I actually was not in any way trying to imply that you were taking things personal. I always appreciate level-headedness, as I do here.
Since this debate is taking an
ad hominem turn, I'd like to point out that I have also competed in a very high-level environment many, many times in my life (and by high-level, I am talking about international competition, with multiple US national championships in my event -- its not very often that I get to brag about it
). What I've found is that when you get to the highest level in any sport, at a certain point you will have sifted out all the people who lack a strong enough will to win, and you are left competing only against the elite. At that level,
everybody has a supreme will to win, otherwise they would not have gotten that far in the first place. From that elite group, what determines the winner is often not will, but a combination of natural talent, strategy, split-second execution, and -- of course -- luck. And I can tell you with apodictic certainty that in the years where I won my event, as well as in the years where I lost my event, my "will to win" was no less strong than it was any other year.
Bringing it back to this year's Duke team, I can promise you that every one of our players is infused with the highest competitiveness, the greatest possible will to win. Otherwise they never would have earned a spot on the roster to begin with. Our guys leave everything they have on the court, every time they go out there. And that fact will continue to be true, no matter how lucky or unlucky they may be in the coming weeks.