Another Olympic Idea

[fordronken]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this so far(at least not that I can recall), but a coach that would make a lot of sense for the men's Olympic team as an assistant, or maybe even head coach, would be Mike D'Antoni. Seems to me like a guy who'd be perfect for the job.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this so far(at least not that I can recall), but a coach that would make a lot of sense for the men's Olympic team as an assistant, or maybe even head coach, would be Mike D'Antoni. Seems to me like a guy who'd be perfect for the job.

Chad Ford said something similar during the "practice" games. He said that someone with so much international experience should have had an assistant spot on the bench. He also mentioned that BC is on the commitee, and should have pushed it though.

 

[George O'Brien]

Maybe Mike would help, but the biggest problem was that they had so little preparation time. What was it, five days of practice before they started doing exhibition games?

The USA team kept improving with almost every game: better ball movement, better defensive rotation, greater applied energy, etc. They were just beginning to find some chemistry, but it was late in coming. Give that collection of players another month of preparation and they would have gone undefeated - even if they didn't have the right guys.

Larry Brown had the 2003 team, so he is not entirely unfamiliar with the FIBA rules. So while Mike might have helped some, more preparation time would have been much more valuable.

 

[Southpaw]

The U S had about 12 years to train. It is not as if the international teams play together year round. They are also all star teams. It is style that made the difference. U S NBA ball is not international rules ball. No style points are given.