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Team USA’s loss shows Mike Krzyzewski is the best basketball coach

By Kevin Connelly

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 04: Head coach of the United States men's basketball team Mike Krzyzewski speaks with the media during a press conference at the Main Press Centre ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on August 4, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 04: Head coach of the United States men's basketball team Mike Krzyzewski speaks with the media during a press conference at the Main Press Centre ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on August 4, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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Team USA fell to Australia in a scrimmage on Saturday morning and the loss proved that the Duke Basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski is the best basketball coach at any level.

Here’s a sentence many haven’t been able to say recently: The United States of America Men’s National Basketball team lost a game.

In fact, no one has been able to say that in 78 straight games before Saturday morning’s embarrassing loss to Australia in a pre-World Cup scrimmage.

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In 76 of those 78 straight wins, Team USA was coached by Hall of Famer and current Duke Basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski.

Coach K stepped aside beginning this season with Team USA, leaving the head coaching seat to San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

Three games.

Three games is all it took to break Coach K’s winning streak with the National Team.

Now many will point to the fact that Krzyzewski was able to use the likes of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and others during his time with the team, but even a team built up of Kemba Walker, Donovan Mitchell, and Jayson Tatum should be able to beat Team Australia.

Team USA beat Australia in a scrimmage earlier in the week, but was not able to do it in back-to-back games, solidifying the fact that Mike Krzyzewski is the best basketball coach at any level.

Coach K won five gold medals as the head coach of Team USA, three in the Olympics (2008, 2012, and 2016), two at the FIBA World Championships (2010 and 2014), and one at the FIBA American Championships (2007).

Whether with Duke or Team USA, Coach K would take no game lightly, the same can’t be said for Popovich, who’s been known to let his Spurs team get a good waxing throughout the course of an 82-game NBA regular season.

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While both coaches are elite and put a lot of time into their work, something has to be said for the star players of the NBA turning down a chance to represent their country the year after Krzyzewski steps down from the team.

While a loss to the likes of Joe Ingles, Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, and Andrew Bogut is embarrassing in itself to Team USA, this does not mean they won’t win the gold medal at the FIBA World Cup, but it means they could be in for some close finishes.

Team USA has a scrimmage against Team Canada on Monday, August 26 at 5:30am EST before heading to China to start its journey for another gold on September 1 at 8:30am EST against the Czech Republic.

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