstanding players, along with doing the team stuff. And they know that. They know that. They know what to expect, and it will be the same this summer.”

“One thing I will tell you is that each one of the last two teams to a man, every one of them has stated, I’ll do whatever you want me to do to make this a great team. And we expect that same cooperation going forward. One thing about all of these players, these 20 players, they are not only very talented, they are very, very smart. They are very intelligent and they want to be — they are very good team players and they understand that they represented the United States, and they will adapt accordingly.”

“Well, I think all of them have gotten better. You know, like in LeBron, Dwyane, those guys, they have gotten older, so they know more about the game. We didn’t have one facilitator; we had a few facilitators. And we didn’t have one closer; we had a few closers. So this will be the most talented of the teams that I’ve had the opportunity to coach. And one is that we’ll have a combination of the two championship teams, but also they are all older. They are better; a number of them are at the primetime in their careers. I like the balance we have, that we eventually could have with youth than right at your prime. And then guys who like in Kobe’s case, I guess he’s always at his prime; to have somebody with 16 years of experience like that to be the top dog, to be the oldest guy, that’s not a bad thing to have as your oldest guy (chuckling).”

The U.S. will be hoping for another Golden result in London this summer

NBA TV airing special on USA World Championship team

Several of the top young players in the NBA who helped the Coach K-led USA team win the world title this summer are now playing some of the best basketball of their careers.  11 of the 12 USA team members are currently averaging more than their career average and eight of the players have increased their scoring average from a year ago.

A half-hour special now airing on NBA TV looks back at Team USA’s World Championship journey and the impact the experience has had on the team’s players.  In “NBA Backstage: Return to Glory,” viewers can follow the team behind the scenes as Coach K leads the Americans from training camp in Las Vegas to NYC to Madrid to Athens to Turkey.  Along the way, gold medal winners such as Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love and Rudy Gay talk about how much their summer USA Basketball experiences helped them advance their games.

Here’s a sample of the show followed by a schedule of upcoming airings…

“NBA Backstage: Return to Glory” – Upcoming Airings on NBA TV

Wed., Jan. 26 6:30 p.m. EST

Fri., Jan. 28 12:30 a.m. EST, 5:00 a.m. EST, 6:00 p.m. EST

Sun., Jan. 30 3:30 p.m. EST, 11:30 p.m. EST

Wed., Feb. 02 5:00 p.m. EST

Thur., Feb. 03 5:00 p.m. EST, 8:30 p.m. EST, 11:30 p.m. EST

Fri., Feb. 04 1:00 a.m. EST

Tue., Feb. 08 2:30 p.m. EST

Thur., Feb. 10 9:30 p.m. EST

Fri., Feb. 11 5:00 p.m. EST

Wed., Feb. 23 3:00 p.m. EST

Sat., Feb. 26 5:00 p.m. EST

Worlds best ready to battle for more gold

On Coach K’s radio show this week, Kobe Bryant made it clear he would like to take another shot at Gold.

“You guys want me there, I am there and I’m ready to defend,” said Kobe to Coach K about playing in the 2012 Olympics.  “And then when you guys need me to put some points on the board I’ll do that too.”

LeBron James was asked shortly after he was interested in joining Coach K’s USA squad in London in 2012.

“I would love to be a part of that team,” James said.  “If (Coach K) needs me to be a part of that team, I’m available.  Hopefully I’m healthy enough to be a part of that team.  Coach K has my number.”

This seems like a no-brainer — representing the USA at the Olympics and hooping with/against the world’s best.  And Kobe and LeBron had a good time in their first USAB stint with Coach K, too…

Comments from Team USA during the 2010 Worlds

“He’s letting me go out there and gamble a little bit.  We’re not used to that in Oklahoma City.  In practice I was passing too much, passing up open shots and trying to find an open man.  Coach pulled me to the side and told me to just be who I am, score the basketball.  That’s one of my greatest attributes, and he told me go out there and play like I play in Oklahoma City.”
Kevin Durant, prior to the start of the World Championship

“He is a motivational speaker and he really has humor when he talks.  If anything you are going to listen to him because he is going to be a legend, a Hall of Famer I mean in this game.  For him to be coaching me is wonderful.  Too bad I didn’t go to Duke, but it’s great even just being here with him and his staff is great and I am lucky to be on this bus headed to the gym.”
Derrick Rose

“He’s a great motivator.  No matter what, he always tells us that we have to respect our opponents and have to play our hardest and we’ll live with the results.  I love a guy like that.  For him to say that and try to come out here and win a World Championship speaks volumes to me.  He’s such a great coach.  It’s an honor to play for him.”
Kevin Durant

“I’ve grown to really respect him so much more just playing for him and seeing how much he puts into this.  He’s so passionate.  He’s up late hours watching film.  He’s all-in.”
Chauncey Billups

“When he speaks, you listen.  He gets us fired up to play big time.”
Kevin Love

“When you’re watching film, the things he talks about really show in the game.  And that’s something that’s very special.  I really haven’t seen it too much in a coach that he really knows in depth about every possession, every play and plays ahead.”
Kevin Durant

