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XM Satellite Radio To Air Special Olympic ?Basketball & Beyond with Coach K? Edition
7/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. ? Basketball fans can get exclusive behind-the-scenes insight about the upcoming Olympic men's basketball competition in Beijing, China, from Duke University and U.S. Senior National Team head coach Mike Krzyzewski on a special off-season edition of “Basketball & Beyond.”
The two-hour Olympic show, co-hosted by Krzyzewski and radio/television personality Kevin Blackistone, debuts on XM Radio channel 144 at 1:00 PM ET on Wednesday, July 30. This special program will feature a roundtable discussion with the entire USA Senior National Team coaching staff, an in-depth interview with Team USA Managing Director Jerry Colangelo, and discussions with several of the players, including Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Jason Kidd.
After at least 15 professional players turned down the opportunity to represent the United States at the 2004 Olympics, the team faltered against the growing basketball talents of several other countries (Argentina won the gold medal), earning a bronze medal in Athens, Greece. The highly respected Colangelo was asked to build a U.S. National program -- not just a team. One of his first moves was hiring Krzyzewski as the head coach, along with assistant coaches Mike D'Antoni (New York Knicks), Nate McMillan (Portland Trailblazers) and Jim Boeheim (Syracuse University). Another critical part of the process fell into place during the summer of 2005 when Colangelo met with several players individually to discuss his expectations for the 2008 Senior National Team.
“They didn't feel motivated at all,” explained Colangelo on the show. “The only way I was going to sell it, in my opinion, was to get in front of each guy and say, ?Look, you may know me. You may know my background, but I'm going to assume you don't. Here's where I came from. I'm from the other side of the tracks. The only house I ever lived in came out of the remnants of two railroad boxcars and some extra lumber that my grandfather, an immigrant, built. That's the only house I ever lived in. I came from nothing. [Playing] sports was my way out. I feel honored and privileged to be born in America because only in America could things happen to people like they happened to me...And that should be a story that people could look to, and understand. I wanted the player to hear that, each of them.”
Some other insightful moments from the special Team USA program follow:
“A lot of things we do in the NBA game that we can easily take to the international game...winds up being a disadvantage. You're playing weak-side defense, your tendency is to kind of get in the lane for 2.9 [seconds], and get out. Well, you can go and camp out there as long as you want to [in the international game]. So, it's just little subtleties like that, hand-checking, what you can do on the screen and roll, things of that nature. That's very important for us to understand.” -- Kobe Bryant praises the decision to bring in international officials to obtain an education on how to play successfully in the Olympics.
“I'm not going to pace myself at all. I'm going to play like it's the last game of my life. I don't go on teams and try to pace myself and try to worry about how my body is going to feel two months, three months from now. It's not about that. I'd be cheating my teammates if I did that.” ? LeBron James talks about the effort he's putting into preparing for the Beijing Games.
“Don't get me wrong. I'd love to win an NBA Finals, but ... this is representing my country. All of us represent different teams, different organizations, and things like that, but there's no greater feeling, I think, than to represent your country, and to have ?USA' on your chest.” -- Chris Paul talks about the pride he feels playing for Team USA in the Olympics.
Hosting the Team USA coaches' roundtable, Kevin Blackistone asked about the expertise each coach brings to the team. Rather than delivering a straight answer about Boeheim's knowledge of the zone, offensive genius D'Antoni said, “I order the Italian food.” Following an eruption of laughter, Krzyzewski added, “Boeheim's great with the desert, Nate's got the appetizers and I make sure I've got a good bottle of wine.”
This special edition of “Basketball and Beyond” will air 11 times in the weeks leading up the 2008 Olympic Games in China. The entire schedule follows:
Wednesday, July 30 ? 1:00 ? 3:00 PM ET ? debut
Saturday, August 2 ? 10:00 AM ? Noon ET ? encore
Saturday, August 2 ? Noon ? 2:00 PM ET ? encore
Saturday, August 2 ? 2:00 ? 4:00 PM ET ? encore
Sunday, August 3 ? Noon ? 2:00 PM ET ? encore
Sunday, August 3 ? 2:00 ? 4:00 PM ET ? encore
Sunday, August 3 ? 4:00 PM ? 6:00 PM ET ? encore
Wednesday, August 6 ? 1:00 ? 3:00 PM ET ? encore
Saturday, August 9 ? 11:00 AM ? 1:00 PM ET ? encore
Saturday, August 9 ? 1:00 ? 3:00 PM ET ? encore
Saturday, August 9 ? 3:00 ? 5:00 PM ET ? encore
Team USA opens Olympic play on Sunday, August 10, vs. the host country China. Tip-off is set for approximately 10:15 PM ET. Follow Team USA's progress, as well as all Duke athletes competing in the Olympics at GoDuke.com.
Tuesday, March 31
Tuesday, March 31
Tuesday, March 31
Tuesday, March 31
