New Laura Keeley Article on Duke's Postseason Prep

[FerryFor50]

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article13515332.html

Interesting quote by K, which should quell some of the doubts that K doesn't think about developing guys for postseason minutes.


While Jefferson, Matt Jones and Allen combined for 64 minutes in total, all three made their only shots of the game during that stretch, when Duke needed them most. Jefferson had a tip-in that pulled Duke to within one. Matt Jones hit a step-back 3 that gave Duke the lead back for good. And, after Krzyzewski opted to leave that group out there after the under-12 media timeout, Allen hit a 3, too.

"My staff said, ‘Let’s get Jah in,’ and I said ‘no, no, these guys, we’re winning because of those guys. Let’s keep them in,’" Krzyzewski said. "The other thing is you never know — this game we felt like would be a big-time NCAA game.

"And so for them to get that experience after doing something, and then coming after timeout — it’s a good show of confidence on our part. I hope they know that I believe in them anyway, but it’s a good way of doing it."

[Billy Dat]

I see he's been using this kind of language a lot lately:

""I’m not saying we have a great team, but I have a special group of guys," he said. "We have such a together group. Again, it’s on them. They really pull for each other."

Let's hope it is the beginning of a story that ends like this one did:

"Krzyzewski felt it, too. He would tell them: You are a good team. That's all. He did not want them to get comfortable. He did not think they could afford to feel too good about themselves. After a while, well, they played so hard, and they were so close, and they came together, he would tell them: "You are a very good team." That's as far as he could go. The Blue Devils went into the NCAA tournament as pretty clearly the last No. 1 seed -- "good but not great" was their tag. They defended. They could make three-pointers. They had a lot of size inside. They played as a team. But, people said, this still was not DUKE, all capital letters, the teams that had won so much and won so thoroughly that the only reaction for much of America was to despise them for being so good.

These Blue Devils won tournament games. They rolled past Cal. They streaked past Purdue in the second half. No, it wasn't always art. The Baylor game, especially, was often agonizing. But they won. They rained three-pointers on West Virginia. Krzyzewski told his team then that they were a good team with great character.
...

What Krzyzewski did want to talk about is that, after the game, he went into the locker room and looked hard at the players on his team. There was all sorts of emotion. They all realized that they just had won one of the great games ever. They all realized that for the rest of their lives they would be connected by this game and this championship and that final heave that did not go in. And, as everyone quieted down, Krzyzewski said to them in his craggy voice the words he had been waiting all year to say.

He said: "You are a great team."

(those excerpts are from Joe Posnanski's write-up of the 2010 National Title game. His piece, to me, is the definitive account of that contest, pure poetry written on deadline
http://www.si.com/more-sports/2010/04/06/duke-title)

[FerryFor50]

I see he's been using this kind of language a lot lately:

""I’m not saying we have a great team, but I have a special group of guys," he said. "We have such a together group. Again, it’s on them. They really pull for each other."

Let's hope it is the beginning of a story that ends like this one did:

"Krzyzewski felt it, too. He would tell them: You are a good team. That's all. He did not want them to get comfortable. He did not think they could afford to feel too good about themselves. After a while, well, they played so hard, and they were so close, and they came together, he would tell them: "You are a very good team." That's as far as he could go. The Blue Devils went into the NCAA tournament as pretty clearly the last No. 1 seed -- "good but not great" was their tag. They defended. They could make three-pointers. They had a lot of size inside. They played as a team. But, people said, this still was not DUKE, all capital letters, the teams that had won so much and won so thoroughly that the only reaction for much of America was to despise them for being so good.

These Blue Devils won tournament games. They rolled past Cal. They streaked past Purdue in the second half. No, it wasn't always art. The Baylor game, especially, was often agonizing. But they won. They rained three-pointers on West Virginia. Krzyzewski told his team then that they were a good team with great character.
...

What Krzyzewski did want to talk about is that, after the game, he went into the locker room and looked hard at the players on his team. There was all sorts of emotion. They all realized that they just had won one of the great games ever. They all realized that for the rest of their lives they would be connected by this game and this championship and that final heave that did not go in. And, as everyone quieted down, Krzyzewski said to them in his craggy voice the words he had been waiting all year to say.

He said: "You are a great team."

(those excerpts are from Joe Posnanski's write-up of the 2010 National Title game. His piece, to me, is the definitive account of that contest, pure poetry written on deadline
http://www.si.com/more-sports/2010/04/06/duke-title)

Yep, those comments reminded me of the same.

Also noteworthy... he wasn't saying this sort of stuff about his teams last year, the year prior, etc. It's almost always when he thinks his team has a chance to make a deep run.

[roywhite]

Yep, those comments reminded me of the same.

Also noteworthy... he wasn't saying this sort of stuff about his teams last year, the year prior, etc. It's almost always when he thinks his team has a chance to make a deep run.

Yeah, "special" is really high on the K-praise-o-meter.

In relation to a team, "great" would be at the top. Hope to hear that, perhaps on the evening of April 6.