Coach K's challenge

If the U.S. wins the gold medal in basketball, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are brilliant. If the Americans lose, like they did in 2004, then it's Coach K's fault. That's how Caulton Tudor sees the predicament the Duke coach faces next month in Beijing.

To a certain degree, Tudor's right. Any time the U.S. loses in the Olympics ( 1972, 1988, 2004) there's plenty of blame to go around with the coaches (John Thompson and Larry Brown) bearing the brunt of the two most recent failures.

But if the U.S. loses this time — and that's a big if — team architect Jerry Colangelo should be first in line for the heat, not K. Colangelo, with the benefit of hindsight from the problems of 2004, picked the team.

Unlike the previous versions, this team has a point guard, actually three of them, and has played together before the first pool game. That's a start.

Eventually, the team will need to look more like a team, with demarcated positions and not just a collection of all-stars. You need shooters to win in the international game.

Bryant and James might qualify as shooters from the shorter FIBA 3-point distance but that's not their strength. Michael Redd's the only designated marksman on the roster. Perhaps Dwyane Wade's ego should have been sacrificed for Rip Hamilton, Jason Kapono or, don't laugh, J.J. Redick.

Colangelo, with obvious help from K, built the team to win with superior athleticism, which translates on the defensive end, and creating points with pressure.

That's a calculated risk in a version of the game that allows hand-checking, which somewhat neutralizes the athletic advantage of the U.S., and has tilted toward determining the best 3-point shooting team.