In a hard fought gold medal game against Spain (one of the only events NBC actually aired live), the USA men’s basketball team came out victorious, 107-100.

Not known for showing emotion, Coach K jumped triumphantly off the ground in the closing seconds when Chris Paul made a layup that finally put the US ahead by a wide enough margin.

When the horn finally sounded, Lebron James grabbed a few water bottles and doused Coach K from behind. The two embraced for a long time.

In a rematch of the 2008 gold medal game, Spain had fought back in the third quarter and cut the deficit to one point with ten minutes to go, as Pau Gasol scored 15 of his 24 points in that quarter. In the fourth quarter, Spain had a chance to cut the deficit to four or even two points, but Gasol missed two easy jumpers. Then James hit some big shots, a dunk and a three-pointer.

So Coach K will return to Duke by helping the USA win another gold medal by helping a group of highly-paid basketball players realize that it’s all about the front of the jersey, not the back.

Duke diver Nick McCrory finished 9th in Saturday’s men’s 10 meter platform final in a tough field that rebounded from a lackluster prelim.

He finished with a total score of 505.40. With his opening dive, he recorded three 9s on an inward 3 ½ somersault in the tuck position (86.40 points). That score started him out in sixth place.

His best dive of the night came last (but a little too late). He scored 97.20 points (his highest of the Olympics) on a back 2 ½ somersault with 2 ½ twists.

McCrory will be returning to classes at Duke this fall with a medal though, the bronze he and David Boudia won in the 10M synchronized event.

Speaking of Boudia, he won the gold medal in the 10M platform final with an almost flawless final run of six dives. That came off a horrendous showing in the preliminaries on Friday where he just squeaked in in the 18th and last spot. In an interview after the prelims with McCrory, he said he couldn’t go anywhere but up.

And up he did. He became the first American to win gold in the men’s 10M platform event since Greg Louganis in 1988 (Louganis was in attendance). He finished with a score of 568.65, just 1.80 points ahead of China’s Qui Bo (the closest final since 1988).

Boudia had to dive immediately following hometown darling Tom Daley, who led throughout the finals (Daley finished with the bronze). Boudia admitted he had no idea where he was at in the standings and was glad he didn’t (he would have been nervous).

It came down to the final dive, with Boudia and Bo completing the same tougher dive than Daley (a back 2.5 somersault with 2.5 twists). Boudia scored a 102.60, while Bo scored 100.80.

For more on Boudia’s story of being scared of heights, click HERE.

*With so many of the Olympic athletes showing extreme disappointment in not finishing first (ie the women gymnasts and track and field athletes), Daley was thrilled to pick up a bronze. He, his teammates, and coaches all jumped into the pool following the finals. Check out his Twitter timeline.

Duke‘s Nick McCrory put together a very consistent six rounds of dives in the men’s 10-meter platform preliminaries on Friday. The eighth-place finish (480.90 points) pushed him into the Saturday semifinals (the top 18 advanced).

McCrory got better and better, as his last three dives were his best. His last dive, a back 2 ½ somersault with 2 ½ twists for a 3.6 degree of difficulty, scored the best (86.40 points).

The shocking part of the preliminaries was medal favorite David Boudia, McCrory‘s synchro partner. He just squeaked into the semifinals, as he came in 18th. His final two dives were poor.

Qui Bo, the 19-year old from China, led the preliminary round. Hometown favorite Tom Daley also squeaked in by finishing 15th with a solid final dive. Reigning champion Matt Mitcham of Australia also was not at his best but advanced (he finished ninth).

The semifinals will be broadcast live at 5am ET at NBCOlympics.com. The finals (the top 12) will be held later Saturday at 3:30pm ET. Both will re-air on NBC during primetime.

*In attendance at the prelims was Duke teammate Abby Johnston, who earned a silver medal in the women’s 3M synchronized diving earlier in the London Olympics.

Former Duke track and field star Shannon Rowbury finished sixth Friday in the 1,500 meter finals. She finished in a time of 4:11:26.

It was the highest finish ever by an American woman in the 1,500 at the Olympics. She finished seventh (which was then the highest finish by an American woman) in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Alsi Cakir Alptekin (4:10:23) and Gamze Bulut (4:10:40) of Turkey went 1-2 to capture the gold and silver.

Fellow American Morgan Uceny looked as though she might medal, but was tripped up from behind in the final lap and landed hard on her hip and knee. She did not finish the race.

Former Blue Devil Shannon Rowbury qualified for the 1,500 meter final on Friday after finishing 5th in Wednesday’s race.

Rowbury finished in 4:05:47 just ahead of Canadian Hilary Stellingwerff at 4:05:57. It was the final spot. Fellow American Morgan Uceny also qualified for Friday’s final.

The August 10th final is set for 3:55pm ET. NBC is expected to air the final in primetime sometime that night.

Check out the interview Rowbury did with NBC Bay Area.

Coach K‘s Team USA is flawed, or so the headlines say today as they squeaked by Lithuania, 99-94 to improve to 4-0 in Pool A. They finish it up on August 6th against Argentina (2-1) before heading to the Quarterfinals which begin on August 8th.

The second highest scorer in the game for Lithuania was former Blue Devil Marty Pocius. He scored 14 points, dished out six assists (to just one turnover), and hauled in seven rebounds.

Other former ACC players on the Lithuanian team include Maryland’s Sarunas Jasikevicius (who started and scored eight points and is averaging six assists per game) and Wake Forest’s Darius Songalia (who scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting). Right now, Lithuania is 1-3 and will play Tunisia (0-4) in their final Pool A game on August 6th.

