Swallowing the Kool-Aid, egos

LAS VEGAS -- The concept is pretty simple. You work relentlessly on defense, trying to deflect, disrupt, and otherwise discombobulate. There is no letdown. The offense will come from the defense.

Sound like something NBA players would want to do? If you're coaching the United States National Team with an eye fixated on the gold medal at the upcoming World Championships in Japan, there is an easy answer: Yes. Why?

``Because it's right," said head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

And it's time sensitive. Krzyzewski has the undivided attention of 14 NBA players (eventually 12) who have, as they might say, swallowed the Kool-Aid. They are going to hound, harass, and pester on defense, to the point where scoring a basket will seem like an occasion for a celebration.

But the key is that Coach K and the boys, who said goodbye to rehabbing Amare Stoudemire (right knee) yesterday, will say goodbye to each other after Labor Day. Thus, a shortened period, Krzyzewski feels the NBA players, who for the most part do not play that way for their NBA teams and likely would revolt if they were told to do so, will embrace this style.

``The way we're trying to play could not be played in an NBA season," Krzyzewski said. ``But for a short period of time, with a 12-man roster, and all of them can play, you play 'em. If I coached the Bulls, and I had them doing that, by January, they might all lose their legs. They'd say, `We can't keep doing this. Is he nuts?' You can't do that.

``If we understand all those things, it's kind of the perfect storm for how basketball could be played. We just have to get over those habits we have when we're in other weather, so to speak."

This style, which Rick Pitino thought he could implement with the Celtics, was on display last night at the Thomas and Mack Center in a 114-69 exhibition victory over Puerto Rico. Two nights earlier, the US and Puerto Rico played a scrimmage and a proud Krzyzewski noted afterward the Yanks forced 30 turnovers and limited the opponents to two assists.

The US can put athletes all over the place who, knowing they won't have to do this in their day job, are all too eager to do so now. Krzyzewski used a music analogy to describe what he thinks the players are feeling as they see the fruits of their labor.

``You can have four musicians playing and, to you, it's really good music. But you don't even know. To them, it's unbelievable music. They're playing for themselves. They're playing because they feel good about it and you're sharing it. That's the way the game should be played -- because the player feels that way.

``With this group, this is the way we should play. And they know it. And it's beautiful basketball. And they feel it. That's the way I look at it and, for me, as a coach, I get a chance to do this and that's what I'm trying to do."

And, let's face it, most players love to play this way -- as long as it's for a prescribed period. That's what Bruce Bowen was talking about when he said what the United States is trying to do reminded him of playing against the great UNLV teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s with its unending pressure and outrageous athleticism. It worked for UNLV (including an utter humiliation of Coach K's Duke team in the 1990 NCAA final ).

But, Krzyzewski pointed out, this is not the NCAA. And it's not the NBA. It's international basketball, which is the only kind of basketball he has been coaching since the team gathered for its first workout last month. The games are shorter (40 minutes ). The court is smaller. There are different rules, ranging from legal goaltending to the number of fouls (five) to the size of the ball, which is a bit smaller.

There are also zone defenses, with no restrictions, which the United States can expect to see in almost every game and for almost every possession (although Argentina went man-to-man against the Yanks in Athens for much of the game ). Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, an indefatigable zone proponent, is one of the assistants on the US team and he is there for a reason. In the past two international competitions, the US had trouble shooting over zones and just as much trouble defending more experienced teams with a history of playing together.

``It's the nature with which you play the game," Krzyzewski said. ``If you play the game in an aggressive manner on the defensive end, you're most likely to play the game in an aggressive manner on the offensive end. Not necessarily vice versa.

``These guys, they get it," Krzyzewski continued. ``They have to play a different game in the NBA. So they're trying to make the adjustment. Everything we're doing is set up for the international game -- with 12 really good players. It's a matter of adjustments. They're trying. We're trying. We're not a finished product and I told them we will never be the finished product because we won't be together that long. But let's get as close to it as we can."