The other day, Jerry Colangelo, who stood on the floor of Saitama Super Arena for the first time in 15 years, remembered the bitter experience he had on the same court 15 years ago.
“It was the same country, the same city, the same building,” Colangelo said.
The FIBA World Championships in Japan in 2006 was Colangelo’s first world tournament to undertake the rebuilding of the sluggish American national team. The team at that time, led by Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski and fighting the world with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, who were still in their early twenties, had a double-digit difference in almost every game. He continued to win with an average difference of 25 points and proceeded smoothly to the semi-finals.
The opponent in the semi-finals is Greece, where there are no NBA players. Everyone thought it was almost certain to advance to the finals. However, the Greek opponent forced him into an unexpected struggle and lost by 6 points. It was a bitter defeat, which coach K later described as “the worst defeat in basketball life.”
Returning to the same building as that time, Corangelo remembered that after the match 15 years ago, coach K, who passed in front of his seat on his way down to the locker room, lost and apologized. I vividly remembered answering, “You don’t have to apologize. Let’s take advantage of this setback.”
“I was greatly influenced by that defeat. I’ve always wanted to prevent the same thing from happening again,” he recalled.
“Completed all the missions”
Colangelo will retire from his current position at the end of the Tokyo Olympics and will be handed over to Grant Hill. For the past 15 years, the US national team’s record under Colangelo has been 101 wins and 7 losses (as of August 1). Although he was not an undefeated champion, he certainly has led the world and reigned at the top as the level of basketball in the world has risen.
“If you ask me how I want to finish this job, I want a gold medal,” Colangelo says of his goals for the Tokyo Olympics.
“If that happens, I can think I’ve done all the missions I’ve done in USA Basketball.”
