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Nobody's talking about Coach K

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Football_Bat, Aug 25, 2008.

  1. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    Hate to pile on to the post-mortem of the Olympics, but I haven't seen much of anything about Mike Krzyzewski's job coaching Team USA to gold.

    Sure, you can say he just rolled 12 guys out there 5 at a time, and they balled their way to gold with no help from him. Didn't we say something similar before each of the last two times out?

    Krzyzewski got this collection of prima donnas to play together and check their egos at the door. He proved he can coach pros, and not just intimidate wet-behind-the-ears college players to do it his way. He earned the respect of the best players in the world.

    I used to be a K-hater too, but he earned my respect as a coach.
     
  2. JBHawkEye

    JBHawkEye Well-Known Member

    I've been thinking about this, too. He hasn't gotten that much credit for what happened.

    I was impressed with how this team acted, on and off the court. They did check their egos at the door. And I thought it was good that a lot of those guys showed up to watch the other U.S. athletes in their events.

    He deserves a lot of credit for the U.S. performance.
     
  3. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    LeBron James is no prima donna. He played and carried himself the same way in China that he does everywhere else.

    I don't believe Dwyane Wade is a prima donna.

    Chris Paul is not a prima donna.
     
  4. nafselon

    nafselon Well-Known Member

    Meet Dwight Howard first and then tell me he's a prima donna. Same for Chris Bosh or Deron Williams or Chris Paul. The brilliant Coach K didn't have to transform some of these guys. They were good guys to begin with, guys who wanted to play for USA Basketball and win.

    He did a great job of, however, role distribution for 12 guys who play in 12 different systems where they are the primary focal points. His job was complicated because he didn't just he to indentify their roles, but he had to make sure they achieved a level of comfort with them.
     
  5. Big Chee

    Big Chee Active Member

    It's unfair to label these players in order to elevate Coach K's status.

    I'll say this, Coach K was everything Larry Brown wasn't. He was flexible, coached the games to how they transpired, and didn't go out there trying to prove a point to his players. He also has the luxury of no other U.S. olympic coach before him of having over a year to work with his players.

    He deserves all the props in the world, but it's not neccessary to throw the players under the bus.
     
  6. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I think Coach K deserves the most credit for being smart in which 12 he picked.
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Yeah, I'm curious which players from this team you think are prima donnas.
     
  8. Big Chee

    Big Chee Active Member

    Carlos Boozer had no reason being on that team.
     
  9. kingcreole

    kingcreole Active Member

    Coach K of course deserves credit, but if you want to hear someone praise him for the job he did, just wait about two months. When college basketball starts, Dick Vitale will probably shower Coach K with more praise than all of us put together.
     
  10. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    K abd Colangelo did a great job putting this team together .. despite the original complaint of not enough big men ... and K did a very good job of coaching it.
    I can't believe people still question K's coaching ability. You can say he acts like an ass in many ways but his track record is more than just getting players at Duke or having a great team to work with in Beijing.
     
  11. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Coach K is an ass.

    He's also one of the best coaches of all-time.
     
  12. spnited

    spnited Active Member

    My point exactly, mizzou.
     
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