Olympic journey, golden finish surpasses Gonzaga coach Mark Few’s “sky high” expectations

About the Globe Trotter series: The Spokesman-Review connected periodically with Gonzaga coach Mark Few to highlight his on- and off-court experiences as an assistant coach with the U.S. Olympic basketball team. This is the final installment of the series.

Television cameras caught the moment when assistant coach Mark Few and Stephen Curry, just a few minutes removed from his clutch 3-point barrage that secured gold for Team USA, embraced near midcourt at still-buzzing Bercy Arena.

Cameras then followed Curry hugging assistants Ty Lue and Erik Spoelstra as Few approached from behind and said something that caused Curry to double over laughing before he embraced head coach Steve Kerr.

“I remember exactly,” Few said. “It was, ‘Dude, I can’t tell you how much better it is to be on your team than being on the other side of that.’ ”

The Golden State superstar knew immediately that Few was referring to Curry’s eight 3s and 40-point performance in Davidson’s 82-76 first-round win over the Zags in the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

Curry was masterful as the U.S. clinched its fifth consecutive gold medal, capping the team’s memorable five-week, four-city journey that began in Las Vegas in early July and concluded in Paris last weekend.

“I have so much material to share with (Gonzaga’s) players,” said Few, back home after 40-plus days on the road. “Man, some incredibly iconic moments. My expectations going into this trip and the Olympics were sky-high, and it exceeded that.

“I would have thought that would be impossible. I’ll remember the staff, the closeness, camaraderie and sharing ideas. We’re all exhausted and ready to take a break.”

The timing allows for that as GU players recently wrapped up conditioning and summer hoop sessions. The Zags, likely to be in the preseason top 10, are on a brief break before returning for the start of fall semester classes later this month.

When practice reconvenes, players can count on hearing Few’s stories about the proven routines used by Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and others. That includes LeBron’s communication skills and full-speed effort at every practice, Durant working overtime to return from a calf injury, Curry’s longtime shooting drills and the team’s poise facing high-pressure situations.

Curry’s perimeter shots weren’t falling at his typical rate in his first four Olympic games – and five exhibitions, too – but he got hot when the U.S. absolutely needed it the most. He poured in a tournament-best nine 3s, including a go-ahead triple in the fourth quarter, and scored 36 points in a comeback win over Serbia in the semifinals.

“We all kept telling Steve, ‘We’re going to have a Curry moment, it’s coming,’ ” Few said. “We don’t get to experience it as much as Steve does (with Golden State). And he (Curry) did it.”

Curry did it four times in a span of 2 minutes and 12 seconds late in the gold-medal game to thwart France’s rally. The first came after a behind-the-back feed from James to put the Americans up 85-79. Next came a step-back, pump-fake to make room for a triple.

Curry was double-teamed on the next two possessions. The ball came back to him after Booker’s drive-and-dish and Curry used another pump-fake for another 3. France left Durant uncovered but Curry still hit a dagger fadeaway from well behind the 3-point line over a pair of defenders’ outstretched arms.

“Couldn’t happen to a better person,” Few said. “I think Steve alluded to this, but his work ethic, diligence and shot routine after every single practice we had, it’s one of the things I’ll remember the rest of my life.

“One practice we all sat around and waited because he has to make 10 in a row from five spots at game speed and he wasn’t doing it. Even LeBron’s standing there, but he understood. It took a little longer than normal, but once he did it, we got on the bus and left.”

Few saw a mesmerizing photo of Curry hitting a 3-pointer over 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama with the ball frozen on a ridiculously high trajectory.

“It looks like something from Space Jam,” the coach said.

Few had high praise for the 20-year-old Wembanyama, who had 26 points, three 3s and seven rebounds against the U.S. after a few rough games offensively.

“He was terrific,” Few said. “First play of the game he went right at Joel (Embiid), and he’d had some real problems posting up in the past games.”

Few wasn’t surprised Serbia, led by NBA three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and helped by former Zag Filip Petrusev’s steady play, gave the U.S. fits after falling by a combined 52 points in an exhibition and group phase matchup.

“When you go back and watch the tape, they missed a wide open 3 here or there. It wasn’t that we just throttled them and they couldn’t get a shot off,” Few said. “They’re good, they have a plan, so tough and disciplined and they have one of the greatest players in the world. Steph hit a lot of big shots at the end and Joel took over for a stretch and really went to work.”

The coaches pitched in on most aspects, but Few was largely responsible for the team’s zone offense and breaking presses because NBA squads rarely encounter those scenarios.

“They (France and Serbia) both zoned us,” Few said. “Just the heart and soul our guys showed when they got pushed, it never phased them. If I’m being honest, they dug a lot deeper than they probably thought they’d have to.

“The best thing about Steve is he’s extremely collaborative and he leaned into everybody. He did a great job. All that noise about not playing this guy or that guy – it’s impossible to play 12 guys. There’s 200 minutes in a game, divide that by 12, you can’t do it and keep good players out there and have that type of rhythm they need. We did what we had to do.”

Few was a spectator at beach volleyball and track and field, the latter a must since his old roommates, Tim Bright and Kory Tarpenning, were Olympic track athletes. Bright competed in the 1984, 88 and 92 Olympics, two as a decathlete and one as a pole vaulter. Oregon grad Tarpenning pole vaulted in two Olympics and finished fourth in 1992 in Barcelona.

Few visited with Tim and wife Julie just before leaving for Team USA’s training camp in Las Vegas.

“He was best man at my wedding. I spent a week with them at the lake and they sent me off to Vegas,” said Few, who attended the Summer Olympics twice to watch Bright and Tarpenning, including “sleeping on the floor” in Seoul in 1988. “I had a great session with Kory. He told me if I ever made the Final Four he was coming, so he came to Phoenix (in 2017). He’s lived in France or Monaco for 30 years. He was at our Serbia game and we got together.”

Few’s family joined him in Paris as the team went 3-0 in the knockout stage to capture the gold medal.

“That was great to share it with them, really special,” he said. “We’d walk 20, 30 minutes to a lot of these events, cobblestone streets, and you’d walk by someone and they were speaking Japanese or Portuguese or Serbian. It was amazing.”

Much like the last five weeks have been for Few.