“Mike Krzyzewski deserves tremendous, tremendous praise for the job he’s done.   I’ve never seen anybody stick to it as much as he does.   He’s organized, he’s focused, he sleeps it, he dreams it.”
USA Basketball Managing Director Jerry Colangelo

Coach K leads USA to gold at World Championship

For the first time in 16 years, the USA is the world champion of basketball.  The Coach K-led U.S. National Team took down host-country Turkey on Sunday 81-64 to finish the 2010 World Championship with a perfect 9-0 record and the gold medal.  MVP Kevin Durant led the USA with 28 points and Lamar Odom provided a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards.

“We haven’t won the World Championship since 1994,” said Coach K.  “We as a country are trying to show great respect for the World Championships, which I’m not sure that we did maybe a decade ago.  So to win it — and we know how important it is — means a great deal.”

The USA won the gold medal game in front of a raucous crowd cheering wildly for host nation Turkey.  The situation was not that unfamiliar for Coach K after his Blue Devils defeated Baylor in Houston to win the South Regional and then knocked off Butler in Indianapolis to win the national title.  Also, the National Team had won a pair of exhibition games on the home turf of a pair of the top teams in the world in exhibition games leading up to the FIBA tournament.

“Coach said something to them earlier today about the fact that we beat Spain in Spain, we beat Greece in Greece, we might as well beat Turkey in Turkey,” USA Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo said.  “And that’s what transpired, and it’s a great tribute to a young group of guys and some veteran leadership who really stepped up, some of which showed in the box score and some of which didn’t…  And Mike Krzyzewski deserves tremendous, tremendous praise for the job he’s done.  I’ve never seen anybody stick to it as much as he does.  He’s organized, he’s focused, he sleeps it, he dreams it.”

With the World and Olympic titles in hand and the national title banner about to rise in Cameron, Coach K begins the 2010-11 season having claimed three of basketball’s most prestigious championships.  And his Duke team, after watching the gold medal game together in Scharf Hall in the K Center, is excited to sleep it and dream it all over again with their coach.

“Coach K’s out there in Turkey coaching those great NBA players and to be able to say he’ll be back on Monday coaching us and getting us ready for our season is just amazing,” said senior captain Nolan Smith.  “I really know how fortunate I am after the Olympics where he was coaching Kobe and LeBron and now he’s coaching this team.  We just learn so much from him and he’s always helping us get better and preparing for whatever life throws at us.”

Coach K’s Reaction
“This is the best.  This is the best.   With this group, they really have represented our country, USA Basketball so well.  Such a young group.  They played with enthusiasm.  They played great defense throughout.  Not much was expected.   I shouldn’t say that.  They’re always expecting a lot.  But most people didn’t think we could win.  But they kept getting better.   Our defense was terrific…  We had such big bench contributions.  I’m just so happy, so fulfilled.   This is as good as it gets right now.”

Winning with Defense
Duke fans are familiar with Coach K-led championship team teams that win with great defense.  The National Team clearly embraced their head coach’s emphasis on the defensive end, getting out in passing lanes all tournament and making it hard for their opponents to run their offense.  Said Derrick Rose, “D’ing up, picking up everybody full court, creating passing lanes — you can see how we won a championship.  It was all defense.”  Added Danny Granger, “The coaches, Coach K did a great job, saw that (defense) would be our biggest strength.   We used it.   We exploited other teams with our defensive pressure.  It was just a great job on everybody’s part.”

A Team Effort
Perhaps Coach K’s biggest challenge with this USA team was developing a cohesive unit in just a few short months.  USA Basketball had the right man for the job though because no one builds teams quite like Coach K.  Comments from Team USA’s players after the championship suggest this was a together group that truly embraced their mission of winning gold at the Worlds while representing their country at a high level.

Chauncey Billups: “Unbelievable feeling, man.  Unbelievable feeling.   This ranks right up there with my NBA championship, man…  I think just coming together and nobody really having an ego (made this team special), everybody wanting to win just for the country, for each other.   I think when you have that, it makes for a special time.”

Tyson Chandler: “We got 12 unselfish guys.  Coaching staff, everybody involved, everybody really came together.  It’s been such a blessing for all of us to come together…  You know what?  We brothers forever now.  We are linked together forever now.”

Stephen Curry: “We were young and eager to get out there and just work hard and leave our egos at the door and just play.”

Kevin Durant: “It means a lot, man, to our country, our families, where we come from.  It’s unbelievable.  To be in this group of guys, to win it with this team is even better.  So I’m excited…  We were so young.  All everybody cared about was winning.  Everybody doubted us.  Everybody said we were too young, too small, no experience.  But we proved everybody wrong…  (The MVP) is cool.  But that was the last thing I was worried about.   I was hoping it was going to somebody else.  But it was good to bring home the gold and the MVP, but all I’m worried about is this medal.”

