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They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Well, this is but one of many pictures of Coach K that will live on in time.  Coach K further cemented his name into the history books in leading Team USA to the Gold Medal, an accomplishment few can claim.  If you think Coach is satisfied with three national championships and his latest accomplishment, think again.  His staff will be hard at work on the recruiting front trying to help secure the combination of players which will be a part of the fourth or maybe even fifth title by the time they time they arrive.

No matter, how you spin the effect of the Gold Medal on Duke Basketball, there is no denying that it helps in many ways.  During the upcoming season, announcers will all allude to Coach K and his Olympic success.  Current players like Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler will benefit from his experiences and the nations spotlight will be cast no matter where the Blue Devils play.

What about recruiting?  Duke is in a hotly contested battle for Kenny Boynton in the class of 2009.  Do you think seeing Coach K handle super talented guards like Dwayne Wade and Chris Paul made an impression?  Do you think any of the five kids offered in 2010 want to be a part of something special?  Would they like to attend a school where they will play for a living legend and have all their games televised?

While nobody can answer these questions for sure, one has to think that with Coach K now turning his sole focus on Duke that there will be a lot of kids wanting to play for the man who has handled the best players in America and has produced either the first or second most NBA players, depending on where you look, than any other coach in America.

Yep!  Coach K had this talented bunch of NBA stars buy into teamwork for the greater good.  And we all know that selfless play produces winners.  Believe me, all these players are winners, having endorsements waiting in multiple countries and more importantly, representing what's best about America!

As Duke fans or Americans, we should be proud of what Coach K had done for the United States, Duke and world basketball.  Thanks to this years edition of Team USA, millions of fans were born making basketball a household name.  Quite simply, Coach K was as selfless as his players, serving as an ambassador of basketball instead of shirking the duties to concentrate on Duke alone.

In the end, we learned a lot about teamwork and as Duke fans we are fortunate to have a legend strolling the sidelines of Cameron for years to come.[/private]

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Four years after having their mantle of invincibility trashed with a bronze bust in Athens, the USA Redeem Team won back the gold medal with a 118-107 over Spain on Sunday. But not without having to work for it in the final game of the Olympic tournament.

Dwayne Wade score 27 points, Kobe Bryant 20 and LeBron James 14, yet the Americans were still in the fight of the Games when Rudy Fernandez hit his fifth 3-pointer to pull Spain to within 91-89 with 8:13 left in the game.

But Bryant hit a runner, Deron Williams dropped in a 3-pointer from the left corner and Dwight Howard took a feed from Bryant and slammed it home and the U.S. was able to keep enough of a cushion the rest of the way.

Spain, the reigning world champion, was led by Fernandez with 22 points and Pau Gasol with 21. Team USA finished with a perfect 8-0 record and wrapped up the final gold medal away in the 2008 Olympics.

Box Score

Coach K - This was easy. All these guys committed to Jerry Colangelo three years ago and they said they want to be part of a team. And Jerry said we’re going to have one collective ego but we wanted you to bring all your egos because that’s how you get better. We have not had one second of problem as a coaching staff with our team. It’s been the greatest experience of my life and the lives of the other coaches."

"It’s exhilaration. If we didn’t have the three years together, we wouldn’t have won this game because the three years gave us character to beat a great team that had great character in Spain. It was one of the great games in international basketball history. To win a game like that is the best."

LeBron James -"On behalf of the players, first of all, we want to give respect where respect is due to the Spain team. They were unbelievable. Just like Coach said, we had a game plan and they countered our game plan by making some incredible plays. Every possession counted tonight for all 40 minutes … every possession counted. You couldn’t take one possession off, one second off. If it wasn’t for the determination and the will power we have in each other, we wouldn’t have pulled through and got this win."

K is for knowledge

K builds golden legacy

Same old USA-just better_

Chavez on the long journey

Resume Building

Super celeb Kobe Bryant

Wade and Bryant talk win and K

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