It still doesn't negate his years of coaching flopping and court-slapping.

I give him his due as a great coach but I think Bob Knight was better.

8/23/2008 3:48:31 PM

hahaha, the US sends a team where the bench could beat any team in the games and it's considered a "risk." This idiot is confusing the backlash from a loss without considering the probability of that event. It's simple expected value -- you multiply the value of the win or loss by the probability of a win or loss happening.

Using proper risk assessment, Larry Brown actually took on way more risk because his probability of winning was much lower (with shittier players), the value of another US win was much smaller, and the shame of a US loss was much bigger back then.


Someone tell pat ford that I am taking a huge risk by talking shit about him on the internet because I can catch the bubonic plague right now, which is deadly! Don't worry about the probability of that happening

[Edited on August 23, 2008 at 6:45 PM. Reason : .]

8/23/2008 6:20:30 PM

Spain PWNT

Stay home

8/24/2008 4:25:53 AM

8/24/2008 4:26:13 AM

that was a good game to stay up and watch. high scoring game too.

8/24/2008 4:27:14 AM

Grats US and gg Spain for giving us a helluva game to watch (even though I would have preferred a blowout so i could have gone to sleep earlier )

8/24/2008 4:27:53 AM

look at coach k trying to recruit rubio on the low

8/24/2008 4:28:44 AM

hopefully nate mcmillan will put the bug in his ear about State

[Edited on August 24, 2008 at 4:33 AM. Reason : V most likely]

8/24/2008 4:32:10 AM

I doubt he's going to any US university.

Probably stay in Spain making money for a year or two then go to the NBA.

8/24/2008 4:33:08 AM

haha, kid certainly could ball.

8/24/2008 4:38:50 AM

It is no coincidence that this team played as a team if you look at their coaching staff. Larry Brown let them play individually whereas K, Boeheim, Dantoni, etc created a team game and won gold.

8/24/2008 10:51:52 AM

Jerry Colangelo did a great job with the ideas that he brought to USA bball... too bad he doesn't get a medal b/c he deserves one.

8/24/2008 11:43:12 AM

KOBE FREAKIN BRYANT!!!

dude took over the end of this game

8/24/2008 2:36:58 PM

Awesome win. Looks like D-Wade is back to being a machine. Miami could be a decent threat in the East if Beasley doesn't suck.

We caught some breaks by avoiding Argentina/Spain without arguably their two best players Ginobili and Calderon.

But ultimately we finally broke through and played team oriented enough to handle international competition. Pretty solid showing throughout the tournament. I just wish the games had come on at hours where i could watch more of them live.

8/24/2008 2:56:10 PM

2012 Team could be even better

if we get these players

STARTERS:
Kobe
Lebron
Melo
CP3
D- Howard

BENCH:
Deron Williams
Greg Oden
Andrew Bynum
OJ Mayo
Amare
Bosh
D Wade

8/24/2008 4:39:26 PM

Kevin love and durant will probably be on the 2012 team too

8/24/2008 4:52:25 PM

eh...I doubt Kobe will play in the 2012 olympics

8/24/2008 4:53:48 PM

^he already said he'll be back, if they want him back






they will want him back

8/24/2008 4:59:16 PM

word

i stand corrected

8/24/2008 5:01:41 PM

I don't think Greg Oden's game is suited to the international game.

Kevin Durant could be a beast, however.

8/24/2008 7:54:37 PM

i think that they should just send Malone, Shaq, Sheed, Billups and Wade to pwn everybody.

8/25/2008 1:15:26 AM

I really think this has been a very good thing for professional basketball...I hope these guys can take this attitude back to their NBA teams and we can see the rise of NBA competition again. It was fun watching them play the way they did with the emotions they showed, it reminded me very much of an ACC tourney or Final Four game.

Was also cracking me up seeing Coach K just being himself with those guys on the bench haha. You have to admit the man is a great coach and great leader.

8/25/2008 1:55:32 AM

Coach K WAS a great coach but i think everyone can agree the game has passed him by somewhat.

He fell in love with soft basketball. Duke gets more calls than anyone in the ACC which makes them an ACC contender each year.

But nationally they haven't been serious contenders since their last title.

His teams flop, jack threes, overplay passing lanes, and look worn down in March.

One of the best coaches of all-time, but he's not one of the top ten coaches in the country right now.

8/25/2008 4:47:41 AM

I think you're wrong. I don't really like him as a coach or a person, but I can at least give him the respect he deserves. If he didn't coach at a school that might have the most stringent academic requirements out of any consistent Top 25 team, he would probably have even more trophies than he already does. The fact that he can make Duke compete and still have the true student-athletes he does is pretty incredible in this day and age.

