K issues apology

[grossbus]

Apparently he did voice an admonishment to Brooks.

[dukelifer]

Apparently he did voice an admonishment to Brooks.

Why is this a story? Amazing.

[DCGeneral]

K said the player's account was incorrect. Video proves the player's account was correct. K then puts out a press release, but says he "reacted incorrectly".

That's the weirdest apology I've ever seen. He should have just been truthful from the outset and the story would have died.

[Atlanta Duke]

Why is this a story? Amazing.

Page clicks and ratings for something that takes little time to explain (unlike the perhaps more significant matter of another school still contending for the championship running an academic fraud scam for decades) and allows lots of time for continuing to discuss a polarizing basketball team despite the minor complication of the team being eliminated from the tournament.

I am not defending how K responded - he handled this badly both in his initial comments to Brooks and then his statements at the postgame presser. Just stating these sorts of stories become online media chew toys.

[gofurman]

K said the player's account was incorrect. Video proves the player's account was correct. K then puts out a press release, but says he "reacted incorrectly".

That's the weirdest apology I've ever seen. He should have just been truthful from the outset and the story would have died.

Glad he apologized. He shouldn't have lied - very disappointing. Weak action by coach K. Did he own up only be video evidence got him caught? that REALLY LOOKS WEAK. I love Duke but this is poor. K is 70 or whatever and brooks (annoying as he was) is 19 or so - be the bigger man. Don't act like a teenager - be the adult as hard as it is when a kid is taunting and immature. Not the biggest deal but coulda been handled much better.

[hallcity]

The Oregon coach shouldn't have told the kid to take a three. K shouldn't have said anything about it, just made a mental note to return the favor some day. He shouldn't have denied saying something about it. I wish this would just die here but since it's Duke it will never die.

This issue should be just what Oregon needs -- a distraction from preparing for Oklahoma. I guess that's their punishment.

[DCGeneral]

The Oregon coach shouldn't have told the kid to take a three. K shouldn't have said anything about it, just made a mental note to return the favor some day. He shouldn't have denied saying something about it. I wish this would just die here but since it's Duke it will never die.

This issue should be just what Oregon needs -- a distraction from preparing for Oklahoma. I guess that's their punishment.

The shot clock was going to expire a few seconds before the end of the game. Nothing wrong with the kid hoisting up the 3. K should not have admonished any other team's player, especially in light of the lack of punishment for Allen's two trips.

[Devilwin]

Sorry he misled everyone. We have come to expect more of him. But I do agree about returning the favor someday.

[rsvman]

The shot clock was going to expire a few seconds before the end of the game. Nothing wrong with the kid hoisting up the 3. K should not have admonished any other team's player, especially in light of the lack of punishment for Allen's two trips.

I don't think you get it. it wasn't just about jacking up the three. it was about the way he postured and carried on after making it.

I don't have a problem at all with what coach said to him. in my opinion, the only thing coach k did wrong was not owning up to it in the press conference.

[wsb3]

The off season is not off to a good start. Not Coach K's finest hour. He is correct in that he should have never said anything to that kid. It is not his place. It doesn't matter if the Coach for Oregon said something as stupid as wanting to avoid a turnover.

Of course K will get hammered but Roy gets a free pass for lying every time he opens his mouth & says he knew nothing about those fake classes & everything has proven that.

[gofurman]

Why is this a story? Amazing.

Should be a story. Especially because a video was apparently shown (I haven't seen this so if wrong I apologize in advance ) backing the Oregon player and ONLY THEN does K apologize. So K lied and then only apologized when forced to by evidence.

That's a story - K shoulda been honest upfront and probably shouldn't have said anything to the kid anyway. But he certainly shoulda been honest about it.

[WakeDevil]

Some people would vote to acquit Mike Krzyzewski of murder even if it was on tape. You know, he won over a thousand basketball games.

[Bob Green]

I don't think you get it. it wasn't just about jacking up the three. it was about the way he postured and carried on after making it.

I don't have a problem at all with what coach said to him. in my opinion, the only thing coach k did wrong was not owning up to it in the press conference.

I agree 100 percent with rsvman.

[TKG]

Now we can expect the dissection of each and every word of his apology- and the motivation behind it - from media blowhards and posters on discussion boards.

[DCGeneral]

I don't think you get it. it wasn't just about jacking up the three. it was about the way he postured and carried on after making it.

