Coach K's return

VALENCIA (Jeff Taylor's Eurovision) - This was no ordinary week in the history of USA Basketball.

On Thursday, Mike Krzyzewski confirmed he is to continue leading the men's national team through the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

When he finally passes the baton, the West Point graduate and long-time Duke University coach will have served as Team USA boss for more than a decade.

2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup hosts Spain, along with Greece, Russia, France, Lithuania, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey and other European sides all have aspirations to reach the podium at FIBA's flagship event and possibly win the gold.

Now that Coach K has decided to remain in charge of the Americans, though, their title defense looks far more secure.

"He coaches with great passion, but always keeps us calm, and makes sure we are prepared for our opponents," said Kevin Durant, the MVP of the 2010 FIBA World Championship and a key player in last year’s gold-medal winning side at the London Olympics.

"I greatly respect his leadership, and always want to go out and play hard for him."

Here is why the Americans should be overjoyed that they have retained their coach.

Remember the 2004 Olympics?

Puerto Rico and Lithuania defeated the United States in the Preliminary Round and Argentina beat them in the Semi-Finals en route to the gold medal.

USA Basketball put Jerry Colangelo in charge of the men's program, and his most important move was to appoint Krzyzewski as coach.

The two then pulled the United States team out of the doldrums.

The USA had a hiccup in 2006 at the FIBA World Championship in Japan, losing 101-95 to Greece.

Since then, they have gone unbeaten.

The defeat to the Greeks sharpened the focus of Krzyzewski, and his players.

That setback made the USA program stronger than ever.

One team went to the London Olympics and captured gold, and then a different USA team won gold at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Two teams but one program.

Krzyzewski has been through the basketball battles in his time.

If the Greeks stunned him, the Spaniards twice threw scares into him in Beijing and London.

Brazil almost surprised the USA at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, losing only by two points.

When Krzyzewski and his staff, and all the players walked off the court after that game, they looked as if they'd been in a war.

Lithuania threw a scare into the Americans last year in London.

But they have held their nerve.

Why else is Krzyzewski's decision to continue good news?

It speaks volumes about the growing importance of international basketball in America.

Krzyzewski, one of the most respected coaches in the land, is willing to give up a lot of his time to lead his national team.

The FIBA Basketball World Cup is going to be a major event, one the most important ever staged.

Krzyzewski wants to be a part of it.

His decision to continue is good for another reason.

He wants to help basketball.

In 2010, after Krzyzewski's squad won decisively against Tunisia, he graciously invited the coach of the African team, Adel Tlatli, to visit him and his Duke Blue Devils program in Durham, North Carolina.

Tlatli, wanting to observe practices and see if he could gain insight into the game to help Tunisia, spent a couple of weeks on the Duke campus earlier this year.

What did he learn from Coach K?

"It's the love of his profession," Tlatli said to FIBA.com, "the seriousness in everything he does.

"He keeps the same desire in carrying out his work, which is difficult to find after many years in this stressful profession."

Tlatli says he learned a lot from watching Krzyzewski lead Duke.

"Technically, the preparation at the tactical level is very refined," he said, "the emphasis is on the details and there is great importance to the work on defense.

"To rub shoulders with such a great coach and enjoy the experience can only be a great help in my career as a coach."

The happiest person of all when it comes to Krzyzewski remaining as coach is USA Basketball supremo Jerry Colangelo, who thrashed out the final details in a hotel room with the Chicago native while both ate chicken fingers and room service pizza.

Colangelo knew that Krzyzewski was leaning towards not continuing after London.

There was talk of potential replacements.

But Colangelo remembered the performance of his coach the past several years, the practices and the pep talks.

He remembered the video sessions, the attention to detail.

Colangelo remembers the battles against Spain, Greece, France, Lithuania, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Turkey and Australia.

"I found it hard to look into the future and not have Coach K at my side as it relates to USA Basketball," Colangelo said.

"Despite his position when the London Olympics ended, I never lost hope, if you will, and belief that time would heal and that there was a great chance he would come back…

"It's about continuity. It's about having a successful program, and when it's going as smoothly as it is, you keep it going as long as you can."

Jeff Taylor

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

FIBA takes no responsibility and gives no guarantees, warranties or representations, implied or otherwise, for the content or accuracy of the content and opinion expressed in the above article.