Mike Krzyzewski was explaining why he re-upped for three more years of volunteer service to coach the U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team. He unconsciously fingered the gold medal ring he earned for coaching the U.S. to victory in Beijing while trying to sum up the experience.

“My grandfather came with two suitcases on a boat from Krakow, Poland, to Ellis Island,” said Krzyzewski. “He worked in a coal mine in Pennsylvania. Two generations later, his grandson coached the U.S. Olympic team. I’m not sure I can explain it any better.

“And that’s what I tried to tell my players. When they had their hand over their heart and the U.S. flag was being raised, I wanted them to think of all the people who’d put them in position to be celebrating that gold medal.”

Commitment, responsibility, gratitude. It’s what he learned as a cadet at West Point. Krzyzewski was in Napa to accept an award on behalf of the V Foundation for Cancer Research, and he spoke of raising money the same way he spoke of coaching his Olympic team.

“I spent the last six months of Jim [Valvano's] life seeing him almost every day,” Krzyzewski said of the popular coach and broadcaster who died in 1993. “He wanted to win. He wanted to beat cancer. But if he couldn’t, he wanted to win by starting a foundation. He had a vision and he had standards.”

Standards. It’s a simple word, but, according to Coach K, it’s how the U.S. won the gold medal in China. That philosophy will be in effect at the World Championships next summer in Turkey and again at the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

“We didn’t have rules for the team,” he said, “we had standards. The players took personal responsibility to the uniform and to each other. There was a standard for how to act in public, for how to practice, for how to compete. We didn’t lie to each other, we showed up on time and we didn’t have excuses. It was a collective responsibility.”

Krzyzewski had three leaders on the team: Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd and LeBron James. One surprised him immediately.

“The very first day of practice, Kobe came to me and said, ‘Coach, I want to defend the best player on the opposing team every single night.’ I said, ‘Kobe, I saw you score 50 points a game this year 10 times,’ and Kobe said, ‘I want to defend the best player on the opposing team every single night — and, Coach, I will destroy him.’”

Krzyzewski was 36-1 in his first three-year stint as coach of the national team. After the U.S. fell to bronze in the 2004 Olympics, then lost to Greece in the semifinals of the 2006 World Championships (Coach K’s first major international tournament), Krzyzewski decided the U.S. team would be playing for three things: the gold medal, a renewal of spirit for USA Basketball and renewed respect around the world.

The Hall of Fame coach, now 62, said the experience was so satisfying that he didn’t hesitate to sign on again.

“We achieved what we set out to do,” said Krzyzewski, “but we still had the feeling, for each other and the journey. Why wouldn’t we want to do it again?”

Krzyzewski will become the first coach to lead multiple U.S. Olympic teams since the famed Hank Iba, who won gold medals in 1964 and ’68 and also coached the controversial 1972 team that lost to the Soviets in the gold medal game.

Bryant, James and Dwayne Wade are already leaning toward coming back to play.

“The team can’t be exactly the same, said Krzyzewski. “Even if I got all 12 players back, they’re going to be older and some of the roles will change.”

Some have said Coach K’s national commitment has hurt his program at Duke. Before he was named coach of the national team in 2005, Duke was 648-187 in his 25 years, where he went to 10 Final Fours and won three NCAA titles. But in the past four years, the Blue Devils have gone 112-28 without a single trip to the Final Four.

“I am absolutely a better coach now, and it will show,” said Krzyzewski. “I had day-to-day input from the greatest players on the planet, along with my assistants Jim Boeheim and Mike D’Antoni. I learned different ways to practice, different ways to get ready for competition. And I learned that this game is more about feel and chemistry than I ever thought before.”

There won’t be many spots available for the 2010 World Championship and subsequent Olympic team. Two weeks ago in Las Vegas, Krzyzewski and Jerry Colangelo, the managing director of USA Basketball, held a minicamp to look at some of the young players who’ll be trying to earn a place — among them Kevin Love, Brook Lopez, Rudy Gay, O.J. Mayo, Greg Oden, Andre Iguodala and Russell Westbrook. By all accounts, only 6-9 Kevin Durant stood above and beyond.

“We’re very far ahead of where USA Basketball had been,” Krzyzewski said. “I want to develop the attitude that even being an alternate is an enormous honor.”

Krzyzewski said the personal relationships he developed with the players is partly why he wanted to return. One day in practice, Coach K, who has no tattoos, told LeBron that he was thinking about getting a huge one on his back that said, “The Chosen One.”

“I don’t think so, Coach,” LeBron said. “That one’s been taken.”

Source: http://www.cbssports.com/cbssports/story/12047579

Pencil in Kevin Durant for a spot on the 2010 version of Team USA.

Better yet, put it in ink.

Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski singled out Durant and showered him with praise following the first day of a three-day minicamp for a group of 20 young players trying to make the senior national team.

