Coach K Going For Gold Again

((HT: Raleigh News & Observer/Tysiac))

Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski ((pictured, thanks WRALSportsfan.com file))has agreed to a second three-year commitment as coach of the U.S. men’s senior national team.

Krzyzewski will coach Team USA in the 2010 world championships, and in the 2012 Olympics in London. USA Basketball, the national team’s governing body, made the announcement this evening on its web site.

Krzyzewski, 62, was 36-1 in his first three-year stint as head coach of the national team. He coached the team to a gold medal win in Beijing last summer that restored the United States’ reputation as an international power.

Team USA placed sixth in the 2002 world championships. The U.S. earned bronze medals in the 2004 Olympics and in Krzyzewski’s first major international tournament, the 2006 world championships.

“It was a huge honor to be selected as the USA National Team coach the first time," Krzyzewski said in a statement released by USA Basketball.

"It is still a huge honor. The experience of being the head coach of the USA National Team for three summers was the best experience I've ever had in coachin. The upcoming three years will be a new experience and hopefully, it will be as rewarding."

Though some have questioned whether he can remain totally focused on Duke while coaching the national team, Krzyzewski said earlier this summer that his work with Team USA has been helpful to him, Duke’s program and the university.

Before Krzyzewski first was named coach of the national team in 2005, Duke was 648-187 in his 25 seasons with 10 Final Four appearances and three NCAA titles. In four seasons since, the Blue Devils have been 112-28 with no trips to the Final Four.

Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan, a former N.C. State player, will join Krzyzewski again as the entire Olympic coaching staff will remain intact.

Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim and the New York Knicks’ Mike D’Antoni also will rejoin the staff.

USA Basketball released statements from six players from the 2008 team praising the decision. Among them was former Wake Forest guard Chris Paul, who sounded as though he plans to continue with the program.

"We had great chemistry as a unit and worked well with the entire coaching staff,” Paul said. “I am looking forward to having another great experience with everyone.”

What's Wrong With This Picture...???

What is it they say...?
One could be a mistake. Two is a coincidence. Three is a trend...

The Spanish delegation- not just men's basketball, but women's hoops, AND the tennis teams all decide to pull the same immature stunt through photography. There is a thought, from the Spanish perspective, that they were just being visually joke-ish:

"Hey, we're in China. So, we'll act as the Chinese do."

Wasn't this something we've done as fourth or fifth graders, and then we got it out of our collective systems...?

In this current day and age of over-the-top political correctness, people should be dropping the hammer on an entire athletic delegation. But, where is the outrage, or even the questioning of all this particular silliness...?

Apparently, outside of the United States, it doesn't exist.

And, actually, the traditional media here in the States ((remember them..?)) has glossed right over this, too. So much for offending other countries who will be more than happy to slam us at every chance through paper, print, or protest.

“It was supposed to be a picture that inspired the Olympic spirit,” Pau Gasol said.

Uh, sure...

Jorge Garbajosa and the Gasols are on this squad. Two of the three are, as of this writing, still on active NBA rosters. Garbajosa went home. So, what do we do as Americans about this...?

Laugh at their elementary silliness... and be sure to remind them at every opportunity. If you're David Stern, how do you handle this...? It's a bigger problem. If one of the red, white, and blue athletes did the same thing, Jason Kidd has the right idea as to how it was handled:

“We would’ve been already thrown out of the Olympics,” he told Yahoo! Sports in an interview with Adrian Wojnarowski. “At least, we wouldn’t have been able to come back to the U.S. …There would be suspensions.”

And for his European peers, well, Kidd suggested, “They won’t do anything to them. It’s a double standard.”

Sad to say, what really can be done...? FIBA won't do anything. Commissioner Stern may have a few words, but there won't be any time-out for the Spaniards when they return to active duty.

It's painfully obvious, when you're the greatest country in the world, that jealousy reigns more than common sense. If the Americans had pulled one, two, or three of those lovely pictures that we would have been roasted in the world spotlight.

Spain...? Oh, they're just being funny...
The United States...? Oh, they're the "evil United States"- they should know better.
They're picking on the little guy...
Why are they joking about the Chinese like that...?

Actually, we do know better...
And we have to show by example...
Everyone else just gets to get away with it until further notice...

Walk tall. Walk proud.
If we have to be Number One, let's just act like it.
And stick it to everyone else that way...
No pictures needed...