Luol Deng is playing for host Great Britain, who is 0-4. They have played tough in two of those losses, as they only lost to Brazil by five and Spain by just one point. They finish up Pool B play on August 6th against China.

Prior to today’s game against Australia, Deng was third in the Olympics in scoring at 21.3 points per game. He has played in over 37 minutes a game. He is also averaging eight rebounds and 5.7 assists.

After going 0-for-12 in synchronized diving, the USA has gone 2-for-2 in the 2012 London Olympics. Duke has also gone 2-for-2 in diving. One day after Abby Johnston and her partner Kelci Bryant won the silver, Nick McCrory and his partner David Boudia won the bronze in the men’s 10m synchronized diving final on Monday.

McCrory and Boudia finished with 463.47 points. Their final dive was their best, a back 2 1/2 somersault 2 1/2 pike, which netted them 95.04 points.

This is my favorite quote from their day:

“It’s not real yet,” Boudia said. “We were about ready to walk out and we were like, ‘Oh, we just got third, we’re bronze medalists.’ I think it will sink in once you see your family, you celebrate, you’re on the ‘Today’ show.”

China won yet another gold in diving, as Cao Yuan and Zhang Yanquan finished with 486.78 points. They earned four perfect 10s in synchronization despite not having the highest degree of difficulty compared to the other countries.

The Mexican duo of German Sanchez and Ivan Garcia won the silver medal with 468.90 points. They had the highest degree of difficulty.

*So you want to watch McCrory and Boudia win bronze? NBC promises to show it on TV tonight sometime between 8pm and midnight (eastern).

Duke’s Abby Johnston, along with her partner Kelci Bryant, won the silver medal in Sunday’s 3m synchronized diving final. It was the USA’s first medal in the sport. Since the inception of the sport in 2000, the US had been 0-for-12.

Johnston and Bryant successfully completed the last of their five dives (a back 2 1/2 somersault) to secure their second place finish. They finished with a score of 321.90 points.

The two finished fourth in February’s World Cup.

China’s Wu Minxia and He Zi won gold with 346.20 points. It is Wu’s third consecutive gold medal and fifth overall Olympic diving medal.

*Fellow Duke diver Nick McCrory is looking to follow Johnston’s footsteps and pick up a medal on Monday in the 10m synchronized diving final with partner David Boudia (who is his competition in the 10m individual diving later in the Olympics). Check out an article on McCrory in the Sacramento Bee.

How strong is the Duke presence? So strong that one of the headlines on FoxSports’ site has a title that says exactly that. And it is not an article about Coach K.

It is about the US Olympic divers. Duke has two members on the diving team (along with the coach), and both have a legitimate chance to win medals. Check out the article on Nick McCrory (who will compete in two events) and Abby Johnston.

Johnston gets going on Sunday (July 29th) in the 3m synchronized finals. The  finals begin at 10am ET (3pm London time) and will be televised later Sunday night on NBC (7pm-midnight).

McCrory gets started on Monday (July 30th) with the 10m synchronized finals at 10am ET (3pm London time). It will be televised on NBC sometime between 8pm and midnight.

He will be back in action on August 10th in the 10m platform preliminaries. They begin at 2pm ET (7pm London time) and will be broadcast on NBC (8pm-midnight). If McCrory qualifies, the semifinals will be held on August 11th at 5am ET (10am London time) with the finals at 3pm ET (8pm London time). The 10m platform final will be shown on NBC from 8pm-midnight.

Coach K will be coaching the favored US team in London. The US kicks off their Olympic schedule on Sunday (July 29th) against France at 9:30am ET. However two of his former players will be competing in the Olympics.

Luol Deng is a member of the British team. The hometown team begins their Olympic schedule on Sunday (July 29th) against Russia at 3pm ET. Deng is in Group B, while the US is in Group A.

Marty Pocius is a member of the Lithuanian team. They kick off their Olympic schedule on Sunday (July 29th) against Argentina at 5:15pm ET. Lithuania is in Group A and Pocius will face his former coach on August 4th.

» Continue reading “Strong Duke Presence in London Olympics”

The USA men’s basketball team is looking for back-to-back Olympic gold medals later this summer in the 2012 London Olympics. Coach K has led the transformation of the team of the past of me first superstars to players committed to the country’s name on the front.

On Saturday, the 12 members of the Olympic team were named. They are a young, athletic bunch, with just one pure center (Tyson Chandler). Their average age is around 26 years old.

There are two newbies to the international competition: James Harden and Blake Griffin. Five members return from the 2008 gold medal winning team from the Beijing Olympics: Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams. The other five were a part of the gold medal winning World Championship team of 2010: Andre Iguodala, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, and Chandler.

Here is what Coach K said about the selection of his team:

“We have benefited so much from having a pool of outstanding players who are committed, and as a result the selection is difficult. But it’s the best challenge that you could have because everyone has been so committed,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “The guys who were not selected are in our pool, and if someone did get hurt, they are already part of our team and could be seamlessly woven in at a later date. We really appreciate the commitment of all of these guys.”

The US National Team continues their training in Las Vegas until July 12th, when they will play an exhibition game against the Dominian Republic at UNLV. They then move to Washington DC from July 13-15 and play Brazil in an exhibition game on July 16th (with the women’s team playing prior).

Next, it’s off to Manchester, England from July 17-19. On the 19th, the men will face Great Britain (the women’s team faces Great Britain on the 18th). The men then move to Barcelona, Spain to face the second and third ranked teams. They will face Argentina (number 3) on July 22nd and then Spain (number 2) on July 24th to conclude their exhibition tour.

» Continue reading “Coach K Geared Up for London Olympics”