Sports Commentary
Welcome to Baseline to Baseline, AOL Sports' sweeping roundup of the NBA's hot-button issues. In this edition of B2B, take a closer look at why a college coach has no place leading the NBA's best players.
As Duke was locked in a hard-fought battle with the "mighty" Bruins of Belmont on Thursday night, and the cameras kept cutting to the worried visage of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, one thought kept popping into my head.
This is the guy that's going to lead the U.S. in the Olympics this summer?
Hello, bronze medal. Heck, hello group-play loss to Angola.
Now, at this point I know what you're thinking: We've got March frickin' Madness going on. Who gives a bucket of blue face paint about Olympic basketball right now?
Well, if you're a diehard NBA fan, there's only two reasons you tune in to the field of 65 every March. One, because it's the only thing being shown at sports bars around the country right now. And two, because you're interested in scoping out the talent for that year's upcoming draft.
(And with the draft in mind ... Michael Beasley, you're a beast ... O.J. Mayo, you're not so bad yourself ... and DeAndre Jordan, please, for the love of Josh McRoberts, stay in school another year. Maybe two. If you declare for the draft after your freshman year, you'll get jettisoned from the Association faster than you can say "Yinka Dare.")
But maybe as an NBA fan, you also watch the Big Dance because you're a little bit jealous of the college hoops fan. To be completely honest, there's something pure about rooting for players who aren't getting paid (or, in the case of college hoops, are at least getting paid under the table) that touches upon the real reasons one started rooting for sports in the first place. While college basketball has an energetic, innocent air about it, the NBA can admittedly feel a little cold and calculated in comparison. At least until the playoffs come around.
But watching USA Basketball take on the rest of the world in the Olympics? That's the stateside NBA fan's version of the Big Dance. That gives Kobe and LeBron supporters everywhere a chance to revert to the blind - if not smug - loyalty that college hoops fans are allowed to exhibit every March. It becomes a little bit less about the individual, and more about the team; one massively talented team that's playing for America's place in the basketball world.
So, as an enthusiastic observer of all things pertaining to the NBA and, hence, USA Basketball, I couldn't help wondering just what USAB head honcho Jerry Colangelo was thinking in giving Coach K the reins to arguably the greatest collection of basketball talent we've seen since the '92 Dream Team. It's a decision that left me vexed and irritated on the day it was announced back in October of 2005, and watching Duke barely hold off Belmont on Thursday night certainly didn't help me feel any better about the decision.
And this isn't to say that just because Coach K was barely able to stave off a major upset in the first round of the tourney (the Blue Devils losing to the Bruins would've been just the fifth time a No. 2 seed has fallen to a 15 seed since the tourney expanded to 64 teams), the U.S won't take the gold in the '08 Olympics. Heck, George Burns could come back from the dead, light a stogie, and pilot LeBron and 'Melo to gold in China while cracking wise on the bench. The United States' talent level is pretty darn high, after all.
The problem is that, at some point, the games will get tight in Beijing. And when the games get tight, two things will be asked for from America's coach: decent play-calling and the ability to work the ball through the low post. And I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't consider an organized offense or a strong interior game to be the hallmarks of Duke basketball. Heck, I don't think the Dukies have run a high-low play since Quin Snyder was dumping it in to Danny Ferry on the blocks back in '89; and even that was only because Snyder was far too slow to beat anyone quicker than Mike Gminski off the dribble.
But even if I'm wrong on these counts - even if Duke runs brilliantly disguised set plays each time down the floor, and Carlos Boozer becoming one of the planet's top power forwards only after leaving Durham was nothing more than a brutal coincidence - there's still something disturbing about seeing the next coach of USA Basketball sweating out a first-round victory over a school that's far better known for country music than college basketball.
I mean, in short, why does Coach K get this honor? Why does he get this shot at history?
Why wasn't Gregg Popovich asked to coach the U.S.? What about Mike D'Antoni? They know the international game. Night in and night out, they coach for and against some of the best players from Europe and South America. Don't they give us the best chance to win the gold in Beijing? And haven't they earned the right to take the medal stand with pro players over a college coach who's a far better recruiter than he is strategist?
Instead, we've got a guy who can barely beat Belmont in the first round of the NCAA Tournament leading LeBron James and Kobe Bryant into battle against the planet's best players. Falling to Clemson in the ACC Tournament and then eking out a win over a small liberal arts college from Tennessee? Are performances like these worthy of such a privilege?
No, they are not. But more importantly, if the U.S. does find its way to a gold medal in Bejing despite - not because of - its coach, legions of college hoops fans will celebrate the fact that Coach K did something that Larry Brown and George Karl could not do. And that's win this country's first international competition since the 2000 Olympics.
Just another chance for the college basketball fan to be all high and mighty. That's what Coach K leading Team USA stands for, to me, right now.
And if you're an NBA fan in the U.S., that should bother you as much as anything else. Almost as much as the threat Krzyzewski represents to the United States taking back its place as the top hoops-playing nation on the planet.
Randy Kim is the Senior NBA Editor for AOL Sports. Before joining AOL, he covered the league for seven years at NBA.com and FOXSports.com. Kim considers his career highlight to be a standing/sit-down interview with Bullets legend Gheorghe Muresan. Send him comments and questions at RandallKim07@aol.com.
China's former NBA player Wang Zhizhi (R) looks for an opening as Angola's Joaquim Gomes guards during their Stankovic Cup basketball game in Hangzhou on July 19, 2008 in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Angola defeated China 72-71. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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China's NBA star Yao Ming (R) looks for a pass as Angola's Joaquim Gomes (L) guards during their Stankovic Cup basketball game in Hangzhou on July 19, 2008 in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Angola defeated China 72-71. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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China's NBA players Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets (R) talks with Yi Jianlian of the New Jersey Nets during their Stankovic Cup baskeball game against Angola in Hangzhou on July 19, 2008 in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Angola defeated China 72-71. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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China's NBA star Yao Ming checks the scoreboard during their Stankovic Cup basketball tournament game against angola in Hangzhou on July 19, 2008 in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Angola defeated China 72-71. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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China's NBA player Yi Jianlian (L) tries to block a shot from Angola's Victor Muzadi (R) during the Stankovic Cup basketball tournament in Hangzhou on July 19, 2008 in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Angola defeated China 72-71. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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China's NBA star Yao Ming (C-#13) blocks a shot from Angola's Joaquim Gomes (L) during the Stankovic Cup basketball tournament in Hangzhou on July 19, 2008 in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Angola defeated China 72-71. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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China's NBA player Yi Jianlian (2nd R) vies for position with Angola's Victor Muzadi (R-#11) while awaiting the pass from China's Zhu Fangyu (L) during the Stankovic Cup basketball tournament in Hangzhou on July 19, 2008 in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Angola were leading China 32-31 at half-time. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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China's NBA player Yi Jianlian wipes his face during their Stankovic Cup basketball tournament game against Angola in Hangzhou on July 19, 2008 in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Angola were leading China 32-31 at half-time. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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China's NBA star Yao Ming (R) makes A move for the basket as Angola's Joaquim Gomes (2nd L) guards during the Stankovic Cup basketball tournament in Hangzhou on July 19, 2008 in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Angola were leading China 32-31 at half-time. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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Chinese NBA star Yao Ming slam dunks against Angola during the Stankovic Cup basketball tournament in Hangzhou on July 19, 2008 in eastern China's Zhejiang province. Angola were leading China 32-31 at half-time. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)
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