Tayshaun Prince on the Olympics and Coach K
Had the chance to speak with Tayshaun Prince on the opening day of his youth camp in Lexington last week, and again this week after a Team USA practice in Las Vegas. From those discussions, you’ll see a Herald-Leader story Aug. 8 (opening date of the Olympics), part of a preview of “Kentucky connections” headed to Beijing.
Meanwhile, here is some of what the Detroit Pistons and former University of Kentucky player had to say.
On whether an Olympic gold medal would be as sweet as an NCAA or NBA championship: “It definitely ranks up at the top. When you talk about a national championship or an NBA championship, it definitely ranks up there above that. The reason why I say that is because you’re talking about representing your country, your family, your friends. You’re playing against the best in the world, not just the country. And when you talk about playing against the best in the world and getting an Olympic gold medal, or trying to achieve that, it’s something that’s very special. So I definitely think that ranks up there at the top and, hopefully, it’ll come true.”
On preference for/against particular international and/or NBA rules: “It just kind of depends. Because even last year where there were some different rules that were involved in the international game, once you get to playing and going up and down and getting in the heat of battle, sooner or later the game is kind of the same. I think it just depends on what type of officials you have. … See how they’re calling things early in the game to determine if things are going to be different or not. Because some referees call things tight, some referees don’t. So even though they have different rules, things are still kind of the same. There might be a different rule here or there, but it just kind of depends what refs you have because some are lenient and some are not. So you’ve just got to go with the flow and see how things are going throughout the game.”
On whether sacrificing his off-season caused any second thoughts about agreeing to play for Team USA: “When you look at what I’ve done throughout my six-year career with the Pistons, pretty much playing into the month of June, summers have been short for me all the time. So when you’re talking about making a sacrifice to represent your country, that’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I know people kind of wonder if this is a situation where you’ll be fatigued when your season rolls around. All I’d say is this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be on an Olympic team, where you’re trying to achieve a gold medal, so I’ll take the opportunity.”
On playing under Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski: “It’s fun. I know a lot of people would want to know how would it work or how would it gel with a college coach coaching NBA players in the Olympics. It’s been a great opportunity. I’m pretty sure that he’s learning stuff from us but, at the same time, we’re learning things from him. We’ve got other good coaches here as well, college and NBA, that getls together. And when you have a chemistry and you put it together for a few years, I think that’s what makes it better.”
Ask me when I fell in love with sports and you may as well ask when I first registered a pulse. I can't recall ever being without either. 
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