I don't have a problem at all with what coach said to him. in my opinion, the only thing coach k did wrong was not owning up to it in the press conference.


Good Lord. K should have said something if it was HIS OWN PLAYER. As a coach, you don't say things to someone else's players. I am a youth bball coach and even I know that.

K looks horrible here. When asked about it, he lied. Then when faced with his lie, the SID put together a horrible non-apology. Not only should have have owned up to it from the beginning (which would have ended it), putting out a press release with "reacted incorrectly" makes the story live longer.

In light of K's failure to discipline Allen for EITHER trip, this looks terrible. If my teams loses, we lose. It doesn't matter if someone wants to jack up another meaningless shot or not. K is a HOF coach, but this behavior makes him look terrible.

Under your logic, every opposing coach should say something to Allen in the handshake line about his boorish behavior.

[sagegrouse]

The Oregon coach shouldn't have told the kid to take a three. K shouldn't have said anything about it, just made a mental note to return the favor some day. He shouldn't have denied saying something about it. I wish this would just die here but since it's Duke it will never die.

This issue should be just what Oregon needs -- a distraction from preparing for Oklahoma. I guess that's their punishment.
I really don't think K should have purposefully tripped Brooks after his comment.

[CameronBornAndBred]

For anyone else that was looking for a link.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/15073476/duke-blue-devils-coach-mike-krzyzewski-apologizes-postgame-comments-oregon-dillon-brooks

[NashvilleDevil]

This isn't an issue if it is another coach and another school.

[CDu]

Good on Coach K for apologizing. Bad on Coach K for how he handled the question so inappropriately. To lie about it and essentially call out the player was wrong.

He was wrong. He is human, and he made a mistake. Even the great Coach K does dumb things from time to time. I am sure he wishes he had those moments back. Not good form on his part, but at least he eventually owned up to it.

[gurufrisbee]

* Brooks acted like a classless jerk the entire game
* Altman never did a thing about that
* The stupid reporter asked Coach K to publicly trash a college kid in a press conference
* Coach K lied to the media to try to protect a private conversation and not trash a kid publicly.

There were plenty of mistakes to go around. Coach K's doesn't even come close to being one of the three worst.

[tux]

Should be a story. Especially because a video was apparently shown (I haven't seen this so if wrong I apologize in advance ) backing the Oregon player and ONLY THEN does K apologize. That's WEAK SH,T. So K lied and then only apologized when forced to by evidence.

That's a story - K shoulda been honest upfront and probably shouldn't have said anything to the kid anyway. But he certainly shoulda been honest about it.


I don't really have an issue with K being dishonest in the press conference. Telling someone "you're a better player than that" isn't exactly an earth-shattering admonishment. K actually spends a lot of time, more than most coaches, interacting with opposing players in the handshake line. Most of the time, I think he's complimenting them or encouraging them, etc. I think K was trying to prevent a further distraction by not repeating verbatim what he said in the press conference. I'm sure K regrets not handling the whole thing better, but to come here PRETENDING IT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER with capital letters, etc. is a bit much.

I find it laughable that CBS felt the need to "analyze the audio"... would they have bothered if it was any other coach?

[BoiseDevil]

Good on Coach K for apologizing. Bad on Coach K for how he handled the question so inappropriately. To lie about it and essentially call out the player was wrong.

He was wrong. He is human, and he made a mistake. Even the great Coach K does dumb things from time to time. I am sure he wishes he had those moments back. Not good form on his part, but at least he eventually owned up to it.

One of many good points you've made today CDu

Since this has has been over analyzed already...

My hope is that the way this season ended lights a fire under K, fuels GAs desire to be THE MAN on a championship team and next year they play defense like Amaker/Hill/King/Battier/Williams on their way to an undefeated season.

The only blip on the radar is an unsportsmanlike technical on Grayson after he blows a kiss to Brooks after a posterizing dunk in Final-Four blowout victory.

Go Duke!

[CinANC]

My sense when I saw the press conference was that K interrupted to say "I didn't say that" as in "I didn't say those words", which may have been accurate as a parsing of the question he was asked. He then basically said "you can say whatever you want to say about what I said after I told him he was a terrific player...", which to me was a tacit admission that he did utter more than compliments. He caught himself there between outright denial, which is what was decribed throughout the internet, and being forthcoming.

