Kevin Durant's exit from Team USA surprised Coach K

When Kevin Durant left Team USA last week citing mental and physical exhaustion, it surprised Mike Krzyzewski, the coach acknowledged on Thursday.

When Kevin Durant left Team USA last week citing mental and physical exhaustion, it surprised Mike Krzyzewski, the coach acknowledged on Thursday.

"Yeah, I was," Krzyzewski said to ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell when asked if he was surprised by Durant's departure. "No question. I was."

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The 25-year-old Thunder forward is the reigning NBA MVP and four-time scoring champ. He won gold medals with Team USA in the 2012 Olympics in London and 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey. In London, Durant averaged a team-high 19.5 points per game.

"It's one of those things; you don't replace Kevin Durant," Krzyzewski said after Team USA's scrimmage on Thursday. "You look different. And so we have today and [Friday] to look different before we play a really good team. That's of concern for me because we were pretty far along. We had our best camp ever in Vegas since I've coached [Team USA]. Those guys were terrific. We had more in [game plan-wise], but we had more in to play a certain way. And then Kevin deciding not to play ... it's concerning.

"But hopefully we'll be good enough on Saturday [in an exhibition against Brazil], and then we use New York and Gran Canaria to get better and get better during pool play."

- Chris Mascaro