8/25/2008 10:27:15 AM

put reddick on the 2012 team

someone knock down some threes! consistently!

8/25/2008 10:39:33 AM

Give me Coach K to coach my College basketball team and you can have any other coach you want

8/25/2008 12:44:53 PM

Quote :

"If he didn't coach at a school that might have the most stringent academic requirements out of any consistent Top 25 team, he would probably have even more trophies than he already does."

Duke basketball recruits get relaxed admission standards (though still being well above the NCAA minimums). This has been true for bball for sometime, while not being the case for football -- until this year.

8/25/2008 12:52:54 PM

I hate Coach K and Duke, but to say he isn't a top 10 bball coach and the game has passed him is a joke. I just think more programs have elevated themselves and college bball is just very competetive and challenging these days especially in respect to recruiting. I'd like to see that list of 10 coaches better then he is.

8/25/2008 12:56:31 PM

Quote :

"put reddick on the 2012 team someone knock down some threes! consistently!"

Screw JJ. Why not put someone who has actually played in the NBA? Maybe Matt Carroll, or that dude from UCLA.

8/25/2008 1:00:54 PM

I think the best players in the nation are passing Duke by for whatever reason, but if anything this Olympics shows again that when given talented players, he can coach them into winners...that is, when you add Nate McMillan to the mix

^I'd rather put an athletic shooter in...like Jason Richardson

8/25/2008 1:09:24 PM

And Boeheim and D'antoni

[Edited on August 25, 2008 at 1:30 PM. Reason : They did have Redd lets not forget]

8/25/2008 1:30:40 PM

Quote :

"I just think more programs have elevated themselves and college bball is just very competetive and challenging these days especially in respect to recruiting."

He doesn't recruit the same anymore... After they should have been put on probation for the whole Magette incident and he got burned by William Avery, he has basically stopped recruiting anyone with baggage (aside from Sean "I cant even read but I'm getting a full ride to Duke" Dockery and Shelden). Smart move for institutional control, bad move for winning championships.

[Edited on August 25, 2008 at 2:49 PM. Reason : x]

8/25/2008 2:47:18 PM

Quote :

"Duke gets more calls than anyone in the ACC which makes them an ACC contender each year."

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10921091

8/25/2008 2:50:25 PM

Quote :

"So it appears it's actually UConn that referees are favoring these days, and Mike Krzyzewski should get to work on this as soon as he returns from China, especially if the Olympic calls tend not to go his way. "

That is a fucking retarded article... I don't think there is a conspiracy or that even really favoritisim but Duke takes 30 fucking three's a game whereas UConn has had the most dominant inside game in the country for over a decade. Of course they will draw more fouls.

8/25/2008 3:02:40 PM

this is a pretty decent source of raw ACC basketball foul data over the past few years

http://packsmack.com/InfamousACCIndexCard/

but its still flawed as shit...if Team A shoots 30 free throws and Team B shoots 2 free throws its probably lopsided...however if each team shoots 30 free throws, but Team A shoots them all on their way to a 40 point 1st half lead, and Team B gets garbage fouls with the game decided, its misleading to just look at fouls

8/25/2008 3:17:25 PM

all i'm saying is, you don't stay near the top of the ACC every year simply because you get a few extra calls every now and then.

also, rallydurham seems to forget that Duke was in the Final 4 in 2004. so yes, they have been "serious contenders" since 2001.

i'm also arguing with a guy who claimed that team USA was the 3rd best team in the world and had basically no chance to win the gold, so i guess it's pointless

8/25/2008 3:23:38 PM

Quote :

"Screw JJ. Why not put someone who has actually played in the NBA? Maybe Matt Carroll, or that dude from UCLA."

Because the whole idea is that you want someone who shoots the international/college 3 better than the NBA three.

Basically, they should just pick up the best college 3-point shooter and bring him along. He can have Michael Redd's spot.

8/25/2008 3:49:19 PM

yeah rally how much did you lose with your stone cold lead pipe lock of taking the field? did you actually get excited when Spain cut it to 2?

Quote :

"they should just pick up the best college 3-point shooter and bring him along. He can have Michael Redd's spot."

[Edited on August 25, 2008 at 3:52 PM. Reason : .]

8/25/2008 3:49:59 PM

i feel obliged to say that i was wrong about this team.

8/25/2008 3:53:42 PM

If you read the thread you'll see I didn't take the bet because I didn't want to bet against us.

