CHARLOTTE (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers) - While Gregg Popovich was named by USA Basketball to succeed Mike Krzyzewski - who led the Americans to three Olympic and two FIBA Basketball World Cup gold medals - for the next cycle through China 2019 and Tokyo 2020, he knew that his day job coaching the San Antonio Spurs would keep him from being on the bench for at least the first two qualifying windows, not to mention all the big NBA names that were on the court in Rio and Spain and before.

Understanding that whoever the caretaker coach would be had nothing less than the fate of the nation on his shoulders, Popovich worked in concert with Jerry Colangelo, the Managing Director and former Chairman of USA Basketball, to put Jeff Van Gundy in that place.

Knowing that NBA players would not be available for the November 2017 and February 2018 windows, USA Basketball used the FIBA AmeriCup 2017 as a test-run to craft a roster primarily from the developmental G League. It worked, but not without drama, as the Americans had to come back from a 20-point deficit to defeat Argentina on their home court to win the title.

The Americas Qualifiers, however, would bring a different set of challenges.

Three days after the Americans won their first game against Puerto Rico (85-78) and just before their second and last game of the November window, Popovich spoke with FIBA.basketball about his surrogate and the team built from NBA G League players. 

Gregg Popovich

Popovich watched the Puerto Rico game and said: "I think the squad was terrific. Coach Van Gundy is a special guy to put a team together that quickly, basically a brand-new team from what he had earlier in the summer time (at the AmeriCup tournament)."

"Those guys pulled together, communicated. They played for each other, they were responsible to each other. They were down in the first quarter, they were down in the third quarter, and they just kept playing. So they deserve a lot of credit. It was a fine performance on their part."

When asked why he sought out Van Gundy, who spent 18 years on NBA benches - 11 of them as a head coach for the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets - Popovich was quick to say: "There was no doubt in my mind he was the best choice."

"For somebody who not just knows the game but is selfless in that regard to want to put a team together to represent the country and to do it quickly, and to have guys respect him very quickly so they would do what he needed to have done, he was the man for the job.

"He's an experienced coach obviously. He knows what the goal is and what he was up against and he attacked it from day one. He did a lot of preparation (because) sometimes there's not a lot you can do during a game. You have to depend on what you did last week and the day before in practice. So, with having limited time in that regard, he's done a phenomenal job."

Jeff Van Gundy

The USA named their roster on November 14 and only brought the team together for training on November 17, just six days before their first game, which was moved to Orlando, Florida given the ongoing hurricane recovery in Puerto Rico. Originally, it included only four players from the gold medal winning AmeriCup side, but that grew to five when Jonathan Holmes replaced an injured Jarell Eddie.

While the American public may be a bit spoiled by the success of the NBA laden teams that have dominated the last three Olympic Games and two FIBA World Cups, Popovich stated there is no underestimating the opposition inside USA Basketball.

"I'm sure (most American fans) don't realize how good all the teams really are, how many good players there are all over the world. They just expect the U.S. team to win all the time," he said.

"I can tell you that the coaches and players know it. That's why they've taken it so seriously for the last 12 years with Coach K and Mr. Colangelo. They've put it together and made sure that, at least, basketball people and our players and coaches knew what a tough job it was. That's the important part."

FIBA