FIBA World Championships: Coach K Responds To Russian Coach Before Quarterfinals
Some comments get Americans fired up when it comes to sports, especially when it comes to American national teams.
Saying the goal by Germany at the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals that beat the United States was clean or saying that you were rooting for Sidney Crosby and Canada in the 2010 Olympic gold medal hockey game are among the things that grind our gears.
Above all, however, may be saying that the Soviet Union deserved to win the 1972 Olympic gold in basketball.
We all know the story: the timeouts, the buzzer, the replay of the inbound, all finally leading the hated Soviets to victory over the Americans, who had never lost an Olympic game in 64 match-ups, winning Olympic gold in 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1968, and refused their 1972 silver medals. Since then, the Americans have won all but three gold medals in basketball.
Now, the United States is ready to square off with Russia, the former Soviet Union, at the quarterfinals of the 2010 FIBA World Championships, the World Cup of basketball.
This is an important year for the United States, who currently sit second in the world rankings behind Argentina and have failed to win the Championships since 1994, their third title.
Though they currently are tied with the now dissolved nations of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union for the most titles of all time, many believe this to be a make or break year for the United States on the international level.
A win against Russia puts them in the semifinals in a mouth watering matchup with either world No. 6 Lithuania or the world's top ranked team in Argentina.
The United States may have been given an accidental boost by Russian head coach David Blatt this week. Blatt, who is a dual citizen of Israel and the United States, said that the Soviet Union deserved to win the gold medal at the Munich games.
Blatt admitted to crying initially after the game in 1972, but says now that he is older and thinks about it, the Soviets were the rightful winners.
Duke Blue Devils and United States head coach Mike Kryzewski was happy to respond to the comments on Wednesday.
"He's Russian," Coach K told ESPN.
"You know, he coaches the Russian team, so he probably has that viewpoint, and his eyes are clearer now because there are no tears in them," Krzyzewski said.
"So, it's great. Whatever he thinks, he thinks. It really has absolutely no bearing on what we're trying to do tomorrow. Absolutely none. Our bearing is how we guard [Anton] Ponkrashov at point when he comes in, how we defend [Timofey] Mozgov and [Sasha] Kaun inside, that we don't let [Sergei] Monia get shots. That's our goal, so that's what our focus will be.
"And we've addressed that that game was played 38 years ago, and five of these guys are 21. So I don't think they remember it as well. It is what it is. It'll be a negative from the way the U.S. looks at it forever, and should be. And it'll be in some ways a positive for those who believe in fairy tales."
It may have no bearing on their aims for Thursday, but do not think that that statement will not be lingering in the heads of the Yanks, giving them that little extra drive to stick it to Russia, who currently are ranked seventeenth in the world.
Call it what you will, but the quarterfinal matchup on Thursday falls on the same date, September 9th, as the 1972 Olympic Gold Medal game between the United States and Soviet Union.
