But considering Krzyzewski’s history with the military — a 1969 Army graduate who served as the Black Knights’ head coach from 1975-80 — along with his work as USA Basketball’s head coach, perhaps his comments regarding Obama’s handling of the situation regarding the militant group ISIS aren’t completely unexpected.
During a recent speech at the Association of the U.S. Army conference last month, when he received the 2014 George Catlett Marshall Medal, Krzyzewski criticized Obama’s decision to publicly lay out his strategy regarding ISIS, something that didn’t sit well with the Blue Devils head coach. From The Daily Beast:
Krzyzewski believes that issuing a “no boots to the ground” statement is just bad coaching. It allows the opposition to alter their game plan so their strategy best works against what is coming.
If nothing else, the conversation between Obama and Krzyzewski will be mighty interesting if the Blue Devils cut down the nets and earn a trip to visit the White House.
The former Olympic coach then turned the metaphor to international play, comparing Obama’s words to saying, “‘Hey Spain, I’m not going to start Lebron [James] and Kobe [Bryant] tonight.’ I don’t think you do that. Now how much I play them? Let the guy try to figure out how much I’m going to play them.”