Rudy Gay: “People go their whole careers without winning something like this.  You know, being so young, it means a lot to me.  We played good basketball, but not many people get to win championships…  It’s almost like it’s not real.   I love this group.  We all love each other, man.  We played great together.   Everybody gave something up.  We came out here and played great…  Guys come out there, playing different positions, giving up things we can do.   You know, no egos.  We checked our egos at the door.  Everybody, when they go back to their teams, basically run their team.   Right here we were one.”

Eric Gordon: “It definitely means a lot.  I haven’t won an NBA championship yet or a college championship.  This one means a lot.”

Danny Granger: “It’s just a great feeling, especially the camaraderie we built as a team…  We all feel like brothers.  We all play against each other in the regular season.  Right now we’re playing jokes with each other, hanging out all the time.   It translated right onto the court.  We played well together and won a World Championship.”

Andre Igoudala: “It’s great spending time with everybody else.  That’s the fun part about it.  Everybody is happy.  A lot of smiles.  You don’t know what to say.  You can’t prepare for this, that’s what I’m saying.  You’re prepared to win, but you can’t prepare for the feeling afterwards.   It’s incredible…  We all just like sacrificed for one another.  It was never a problem making my shots.  It was never a problem.  Everybody bought into focusing on teamwork, five guys on the court, everybody else ready to come in and do their job.   It was incredible.”

Kevin Love: “We’re all brothers now really.  This is an unbelievable experience… I can’t even put into words how unbelievable this is.  Nobody expected this from us.  We went out and got the job done.  We came together as a unit, as one, as a family, the coaches, staff and players.  We’ll forever be a part of USA Basketball and forever a part of history.”

Lamar Odom: “Amazing.  We better have won, I took these licks on my face.   Look disfigured.  It was cool.  I’m happy.  Joyous feeling.  Incredible…  Defense, character, good guys coming together.  One intention: that was to win the whole thing.  One thing in mind.  It’s beautiful. Great feeling…  We had good guys, carried themselves the right way.  We were composed, played good, clean basketball.  Made friends around the hotel, around the city, everywhere we went.   I think it speaks a lot for USA Basketball, the people we have involved in the program.”

Derrick Rose: “We like playing with each other.  We can hang around each other all day.  We’re the same age.  We can relate to one another.  That’s what made it special.”

Russell Westbrook: “It’s a great accomplishment.  Hasn’t been done in a long time.  We committed ourselves this summer to do this.  We did a good job.  We needed a whole staff.  We all put time in to win it…  We got along.  We knew what we came here to do.  We came here and did it and got it done.”

What’s Next for the National Team?
With the World Championship victory, the USA earned an automatic bid in the 2012 Olympics in London.  As a result, the team will not have to compete in the Americas championship next summer.  As for the Olympic roster, the coaching staff will have a pool of 24 Olympic and world champions in the mix along with a host of others interested in competing for the Olympic gold.  Said Coach K, “We have guys who were champions, a different team in the Olympics, and now guys who are world champs.   There will be new players that will emerge.  That’s a good problem to have, to choose amongst a lot of really good players.  We’re just so happy that so many United States players want to play for their country.  It had kind of waned in that respect in the first part of this century.  Now, people want to be a part of it and recognize how important it is.  So that’s a good thing.”

Kevin Durant: World’s Greatest?
Kevin Durant led the NBA in scoring this past season and might have taken his game to an even higher level during the World Championship.  The Oklahoma City Thunder star was unstoppable, taking advantage of his height, length and deft shooting touch to score in bunches for the Americans.  Durant was named MVP of the tournament after averaging 22.8 PPG and 6.1 RPG in the USA’s nine games.  The versatile forward shot .556 from the floor (74-133), .456 (26-57) from three-point range and .912 (31-34) from the charity stripe.  In the USA’s final three games, Durant carried the U.S. team on the offensive end at times…

Quarterfinal vs. Russia: 33 pts (11-19 FG, 3-8 3pt), 5 rebs
Semifinal vs. Lithuania: 38 points (14-26 FG, 5-13 3pt), 9 rebs
Final vs. Turkey: 28 points (10-17 FG, 7-13 3pt), 5 rebs

Coach K’s reaction to KD’s superb performance: “Well, he elevated.  He was on a pretty high floor already, but he went close to being in the penthouse during this time.  The beauty about Kevin is he’s pure.   You know, he’s not trying to do anything except play basketball and get better.  I loved coaching him.   And he learned how to be a really great international player in the last five weeks, which will help him become an even better NBA player.  But I smile at all the things he said.  He is that genuine.  He’s a special, special guy.  He’s definitely a special player.”

USA: Back on Top
When Coach K joined the U.S. National Team, USA Basketball began a mission not only to win gold medals with the National Team but restore pride and a passion for winning across all levels.  Clearly, significant progress has been made as the USA now holds the gold medal at the Worlds, the Olympics, the U19 Worlds and the U17 Worlds.