‘One of the very best.’ Why Gonzaga’s Mark Few is revered by USA Basketball luminaries past and present

Jul. 27—LAS VEGAS — It’s difficult to decipher what’s being said on the court some 30 yards away, but fairly easy to understand what’s going on near the end of the fourth and final practice of United States Olympic training camp in Las Vegas.

In a half-hour, the group will break and start shifting its focus to an exhibition the following day against Canada. For now, there’s just enough time to workshop zone defense before things wind down at UNLV’s Mendenhall Center.

Any member of the high-profile U.S. coaching staff would have proper credentials or qualifications to lead this exercise.

The head coach, Steve Kerr, is a nine-time NBA champion a player and coach with the Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors. His assistants include Erik Spoelstra, a future hall of famer and two-time champion coach with the Miami Heat, as well the Los Angeles Clippers’ Ty Lue, a two-time NBA champion , winning one title as a player and another as a coach.

Those three excluded, there are quality resumes just about everywhere in this facility on July 9. Famed Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has a courtside seat next to Brad Stevens, the former Butler and Boston Celtics coach who’s now the franchise’s general manager. Jim Boeheim, who lived and died by the 2-3 zone during his illustrious 47-year run at Syracuse, is also watching on.

But on this day, needing a brief but effective tutorial, the Olympic gold-medal favorites are deferring to Gonzaga’s Mark Few.

Cradling a basketball with one hand, Few uses the other to orchestrate, direct and organize, moving perennial all-stars, international basketball icons and future hall of famers around the court like chess pieces. One moment, he’s delivering pointers to Steph Curry, Joel Embiid and Jayson Tatum. When the next break in action comes, Devin Booker and Jrue Holiday are on the receiving end of his instruction.

Few might be the only U.S. assistant without a particular three-letter acronym on his resume — “the outlier,” he jokes, in relation to his NBA…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/one-very-best-why-gonzagas-035900766.html

Author : The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Wash.

Publish date : 2024-07-28 03:59:00

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