Has the United States' basketball coach finally finished his soliloquy on the worst 48 hours in the nation's basketball history, his instructions for Americans from sea to shining sea to muster some perverse pride in the complete embarrassment of his lost cause at the World Championships? Someone, somewhere grab the microphone out of George Karl's face, drag his tired act out of Conseco Field House and spare us his ticker tape parade for losing to Pepe Sanchez and Belgrade Community College.

"I'm not sure if it's the end of an era as much as it's a tremendous celebration of basketball," Karl said. "You're seeing the rest of the world playing better basketball and more competitive basketball. In a strange way, that's something the U.S. can be proud of."

On the surface, his sentiments were a noble and gracious gesture for the global game, but down deeper they were simply a cover for a miserable coaching job that leaves this indefensible truth hanging over Indianapolis: The man responsible for turning an Eastern Championship favorite into a colossal lottery loser is sending his USA Basketball successor to the Pan American Games in 2003 just to qualify the U.S. for the Athens Olympics.

Let's understand something: This year, Karl had the talent to win the Eastern Conference and the gold medal in the Worlds, but he didn't get his teams to even the eighth seed, nor the medal round.

Why did the Milwaukee Bucks blow up? Oh yes, right. The players were too selfish. Why did the U.S. implode at the Worlds? Of course, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan stayed home.

History remembers coaching roles in international basketball incidents far too kindly, with Karl the latest in a long line to pass responsibility to someone else -- in this case, the players who wouldn't wear red, white and blue for the Worlds.

As U.S. basketball history goes, coaching has played serious roles in its most famous missteps. Henry Iba refused to properly use the American's superior athleticism and versatility in 1972, leaving his team vulnerable for the officiating calamity against the Russians in the gold medal game. Yes, John Thompson had a tough task trying to win with college kids at the 1988 Olympics, but bringing a roster to Seoul too short on shooters, too long on Charles Smiths. And while everyone can be frustrated that this World Championship roster was too thin of talent, it's easy to forget Jason Kidd, Kevin Garnett and Gary Payton were within a whisper of losing to Lithuania in 2000 in Sydney.

If you were there, you witnessed the Americans bench was complete chaos in the final minutes of that two-point victory, with Coach Rudy Tomjanovich losing sight of substitutions and assistant Larry Brown losing his mind chasing an official off the floor. (If Allen Iverson had done this in the Olympics, by the way, it would've been declared an international incident).

If we're going to demand elite players, let's make sure we demand elite coaches, too. Because Karl can't do the job, maybe it's time for some "anointments of the young Afro-American" coaches -- his term, remember -- that seem to frustrate him. Seriously, anyone but Karl again. Anything but his fallen star.

Of course, the U.S. needs a full-time coach. There's too much money in the profession to believe an active Hall of Fame star -- a Phil Jackson, a Mike Krzyzewski, a Pat Riley -- would ever take a sabbatical for the Stars and Stripes, but perhaps with the NBA bankrolling the position, someone of stature could be willing to step outside the pro and college rat-race to resurrect USA basketball.

Why not start with a call to ex-Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, the best unemployed tactician on earth. Understand this: There is no way the U.S. would've watched the rest of the world on its parade route of backdoor layups with his education on help defense. Whomever the choice, the U.S. needs a coach to immerse himself in the international game, spending his time studying the dynamics and nuances of the global game and scouting the globe.

Under Karl, the U.S. had no idea how to defend Argentina in its first loss, with Elton Brand ultimately confessing the team was ill-prepared and surprised by the Argentina offense that screened and cut past them over and over. And how many more wild 3-pointers could the U.S. shoot out of half-court sets late in the losses to Argentina and Yugoslavia?

So much contributed to the U.S. getting humiliated at the Worlds, including personnel, preparation time and, yes, the rapid rise of the global game. Just don't let this stay strictly an issue of deriding the NBA superstars who passed on the playing, and the ones who are showed up in Indianapolis. They aren't alone to blame here. Not even close. Remember, George Karl has done a hell of a double duty this year, lording over two of the biggest back-to-back coaching disasters witnessed for a long time here.

With the Eastern Conference and World Championship favorites, the man missed the playoffs and the medal round. That isn't so easy to do. Yes, I know, I know: Yes, the Bucks were too long on selfishness, the U.S. team too short on talent. Anything but his fault, huh? Anything but his responsibility, right?

Of course, these Worlds were just a tremendous celebration of basketball, the fruition of America's gift to the global community. Whatever. Everyone can appreciate the progress the world is making, but this isn't the time to hear the national coach pump his pom-poms with the loudest cheerleading. He is right on something, though: This isn't the end of an era for American basketball, just the end of an error.

He is done, right?

Adrian Wojnarowski is a columnist for The Record (N.J.) and a regular contributor to ESPN.com.