Answer: There's probably seven or eight teams that have a legitimate shot at winning a medal, probably more like seven. In our pool, there's us, Bulgaria, Italy and China will be very difficult at home. In the other pool, there's Brazil Russia, Serbia and Poland. Any of those teams, all very good. A couple points here and there could decide who wins a medal and we could be one of those teams.
Q: What are Team USA's strengths and potential weaknesses?
A: The strength of this team is the fact that we don't have one big guy we rely on.
Maybe that's a weakness, too. Maybe we don't have the stud guy some teams have. We have a group of guys who all contribute pretty equally. And I think we do have some experience, Lloy [Ball, the starting setter] is going to his fourth Olympics, which is pretty unusual, and a lot of guys have been to one or two.
Q: How has it been working as an assistant coach again?
A: It has been awesome and the staff is really great. Hugh [McCutcheon, the head coach] is a wonderful guy to work for. [Assistant coach] Ron [Larsen] has become a good friend, [technical consultant] Jamie Morrison is the best at what he does and Aaron Brock is a great trainer. We all get along really well and I've learned a lot from all of them.
Q: Has the experience made you a better coach?
A: When you're a head coach and you go back to being an assistant, it allows you to see how you stand in relationship to other coaches. We do some things differently than I do [at UCI], but we're on the same page with a lot of other things. I've learned that people can do things differently and still have a lot of success.
I've spent time talking with our sports psychologist Ken Ravizza, and I enjoy the mental side of the game, so that has been fun for me.
