Don’t make Duke University coach and Team USA coach Mike Krzyewski change his game plan on the court or you might make him angry. Coach K says he was completely caught off guard by Kevin Durant leaving Team USA and you can tell he is not happy about it. He was relying on KD to be the leader of the team and now without the OKC star many things on the team need to change, especially the way Coach K expected to play. The coach is usually very bland and generic when he comments about players, but you can tell this situation upset him.
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Krzyzewski wasn’t the only one surprised, but he might have been the most frustrated. Durant, the reigning NBA MVP, was expected to be the leader on and off the floor for Team USA.
“Yeah, I was,” Krzyzewski said after Team USA’s practice in Chicago on Thursday. “No question. I was”, coach said in response to the question about KD leaving.
“It’s one of those things; you don’t replace Kevin Durant,” Krzyzewski said. “You look different. And so we have today and [Friday] to look different before we play a really good team. That’s of concern for me because we were pretty far along. We had our best camp ever in Vegas since I’ve coached [Team USA]. Those guys were terrific. We had more in [game plan-wise], but we had more in to play a certain way. And then Kevin deciding not to play … it’s concerning.
Krzyzewski knows he is going to change his entire game plan because of Durant’s decision. Much of Team USA’s strategy, especially on the offensive end, was based on Durant’s presence.
“We had the whole team building what we were doing around him,” Krzyzewski said. “In everything, because you have really one of the great scorers at the 4. So how does that change your offense? It changes your offense immensely.”
They have since brought in Rudy Gay to possibly take KD’s roster spot but he is still far from being the type of player Durant is. Coach K may be a little salty because he has to change the way he was going to coach, but Team USA is still the favorite to win the Fiba World Cup of Basketball that starts in a couple weeks.
