Three in the key is very similar to NBA’s Blogtable that happens weekly, three important topics are discussed by NBA.com writers and the fans can weigh in as well with their comments, three in the key is my own thoughts on the same three topics.
1. Your nameplate says “Jerry Colangelo, Chairman, USA Basketball.” So tell me Mr. Colangelo, who’s going to coach the greatest basketball team on the planet after Coach Mike Krzyzewski steps down next summer? And why are you choosing him?
No doubt Gregg Popovich. He is arguably the best coach in the NBA that we have at the moment and he has championship pedigree. He commands a room and he has the respect of all players. He is the type of coach that when players are asked “if you can play for a coach, who would it be?” the majority of the answer would be him. And I like how Pop doesn’t care if you’re a superstar, he’ll get you to buy into whatever system he wants to run.
2. Team USA has an embarrassment of riches at point guard with Steph Curry, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, John Wall, Russell Westbrook, Mike Conley and Michael Carter-Williams. Assuming they’ll take only three point guards to Rio, which three should it be? And why?
I would take Curry, Wall, and Westbrook. The reason I would take Curry, you need to be able to shoot in international ball, there’s no better shooter in the game than him and he is no slouch in handling the ball and getting everyone set up. Wall would be on the team to handle the ball, but my priority for him would be to distribute and run the offense, and it doesn’t hurt that he can defend. I need to have Westbrook on the team because this guy is just full of energy, an extreme competitor, he’d make sure the team won’t lose.
3. While not yet official, it appears the NBA has reached agreement with its referees through the 2022 season. Is this a big thing, a little thing, or much ado about nothing?
This is a big thing, players already complain about the refereeing in the game, imagine if replacement referees were brought in.
STARTER OFF THE BENCH 