The United States men’s basketball team reached its goal of winning the gold medal against Spain. Team USA will not have to compete in any international competitions until the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey.
Now the U.S. will have to worry about keeping itself on top of the world and not losing what it’s worked so hard to regain.
Team USA director Jerry Colangelo probably won’t do anything drastic for at least the next year, and he will most likely start his work on the 2012 Olympic team in the summer of 2009.
The first order of business will be picking a new head coach after several media sources are reporting that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will not return to Team USA.
The short list of possible replacements likely includes NBA coaches Gregg Popovich, Nate McMillan, P.J. Carlisemo, and Mike D’Antoni, along with Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. It also wouldn’t be surprising to see Doug Collins’ name surface as his role on the 1972 team has turned him into someone that Team USA deeply respects.
Collins is probably a long shot because he seems to enjoy the relatively stress-free job as a color commentator for the NBA, although I imagine he would have a hard time saying no to Colangelo.
Another long shot but interesting candidate is Jason Kidd. He is the only one in the league with two gold medals at the moment and is the one guy every player, even Kobe Bryant, looks up to for leadership.
LeBron James has already lobbied for Kidd to be a player-coach and there’s no question that any Team USA member will embrace any role that he wants to have in 2012. It might be unrealistic for Colangelo to give Kidd the reigns as the head coach, but it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if he decides to be an assistant coach for the U.S. after he retires.
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