ISTANBUL (2010 FIBA World Championship) - The FIBA World Championship is over but there is plenty still to ponder.

When USA coach Mike Krzyzewski sat in his last press conference after the gold-medal win over Turkey and looked as tired as he ever has - and that includes after long seasons at Duke - the thought crossed my mind, "Why doesn't he stop coaching the Americans and take his summers off? After all, he's done it all with Team USA now.”

Yes, Coach K has won FIBA Americas Championship gold, Olympic gold and now a world title.

But Krzyzewski, I bet, hasn't stopped thinking about the games in Istanbul.

What did he say after the USA’s Eight-Final rout of Angola?

“There's no one in our country that has more respect for international basketball than me,” Krzyzewski said.

The coach’s concentration didn’t wane for a second in the games in Turkey.

The 101-95 defeat to Greece in the last four of the 2006 FIBA World Championship isn’t something that’s easily erased from the memory bank, it seems.

Surely he wants to come back for more and will, when the London Olympics are staged in 2012.

This summer was Krzyzewsi’s best performance as the American coach.

Think about it.

He had none of the players that won the title in Beijing and instead turned a young group of athletic players into a championship team.

The Americans hadn't won the title since 1994. Everyone should know that in 2010, it’s much harder to win than it was 16 years ago.

The world has closed the gap.

Coach K did what Coach K does best this year.

He turned what the American media dubbed a 'B Team' into a tough-as-nails defensive team that beat everyone.

"I think this was the best defensive team," Krzyzewski said.

"I believe that because they knew they needed to play defense to win.

"At the Olympics, our guys played great defense, too, but they could outscore you, also.

"This team, we weren't necessarily sure we could outscore somebody, but we had to defend them.

"There were some unsung heroes. Russell Westbrook and Andre Iguodala played truly amazing games."

While Kevin Durant stole the headlines with his scoring from the off and was voted tournament MVP, Westbrook didn't seem to make a major impact until after the games at the Abdi Ipekci, where the USA won all five of their Group B games, including a 70-68 drama over Brazil.

Once the games moved to the Sinam Erdem Dome, Westbrook became a major player.

Krzyzewski must have known it was only going to be a matter of time before the Oklahoma City star in the NBA would fit in.

He had energy, and attitude.

The Americans were supposed to be a group of nice people, which they were off the court.

But on the court, they were downright nasty and Westbrook was maybe the meanest of them all.

After the biggest cakewalk of a game in the tournament, the USA's 121-66 victory over Angola, Westbrook sparked the Americans on both ends of the floor against Russia in the Quarter-Finals.

The United States won that game, 89-79.

Then Westbrook took his game and that of the USA to a new level in the 89-74 Semi-Final victory over Lithuania.

Iguodala and Eric Gordon were the best USA defenders overall in that game but Westbrook came up with the play of the tournament, at least for the United States.

It came with 2:55 remaining in the first half and the USA leading 33-25.

Lithuania's Linas Kleiza picked off a pass by Westbrook and fed a streaking Mantas Kalnietis, who went up for an apparent lay-up.

After the ball left Kalnietis' hands, and just as it was about to begin its descent into the hoop, Westbrook flew in from behind and swatted the shot away.

The words "Not in my house" and "Get that .... out of here" spring to mind.

Westbrook has hang time.

He is not so much a glider, or a floater like Spain's Fran Vazquez, but more like a jet.

The 21-year-old with the strange hairdo did everything fast.

When it became apparent that Kobe, LeBron, Bosh and the rest of the USA players wouldn't travel to Istanbul, many of us knew this would happen.

We knew that new stars would emerge in international basketball and none were bigger this summer than Durant and Westbrook.

Truth be told, the games were so good and the players so excellent that we didn't think about any of the big-name 'no-shows' for the entire tournament.

There are a couple of things that don't sit well with me and one of them surely must be changed.

How long must Classification Round games be played?

Is there anything worse for a team to fall out of medal contention and then have to play two more games?

Players’ hearts aren't in it.

Luis Scola of Argentina said after they beat Spain in the fifth-place game: "I couldn't play one more game, let alone one more quarter."

He was mentally and physically exhausted.

The other thing that bothered me was the All-Tournament team.

Players that could have been in were not because their teams didn't make it that far.

One player that could have been voted to the top five, even though his Brazil team lost in a 93-89 heart-stopper of an Eight-Final to Argentina, was point guard Marcelo Huertas.

Remember, he nearly engineered an upset of Team USA and he almost led Brazil past Argentina and into the Quarter-Finals.

When his team lost 93-89 to Argentina, Huertas tried to stay on the court as long as he could before walking off with a teammate.

Just as he hit the edge of the court, he broke into tears.

Compare that to the player that did make the all-tournament team, Milos Teodosic of Serbia.

One of the most gifted players in Istanbul, the top player in this season's Euroleague, Teodosic had some fine moments.

He buried the amazing three-pointer to beat Spain at the death in the Quarter-Finals, a shot that overshadowed his poor game overall.

After the Semi-Final defeat to Turkey, Teodosic mocked the crowd as he left the floor and the following day, he drew a technical in the bronze medal game in the second half and was pulled by his coach Dusan Ivkovic to play no further part in the game.

Great player, yes. Suspect temperament, yes.

Great tournament? I beg to differ.

Jeff Taylor