Team USA Must Remember What It Took To Win Gold In Future Competitions

Adam Miller by Scribe Written on August 25, 2008
4290808245056_oly_bko_usa_v_esp_feature

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.

 

Single Page
(0)
...
Share This  
Crop_45x45
or to post this comment

0 Comments

There are no comments yet. Get the conversation started by leaving the first comment

Loading more comments...
posted just now
  • Loading...
  • Nobody has liked this comment yet
Cancel

This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete

630
reads

0
comments

written on August 25, 2008 Opinion

The best newsletter on the web

Subscribe Now

We will never share your email address


CBS Sports Official Partner
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Getty Images.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Getty Images is strictly prohibited.