Wednesday, October 19th, 2011 at 1:15 pm  |  30 responses

Mike Krzyzewski Worried About 2012 Olympic Basketball Team


There were some rumblings when the NBA lockout began that League superstars might skip out on the Olympics in 2012 as a show of protest, and Coach K sounds more than a tad concerned about what this current work stoppage will mean for the Olympic hoops squad he’s going to coach next summer. From USA Today: “We’re obviously really concerned,’ the Duke Blue Devils’ coach said of keeping an eye on the NBA lockout when he was a guest on ESPN Radio’s Mike and Mike In the Morning show Wednesday. ‘What if there isn’t a season? What if they expand (the season past June) if they start playing? We begin (Olympic) practice the 4th or 5th of July. The gold medal game is Aug. 12. If the NBA has to go into July, what does that do for us? If they don’t have a season, will they play (in the Olympics)?’ And then, there is the prospect of injuries. ‘The main thing we’re worried about is just the game. NBA basketball is the highest level in the world. … The thing I would worry about is injuries … the conditioning,’ Krzyzewski said. ‘So you worry about that, just, would anybody get hurt? We’re going to wait until spring to announce who the 12 players will be on the team. We have a great pool, because everyone wants to play. … We have the world championship team (from last summer), plus (New York Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire and (Los Angeles Clippers forward) Blake Griffin. … It will be a good, tough decision to make.’”

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  • Double J Posted: Oct.19 at 1:28 pm
    man the olympics ain’t gonna get hurt from this, no way.

  • A l a n Posted: Oct.19 at 1:31 pm
    C’mon US players, your country needs you, I want a rematch of last Olympics final!!!

  • T-Money Posted: Oct.19 at 2:36 pm
    pg paul
    sg kobe
    sf bron
    pf melo
    c dwight
    -
    6 wade
    7 kd
    8 bosh
    9 deron
    10 stat
    11 rose
    12 griffin you keep the same 5 (minus kidd) from 2008 and the youngn’s (rose /griffin) get to sit and watch until 2016. bosh in front of stat because he was there in 08 and is great in the international game.

  • LP Posted: Oct.19 at 2:55 pm
    @T-money…..sounds good, i can’t complain at that list…even with Bosh..

  • Max Posted: Oct.19 at 3:42 pm
    That has to be the most exciting US team ever.

  • greg Posted: Oct.19 at 3:51 pm
    Most exciting US team ever? Are you for real? Wake up, son.

  • jayb Posted: Oct.19 at 3:51 pm
    this is kobe’s last olympics..he plays no matter what! he told coach k he would play…he has a real close relationship with him so we know the mamba is in!

  • LA Huey Posted: Oct.19 at 4:37 pm
    I feel you, Coach K. Whenever a deal is struck, they better make sure it runs an appropriate time to where we don’t feel the Olympics are being held hostage. I love having bragging rights over those Euroleague Stans.

  • niQ Posted: Oct.19 at 4:58 pm
    @T-money, I agree with the whole list except one small thing. I have a weird feeling Griffin might not make it for the one reason that there is only 1 Center. I think Chandler might get the nod, but if not then yea you’re list is most probably it.

  • niQ Posted: Oct.19 at 4:58 pm
    *your

  • MikeC. Posted: Oct.19 at 5:33 pm
    Bigs need to be able to play away from the basket in FIBA games. That’s why Bosh does so well in Olympics. Amare is a good fit too. Griffin, not so much. If they just need a 12th man to sit and learn, then he’s a building block for the future. If he gets a 17-20 foot jumper over the summer, then he’ll be a monster. I can see Chandler getting the nod since he’s the new master of big man dirty work. Melo is always amazing in international ball as a 4. Lebron and Wade are terrifying in the open floor. They need a PG that can shoot from deep. Is Mark Price available?

