It’s true, I’m not making that up. Carmelo Anthony probably revealed more than he should have an a postgame interview after Team USA whomped Lithuania early yesterday morning.
“Our game plan was to just keep the ball moving,” said Anthony. “We know we can score from just about anywhere, so we don’t have to wait for a fantastic shot.”
So when Chris Bosh puts up a 3-pointer with 18 seconds on the shot clock, it’s not a bad decision; it’s Mike Krzyzewski’s game plan. Quick shots are more important than good shots, and keeping the tempo up is more important than keeping the shots high-percentage.
Larry Brown’s got to be rolling over in his grave. That is a 180-degree departure from what he would’ve taught to the Athens team. And really, it makes sense for Krzyzewski. I love Larry Brown basketball, and I’ll always think he’s a great, great, coach, but… teaching discipline on the floor, teaching good shot selection, isn’t something that you can do overnight. It’s not something that can be done in a week, or two weeks, or two months, or a Knicks season.
So Coach K isn’t even going to try. Keep the tempo up, run like hell, score when you can, and let’s just take advantage of our freakish athleticism. It’s not the only way to win, it might not be the best way to win, but in this particular situation, it makes a lot of sense. It’s one way to go. Say what you want about the tenets of poor shot selection, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.
By the way, why does it seem like every article written about Team USA is all about Carmelo Anthony? He’s always the leading scorer, he’s always the center of attention. This probably deserves its own post, but I’ve got a theory on that… he may be the only guy on the team stepping up as a leader. What you’ve got is a collection of guys who are sort of the leaders-by-default on their NBA teams, just because they’re the best player, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen true leadership out of anyone on the roster.
The only guy that I can think of who was ever a true, clear-cut leader was Carmelo Anthony at Syracuse. Maybe he’s the only one stepping up now. Just something to watch as the tournament gets ready to start.
No one wants Junoir Seau anymore. Indications are that he still wants to play, but… the phone just isn’t ringing. The Dolphins released him back on March 6th, and no one’s called with an offer since. It’s gotta be hard for a guy when he still wants to play, when he was, in the not-too-distant past, one of the league’s best players. But 
FOX Sports had a difficult decision to make. James Brown hosted their previously unwatchable NFL pre-game show, but he left to go host CBS’s almost-as-unwatchable NFL pre-game show. So their options were to hire someone new; perhaps a fresh, new face that could bring something different to the table… or we could get more Joe Buck. 