Durant was the most dominant player on the floor in the team’s 12-minute scrimmage after the squad spent the bulk of Thursday’s practice working on drills. Friday’s practice was expected to be more focused on scrimmaging.

“Everyone who was watching from our group said you could tell that Durant was a little bit on a mission — and that’s good for them to see that; it picks everybody up,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s that versatility guy, and the other thing is he’s a shooter, and with the way we were playing defense for most of the Olympics, with his length, he could be a heck of a defender.

“So he’s really at the head of the list for me.”

Durant was given serious consideration for the 12th and final roster spot on the Redeem Team that won the gold medal in Beijing. He competed against Tayshaun Prince and Tyson Chandler for inclusion.

Prince ended up getting the spot, and eventually moved ahead of Carlos Boozer in the rotation.

Durant, along with Andre Iguodala and Jeff Green, is now back for his third consecutive summer of practices with the so-called Select Team, and his familiarity and comfort level with the Team USA system were superior to that of anyone else on the court Thursday. Others who caught the coaches’ eyes included Rudy Gay, Derrick Rose, Eric Gordon and JaVale McGee, and several team insiders said they were surprised how spry Greg Oden looked.

Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo and the coaching staff are concentrating on three areas where they expect to have to fill out the roster: a third point guard to play behind Deron Williams and Chris Paul; an extra big man with the combination of quickness, defensive intensity and shooting range to play inside or outside; and a Mr. Versatility who would have the ability to spell LeBron James at the power forward spot, Carmelo Anthony at small forward, and Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade at shooting guard.

Durant fits the bill for that third guy.

“The more versatile team you have, especially at 3 and 4, when they can do both that adds a lot because so many of the international players play away from the basket and are really perimeter players,” Krzyzewski said. “And the big guys, we try to envision if we got all the guys back, who would complement the guys that we have.

“That’s why I’m putting him at the head, because I know him the best, and then he comes out and he’s terrific [in practice]. Plus his attitude and commitment, he’s made a hell of a commitment each summer, three in a row.”

Next summer will be No. 4 in a row, and from the sound of things, Durant can expect to have his passport stamped with a Turkish visa when Team USA heads overseas in 13 months to attempt to win the world championship for the first time since 1994.

Source: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/sports/pro/basketball&sa=NBA&eid=4352887

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose battles for a loose ball with Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo during a playoff game in April. Rose is among 20 players at the Team USA minicamp this week at Valley High School. He hopes to make a strong enough impression to claim one of the few spots available for next year’s world championships team.

In a way, the 20 players participating in this week’s USA Basketball minicamp are no different from the millions of others who visit Las Vegas each year.

There’s a chance they might strike it rich, but only a select few will walk away winners.

There’s a small window to make a positive impression, beginning today at Valley High School and culminating with Saturday’s intrasquad game at the Thomas & Mack Center. The reality is there are only a handful of spots available on Team USA’s roster for the 2010 FIBA World Championships, because several spots will go to Team USA veterans such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

The competition figures to be fierce, in the drills overseen by coach Jay Triano and the daily scrimmages.

“It’s hard to project exactly how many spots there’s going to be,” said Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball’s managing director. “The plan is to watch this week and get a pretty good look at what we have. We also have next (NBA) season to look. So we should get a good idea between the two about what we have.”

Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski will not be on the floor at the minicamp, which is geared toward younger NBA players who have not played for the senior national team. But he and his staff will watch closely from the stands.

“We want to get to know the guys and get a read on them,” Krzyzewski said. “I don’t know how many of them will be with us next summer, but I think it’s safe to see there’ll probably be more than one.”

Kevin Durant figures to be the first one. The 6-foot-9-inch Oklahoma City guard nearly made the Olympic team last year, and he has been preparing for this week to show he is ready to take the next step.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to possibly play for Coach K,” Durant said last weekend while watching the Thunder play in the NBA Summer League at UNLV. “I was hoping to be part of the last team, but I’m excited about maybe being on the next Olympic team.”

Colangelo all but said Durant will be on next year’s world championships roster.

“You have to aspire to be an Olympian,” Colangelo said. “Durant, he’s paid his dues. He keeps getting better.”

Krzyzewski also mentioned that he’ll keep a close eye on Durant. But the Duke coach also wants to watch Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, who was the NBA’s rookie of the year, as well as Philadelphia 76ers guard Andre Iguodala.

“Iguodala has shown a huge commitment, and Derrick Rose has also shown a big commitment,” Krzyzewski said. “This minicamp will not only help us with next year and 2012, it sets the stage for 2014 (world championships) and 2016 (Olympics).”

One player Krzyzewski won’t see is Blake Griffin. The Los Angeles Clippers rookie forward sustained a shoulder injury during summer league play and pulled out of the minicamp. The Los Angeles Times on Wednesday reported that Griffin is expected to be sidelined three to four weeks because of a right shoulder strain.

There were no plans to replace Griffin on the roster, which will remain at 20.

Source: http://www.lvrj.com/sports/51471177.html