In depth interview with Coach K

[Mike Corey]

Enjoy.

[Billy Dat]

This is a good interview, thanks for passing along. For other voracious K historians like myself, there is little new here, but I never heard the story of Lebron turning his back on K while he was talking that first summer with Team USA...interesting. I also had never heard the story of him smashing Alarie's picture in front of the whole team which was highly entertaining.

[PaIronDuke]

Enjoy.

Thanks for another opportunity to witness the character and wisdom of the man we are privileged to call our coach.

Is it just coincidence, or isn't the interviewer the same voice as that in the marvelous, staged "Duke sucks" interview some time back with the Carolina butt-head.....

[roywhite]

Enjoy.

Thanks, Mike. Some of the stories we've heard before, but some of that was new, to me at least.

I don't tire of hearing Coach K speak; he's a great coach and a great man.

[Mike Corey]

Coach K's just a magnetic speaker, whether in a one-on-one situation or when he's lecturing a room of corporate execs.

He's forgotten more about basketball than any of us will ever know. That he's an adept storyteller makes him all the more entertaining and enlightening.

[wsb3]

Enjoy.

Thank you Mike for posting this. The picture smashing of Alarie is one story I had never heard. The 86 team is my favorite Duke team and Mark was my favorite player on that team.

[gumbomoop]

FYI - Roy show and K show back-to-back on Sat morns, FoxSportsSouth/FoxSportsNet.

Roy at 9 am [on right now], K at 9:30 [coming right up]. Different formats: Roy's is basically an interview by Woody about previous week's games. K's show each week is an "episode," with a theme and a title, no less. Last week's was "Analyze This," about how the coaching staff goes about analyzing games, players, etc., including frequent use of video.

Will be interesting to see whether there will be any commentary at all on NCSt game, or whether the program will be entirely thematic.

[gumbomoop]

This morning's K show episode is .... "The Legacy of Grant Hill." On right now.

[gumbomoop]

Today's episode of Inside Basketball with Coach K - FoxSportsSouth/FoxSportsNet - is "A Night on the Road in the ACC." Comments so far from Carawell, James, K.

Every Sat morn, 9:30.

Update: road theme based on footage of NCSt game, and looks as if interviews of several players in locker room after that game. Comments from Carawell and James re loss at FSU as eye-opener.

[gumbomoop]

Update: last segment focus on Mason. K says his strengths are rebounding, talking ["He's really talking."], passing. ["His points will come."] More from Carawell and Nate. Mason himself discusses tempo early season with Kyrie, needing to adjust to halfcourt offense now.

[gumbomoop]

I revisit this thread most weeks, to recommend K's Sat morn show on FSS/FSN.

But as some of you don't have access to FSS/FSN, I thought to pass on some tidbits from last Sat's [2/5] program.

First, you should know that K's show isn't at all what I think is the typical coach show. For example, each Sat morn [also FSS/FSN], Roy has a chat with Woody about the previous week's games. Perfectly fine, and if I were a HeelFan, I'd like it.

But K's show has a "theme" each week [e.g., "Analyze This," on use of video to teach and prep; "The Grant Hill Effect"]. This past Sat morn, K sat with President Dick Brodhead for an interesting conversation. What follows are some quotations, or as near as I could transcribe their words. As I live nowhere near Durham, and no longer have any inside connection to either Duke academics or athletics, I relish whatever off-the-court stuff I can find. Hope you find an interesting comment or 2 in here. I bet you will, one in particular.


Brodhead - "Basketball symbolizes all the things we're trying to do across the university." [Later in the conversation] "We try to use athletics as the most visible, the most public way to image the love of excellence, the love of the discipline you have to embrace to live up to the best you can do."

B - "Kevin White is to university ADs what K is to college basketball coaches."

K - "I don't think most ADs across the country are also VPs at their universities." [Kevin White's title is Vice President and Director of Athletics]

B - "Nolan has really grown as a player."

K - on Z: "Brian was good to our younger players; he helped the Plumlees as younger guys... In the last 3 minutes of the NC game, he was the difference-maker."

K - big props to Tyler Thornton

K - "One of the big selling points we use in recruiting is that when you're in Cameron, those fans are with you, but when you leave Cameron you have to earn your stripes... Because as we tell every recruit... there's something unbelievable about every student, and if you only do stuff with all the unbelievable basketball players, you're missing out on the best thing about Duke."

K - "Shane is huge in China, billboards in China of Shane Battier." K also noted the recent radiocast in Mandarin.

B - "The state with the highest number of applicants to Duke is California. The fastest growing category of applicants is international students."

[gumbomoop]

Checking in with a weekly update on K's Sat morn show on FSS/FSN [on right now].

This is "episode" #10, entitled "Turning Points." About how to respond to the loss at St. John's. K says, not about X/O, more about relationships, maturity.

Lots of focus on maturity. K comments that Tyler Thornton is unusually mature. I'm intuiting some expectation on K's part that Tyler will be a Lance Thomas type leader on and off the court. K did not make this comparison; just my speculation after his remarks.

Other turning points: win at NCSt. Last year's loss at Md was also a turning point: K - "I walked out of that gym thinking, we're pretty good."

K - "What's on my mind is the development of this group." Chris Collins: This is K's strength, figuring out how to fit the pieces together, his ability to adapt, depending on the players.

K - When Kyrie was healthy, very, very competitive practices, 10 scholarship guys. When Kyrie went down, because one team had a walk-on, it changed, "dramatically," what we did in practice.

K - Kyle and Mason will get better as they learn how to make the other guys better. "We're not just running an X/O system here. It's about how players learn to work with each other."

Last segment is on Haley and Casey Peters. Whole family is long-time Duke bball oriented. Great story of Casey's moving from manager to on the team. Haley and Casey hadn't gone to same school since 6th grade; Haley at private, Casey at public school.

Finally, on Carolina: "I approach the Carolina game the way I approach all games. Carolina is the most talented team in the league. They've had no interruptions..." [Obviously taped pre-LD2's departure.]