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.'”