Gonzaga’s Mark Few: Touching down in France, a close-up view of LeBron James and figuring out chemistry on the fly
About the Globe Trotter series: The Spokesman-Review is connecting periodically with Gonzaga coach Mark Few to highlight his on- and off-court experience as an assistant coach with the U.S. Olympic basketball team.
The lead-up to the Summer Olympics reminds Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few, an assistant with Team USA, of the days preceding the NCAA Tournament.
Arrive at the host city, check out game and practice venues, take care of media obligations and prepare for upcoming games – except this week it unfolds on a global stage in France.
“We touched down in France a few hours ago, we practiced at the stadium we’re going to play (the group phase in Lille),” Few said Wednesday. “Today was a lot like those first few days at an NCAA Tournament. A lot of pictures, we got our credentials, media. It wasn’t like a real practice, just getting used to the venue. Tomorrow we’ll (practice) in Paris (site of the knockout phase of the tournament).”
There isn’t much calm before the Summer Olympics storm for Few and the U.S. team. The U.S., led by LeBron James in crunch time, finished off a 5-0 record in exhibitions with tough wins over South Sudan on Saturday and Germany on Monday in London.
Friday’s opening ceremonies will not be held in a stadium. The parade of athletes will take place on approximately 100 boats traveling 3.7 miles on the River Seine through the center of Paris to the Trocadéro, roughly a half-mile from the Eiffel Tower, to conclude the evening’s festivities.
“The big news is LeBron will be carrying the flag,” Few said. “Totally cool, and I think it even surprised him. Steph (Curry) had done a prerecorded thing and the team did a great job with it. The neat thing is that is voted on by all the athletes. I could tell (James) was moved.”
Being around James for the past 20 days – the team held a short training camp in early July in Las Vegas – Few said it’s clear why the 39-year-old James has had a stellar career in 21 NBA seasons.
“The most impressive thing is just how alpha he is,” Few said. “He comes into a gym, he’s ready to go, he wants to get going. He doesn’t waste a lot of time warming up.
“He’s just incredibly communicative when he gets on the floor. From a coach’s standpoint, you just marvel at it and you wish that’s what all athletes would pick up on. He talks nonstop on offense and defense. Practice, walk-through, game, he’s talking. If you think back to our 2017 (GU) team, Nigel (Williams-Goss) was great at talking and whole team got that way and it really drove us (to the national championship game).”
No word on whether Few, an avid angler, plans to scout the Seine during opening ceremonies for fishing hotspots, but he’s been a huge fan of the Olympics since he was a kid when “there were three stations, CBS, NBC and ABC.”
There are several events he’d like to attend if the timing doesn’t interfere with the basketball schedule.
“I grew up with my track and field guys,” said Few, who grew up in Creswell, Oregon, not far from the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field, host of the past five U.S. Olympic trials. “I love watching track and field. I might wander over to that. The beach volleyball is right under the Eiffel Tower and that’s not far from our hotel.”
Few has visited places of interest during the team’s stops in London and Abu Dhabi for exhibition games.
“On our last day in London, me and a couple of the coaches got to Big Ben, Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace,” Few said. “We logged a lot of steps that day.”
There have been some missteps on the court, but the U.S. still went undefeated. The Americans played better against arguably its toughest foes – Serbia (105-79) and Canada (86-72). Their three wins over Australia, South Sudan and Germany were by a combined 11 points.
The U.S. begins the group phase against Serbia on Sunday in Lille, about 140 miles north of Paris. The U.S. is a 1/4 favorite to win gold with Serbia (11/1) next and Canada third at 12/1.
“We’re not playing great right now,” Few said. “Part of it is just our group hasn’t been around each other enough. You’re trying to get 10, 11 guys into a game. It’s basketball, so somebody needs to facilitate, someone needs to hustle in and crash the boards and somebody needs to be a great screener.
“All of them are used to being a primary scorer on their other teams. At the same time, that’s impacted them, too, because they’re being so unselfish. Another tricky thing is they’re used to getting 20 shots and they might get three or four in our games. Those are challenges. We’re just trying to get everybody organized and on the same page.”
The exhibition schedule has allowed Few to spend time with former players Filip Petrusev (Serbia) and Canada’s Kelly Olynyk and Andrew Nembhard. Few hopes to connect with Rui Hachimura (Japan) and he’s heard Ronny Turiaf will be on hand as a television commentator.
The U.S. faces Petrusev, three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and Serbia again Sunday. The 6-foot-11 Petrusev had 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, three steals, two rebounds and two assists in 24 minutes against the Americans.
“He looked good,” Few said. “He hit a couple of shots on us, he played well, and he was guarding LeBron. It was good to talk to him pre- and postgame.”