Give Coach K an F for diplomacy

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“There was no showing off,” he said with an edge in his voice. “You dunk when you have to dunk. They have 7-footers. If you don’t take it hard, Yao would block it. He did block one. … I don’t know your definition of showing off, to me that’s hard basketball. I thought we played very hard. I thought we took it to the basket hard. Don’t confuse hard with showing off.”

He then glared at the person who asked the question, a reporter with an accent. And he said: “Maybe it’s a difference in our languages. Maybe in your language playing hard means showing off.”

And the show was over. Krzyzewski had won, of course. He had managed to belittle and crush someone who dared ask a question in what was obviously his second language. And for what? Did he really think that Dwyane Wade did a 180-dunk on a breakaway because he was worried that Yao Ming would materialize in front of him and block it? Was he really saying that all the no-look, two-on-none good times the U.S. had while up by 30 points were really about playing hard and taking it to the basket hard?

No. He didn’t like the question, so he rejected it. That’s his right. The thing is, he is supposed to be leading a different kind of American basketball team. That, supposedly, was the whole point behind the 2008 Olympic team. Now, we would have a humble team, a respectful team, a team that all of America could get behind.

With that in mind, I’m not sure the coach — the guy hired to bring a little class back to the team — needs to be snidely ripping foreign journalists and mocking their languages and making Americans seem like bullies again. Especially because — well, look, here’s how Kobe Bryant answered the same question:

“Look, I had five dunks in one game. That’s because of the crowd. Last time I had five dunks in a game, I was like 17. So that’s all because of the energy of this crowd.”

See? Kobe gets it.

To reach Joe Posnanski, call 816-234-4361 or send e-mail to jposnanski@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.

Posted on Sun, Aug. 10, 2008 10:15 PM

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