While Team USA might be heavily favored to win the gold medal in the 2016 Rio Olympic games, head coach Mike Krzyzewski still remains anxious going into the opening round of the tournament.
Krzyzewski spoke with ESPN's Marc Stein on his concern:
Nothing is easy, And when somebody tells you it's easy, or you're the best, or whatever … it can put you in a comfort zone that you actually believe that. The one thing about competition is that you have to show it. We can talk about it — or people can talk about it — [but] we would like to show it with our play. And hopefully we'll be that good.
Coach K added that he's “nervous as can be.”
For his own reasons and concerns, he was nervous playing against China last week, although Team USA handily defeated them twice by 49 and 50 points respectively in their exhibition games.
Krzyzewski is undefeated in international competition, and the odds of him continuing that streak remain off the charts. He feels that nothing is set in stone just yet though, and would rather approach the tournament with caution rather than comfort:
Everyone says you're [already] in the medal round. Well … no you're not. You have to earn your way there.
The opening games begin on Saturday, August 6th, where the United States will face China, Venezuela, Australia and Serbia, before ending group play with France.
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