They're being called the "Redeem Team" and one gold medal winning coach, Chuck Daly, knows exactly why.
"This Olympic team has a lot to prove," said Daly, who started it all 16 years ago with the original Dream Team. "The 2004 team, even thought it had Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson and LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, did not have the commitment, the preparation or the chemistry to win."
Daly has tasted champagne in a locker room only three times in a career that started in Punxsutawney, Pa. in 1955. He indulged after his NBA titles in Detroit in 1989 and '90, and once more in Barcelona after the Dream Team won every game by an average 43 points.
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| Mike Krzyzewski was one of Chuck Daly's assistant coaches at the 1992 Olympics. (Getty Images) |
This year's team is trying to restore the glory after the humiliating bronze medal in Athens, where coach Larry Brown criticized the selection committee, criticized his team and gave LeBron only a few minutes a game. The entire effort was considered an embarrassment.
"It's totally different under Mike Krzyzewski," Daly said. "They've been meeting and planning for three years."
These Olympians, undefeated in exhibition games going into their opener against China on Sunday, have learned a few lessons. They know the world has caught up with U.S. basketball on the international stage. They know they have to respect the international players. And they know they can lose.
"In 1992, we were so much the best that our preparations were a little looser," said Daly. "OK, we went to Torry Pines for a few days before we had to qualify up in Portland, then Kim Bohuny (head of NBA International) arranged for us to practice for a month in Monte Carlo."
Daly took no timeouts -- not one -- for the entire Olympic Games.
"We had to get back to eat," he said. "P.J. Carlesimo, my assistant, was also our restaurant scout. The games had to be over by 10:30."
It's a little different now. A team made up of superstars like Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd, King James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Chris Paul worked extremely hard preparing for the international competition, where teams go inside to draw in the defense in order to kick it out -- the opposite of the NBA's drive to the hoop.
"I was in Las Vegas to watch practice," said Daly. "This is a running team that forces turnovers and gets stops."
Krzyzewski's offensive strategy is born to run. Run off steals, run after makes, run after misses -- fast break to the gold. Russia, a team the U.S. could see in the gold medal game, did force the U.S. to slow down, but that's where the defense kicked in.
So far, Bryant has been the star on both ends of the court. Now calling himself the "Doberman," he has defended the perimeter as if world peace is hanging in the balance.
As USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said, "It's not a game to Kobe, it's war."
These Olympics are meaningful to many people, including Krzyzewski. At 61, the Hall of Fame coach has won three national titles at Duke and been to 10 Final Fours. A graduate of West Point, it would be deeply moving for him to win the Summer Games.
"It would be the ultimate," he said. "It would be the biggest achievement of my career."
The U.S. team could use a few more big men, a Kevin Garnett here or a Duncan there, but this group has speed and quickness, a veteran in Kidd and young glory in Bosh and Paul. And, after the debacle in Athens, they are hungry to restore the roar.
More than 180 countries now play basketball, and the world will be watching, including one former coach.
"I'll watch every minute of every game, no matter what time it is," Daly said. "I'm very proud to have won the gold."