  • sophmore Posted: Oct.19 at 7:07 pm
    have monta ellis on the team

  • CubicleWorker Posted: Oct.19 at 10:38 pm
    @T-Money, really? Carmelo is your starting PF? This isn’t NBA2K… PG – Paul
    SG – Kobe
    SF – James
    PF – Duncan or KG (I’m assuming one will decline the invite, one will play. I think KG will play and get the starters role out of respect but split equal time with Stat)
    C – Howard 6. D Wade
    7. KD
    8. D Rose
    9. CMelo
    10. STAT
    11. Bosh
    12. Blake or KLove – hard to pass up on either of these three guys, I think KLove gets love here. As one of the final options on the team and in need of a solid, reliable, rebounding PF I think he gets the controversial nod. Same way Patrice Bergeron got the nod for Team Canada in 2010 olympics. Plus he played in the FIBA worlds. I just think he’s the guy you have to put here. Only problem with the above list is that you only have 1 center, but then you have 4 PF’s, KD and LeBron so you have over half the roster that’s basically 6’9 (LeBron is a beast).

  • CubicleWorker Posted: Oct.19 at 10:42 pm
    Y’all gotta be aware of the Canadian national dream team PG – Nash (one can dream)
    SG – walk into any foot locker and pick the first 6’6 black guy you see
    SF – same as SG but 6’7+
    PF – Tristan Thompson
    C – Jamaal Magloire 6. Joel Anthony
    7. Matt Bonner
    8. Andy Rautins
    9 through 12 – Follow the same steps as SG and SF

  • PZ Posted: Oct.20 at 4:10 am
    rondo will be there

  • Morgan Posted: Oct.20 at 4:35 am
    @Cubicle worker – I get the impression you don’t watch a lot of international bball. Melo at the 4 is perfect – Duncan and KG would be far too slow to keep up with the tempo and play that far from the hoop. The 4 generally spends most of the time setting screens on the 3 point line or doing work from the high post. So they would be wise to take Melo/Bosh/Stat/Griffin here.

  • Max Posted: Oct.20 at 7:33 am
    Greg why not, all super athletic freaks.

  • niQ Posted: Oct.20 at 11:28 am
    @CubicleWorker, Melo was the starting 4 during the last Olympics.

  • niQ Posted: Oct.20 at 11:32 am
    And @CubicleWorker again, the Canadian team would be better suited with Myck Kabongo, Kris Joseph, Andrew Wiggins, Cory Joseph, Tristan Thompson, Joel Anthony, Khem Birch, Kyle Wiltjer and Kevin Pangos.

  • Allenp Posted: Oct.20 at 11:34 am
    I don’t like Melo starting. He doesn’t rebound enough to play the four even in international competition.

  • Allenp Posted: Oct.20 at 11:35 am
    T_money forgot Durant.

  • Allenp Posted: Oct.20 at 11:36 am
    In fact, everybody seems to have forgotten Durant. What the hell is up with that?

  • Allenp Posted: Oct.20 at 11:37 am
    Oh, my bad, I didn’t see KD. I was looking for Durant, and y’all wrote KD.
    If we’re starting smalls, I would rather have Durant start over Melo and let Bron play the four.

  • LA Huey Posted: Oct.20 at 11:58 am
    That “National Team” north of the United States shouldn’t be mentioned on the same page as Team USA.

  • niQ Posted: Oct.20 at 12:46 pm
    @Allenp. I agree with starting Durant over Melo and having Bron play the four. But I feel like Coach K would roll with the same team he had last time (minus Kidd).

  • niQ Posted: Oct.20 at 12:49 pm
    And besides, KD would simply be the instant sixth man offense coming off the bench =P

  • Enigmatic Posted: Oct.20 at 1:26 pm
    I like the idea of having Paul and Williams handle the majority of PG duties while Rose stands back and watches.
    He did aight last summer, but Rose still has a lot to learn about playing international ball, and playing with Paul and Williams can only help his development.

  • JJ Posted: Oct.20 at 2:52 pm
    People forget that Russell Westbrook and Durant were the main players who helped us win the FIBA. Honestly the US draft pool for the olympics is so deep, the team used in FIBA just last year would win us a Gold Medal.

  • LA Huey Posted: Oct.20 at 3:57 pm
    ^The rest of the world is shifting their priorities to Olympic competition instead of the World Chamipionships. Check the international rosters for 2010 compared to the 2011 Eurobasket and Americas tournments. We could still win London with that roster but we could lose just as easily to Argentina or Spain.

  • gillythekid Posted: Jan.10 at 5:48 pm
    Kevin Love deserves consideration. I would take him over Stoudemire in the international game.

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