I've been an US basketball fan for 16 years now and you guys jump on the bandwagon at the last minute and try to talk shit to me about it? Where were you 4 years ago? Or 6 for that matter? Do you even remember the Indianapolis tournament or the Puerto Rico loss? Eventually we had to win, it doesn't mean we're head and shoulders better than Spain. I still think with a healthy Calderon that game is pretty evenly matched. I didn't know the US was going to play quite that well together or be THAT focused. I was impressed with their effort. Also no one had any idea coming into the tournament that D Wade was playing superhuman basketball.

I said I liked a bet that was 3:1 underdog. You only have to be right 25% of the time to win money. Gamblers look for an edge, not a lock. Over the long run that's how you make money.


You can not possibly watch a Duke game and argue they don't get calls.

They went 8-8 in the ACC two years ago and 0-1 in the ACC (lost to the worst team in the ACC in the tournament) and 0-1 in the NCAA losing to a 13 seed for gods sake.

They get incredible talent no doubt but Coach K has a bad habit of running guys down during the season because he loves to run up the score. Look at all the perrenial chokers he has. Trajan Langdon, JJ Redick, Chris Carrawell, etc. The only guys who haven't melted down in the past decade are Shane Battier (willed them to that title somehow) and Jason Williams (arguably the best college basketball player in the past decade).

Hell even Christian Laettner Mr. Clutch himself played like dogshit his final two games at Duke.


He's still a great coach at the helm of a program because he prepares teams amazingly for games. He also recruits well and he gets away with a whole lot of shit like the Magette scandal, the Duhon scandal, and the illegal recruiting tv commercials.

In-game coaching he's among the leaders but I wouldn't say he is elite.

8/25/2008 4:52:21 PM

i feel obliged to say i was dead on but i mean i really went out on a limb it was obvious

of course we remember the peurto rico loss. my 12 year old brother remembers that. it was only a few years ago

Quote :

"lost to the worst team in the ACC in the tournament"

made me lol. you are a joker

somebody has to play bad in their last game. almost everybody except the national champions tend to. its basketball. its not a chokejob if you get shutdown but I'm done here.

You've done. like 0/3 in one thread and now you're just swinging. Time to stop.

[Edited on August 25, 2008 at 5:03 PM. Reason : there comes a time]

[Edited on August 25, 2008 at 5:03 PM. Reason : funny comedian]

8/25/2008 4:58:00 PM

8/25/2008 5:06:20 PM

Quote :

"I've been an US basketball fan for 16 years now and you guys jump on the bandwagon at the last minute and try to talk shit to me about it? Where were you 4 years ago? Or 6 for that matter? Do you even remember the Indianapolis tournament or the Puerto Rico loss?"

i know you're not talking to me

but the better question is, where were you a year ago when this team was being assembled? I didn't thing we'd run shop on the competition like we did (at least in the first 7 games) but I knew we had more chemistry than probably any other Dream Team, and more talent than any team other than 1992, and i definitely thought we'd win it all

8/25/2008 5:15:47 PM

Quote :

"you guys jump on the bandwagon at the last minute and try to talk shit to me about it"

we're the ones jumping on the bandwagon?

8/25/2008 5:31:01 PM

read the thread from page one on and make a qualified opinion.

I love US basketball.

I'm not the clown that said Kobe Bryant or Jason Kidd was the key to us winning.


I'll admit i overstated mike redd's importance and was off on CB's contribution amount. And that's it.

8/26/2008 1:08:58 AM

Quote :

"and the illegal recruiting tv commercials."

goodbye little credibility you have left. roy, bobby knight and various others have all had widely aired commercials for various sponsors...find an illegal recruiting tv commercial asap to prove me wrong.

8/26/2008 1:14:00 AM

Kobe took over in the 4th quarter of the gold medal game, I'd say he was definitely one of the key players

8/26/2008 1:18:41 AM

^^ recruiting tv ads are against the rules, period.

You can play any technicality bullshit you want but no one will agree with you. NYM get in on this.

8/26/2008 1:19:53 AM

Kobe bryant was the MVP of this team

D wade was the most spectacular but without kobe setting the tone on defense and not to mention...........

He pretty much slit the throats of the spainards


He was what set this team apart from the past teams even the 06 team had wade, melo and lebron

8/26/2008 10:13:32 AM

rallydurham show me one commercial that is a recruiting ad and you win, but you won't because there isn't one. "coach k camp" and the various other commercials aren't "recruiting ads"...you're letting your bias tint your perception of things which is pretty clear throughout a lot of the threads you post in.

there are tons of ncaa basketball and football coaches in commercials and i have yet to see one that was a "recruiting ad" or had ANYTHING to do with convincing a player to come to their school. i'd love for you to prove me wrong, but again, you can't and won't.

8/26/2008 10:25:22 AM