Please forgive me here, but he tripped on this for sure. An admission that he went too far in admonishing another coaches player, and a quick apology or "it will not happen again" would certainly have been fodder for clicks but not as much as his denial and retraction. Too bad. The admission when it came today still seems grudging.

I feel I can understand his feelings at the time however, after seeing all that bicep-flexing, chest-pounding, bench-taunting crappola all game, topped off by the made three when it was clear neither team was contesting any longer. To that extent I would argue that Dana Altman by ordering the shot was the offender, not Brooks. But K didn't know that, and Brooks had marked himself to K with his behaviors during the game.

BTW, if the media has decided to hold K's feet to the fire will it also ask Altman how he feels about his players' behaviors or about his decision to order the three after it had been established by both teams they were just waiting it out? A clock shot turnover would have been the right coaching decision there, IMO.

I said to my wife when Bell first did the bicep flexing/posing "I would bench that guy for two minutes, then if he does it again for another three minutes"; but turns out he was just being the role model for pretty much the rest of the game. Not long after Bell's flexing bicep self-love Kennard started to loom-pose over an Oregon player after scoring on him and Plumlee immediately turned him around to stop that behavior before it could really happen.

To those who write off Brooks, et al behaviors as "excitement" or "passion": in my worldview there is a difference between between being excited or passionate and acting like a horse's rear end. I am an Oregon alumnus but Oregon player behaviors did not inspire my loyalty. Act like you have been there before, boys.

Oh. Wait.

[TKG]

What has been reinforced - with this episode and, for that matter, throughout this season - is there are two standards of acceptable conduct in college basketball: one for Duke and another every other team/program.

[tux]

My sense when I saw the press conference was that K interrupted to say "I didn't say that" as in "I didn't say those words", which may have been accurate as a parsing of the question he was asked. He then basically said "you can say whatever you want to say about what I said after I told him he was a terrific player...", which to me was a tacit admission that he did utter more than compliments. He caught himself there between outright denial, which is what was decribed throughout the internet, and being forthcoming.

Please forgive me here, but he tripped on this for sure. An admission that he went too far in admonishing another coaches player, and a quick apology or "it will not happen again" would certainly have been fodder for clicks but not as much as his denial and retraction. Too bad. The admission when it came today still seems grudging.

I feel I can understand his feelings at the time however, after seeing all that bicep-flexing, chest-pounding, bench-taunting crappola all game, topped off by the made three when it was clear neither team was contesting any longer. To that extent I would argue that Dana Altman by ordering the shot was the offender, not Brooks. But K didn't know that, and Brooks had marked himself to K with his behaviors during the game.

BTW, if the media has decided to hold K's feet to the fire will it also ask Altman how he feels about his players' behaviors or about his decision to order the three after it had been established by both teams they were just waiting it out? A clock shot turnover would have been the right coaching decision there, IMO.

I said to my wife when Bell first did the bicep flexing/posing "I would bench that guy for two minutes, then if he does it again for another three minutes"; but turns out he was just being the role model for pretty much the rest of the game. Not long after Bell's flexing bicep self-love Kennard started to loom-pose over an Oregon player after scoring on him and Plumlee immediately turned him around to stop that behavior before it could really happen.

To those who write off Brooks, et al behaviors as "excitement" or "passion": in my worldview there is a difference between between being excited or passionate and acting like a horse's rear end. I am an Oregon alumnus but Oregon player behaviors did not inspire my loyalty. Act like you have been there before, boys.

Oh. Wait.


Exactly, they haven't been there and are unlikely to go back many times in the future. All the crap doesn't really bother me b/c I'm used to seeing some second-rate program act like they're better than they are when they catch Duke in an off year. I'd love to see the media coverage if Duke, during their blistering 1st half vs Yale, had stopped to flex their muscles after every made basket. Or, if a Duke player shot a 30 foot 3-pointer during the final seconds of a big win. This is all such horse-s*** it makes my teeth itch.

[CDu]

* Brooks acted like a classless jerk the entire game
* Altman never did a thing about that
* The stupid reporter asked Coach K to publicly trash a college kid in a press conference
* Coach K lied to the media to try to protect a private conversation and not trash a kid publicly.

There were plenty of mistakes to go around. Coach K's doesn't even come close to being one of the three worst.

No, Coach K was not asked to publically trash a player. And, no, his response didn't protect the player but actually threw the player under the bus instead. He was clearly one of the most if not the most in the wrong here.

And that's ok. He made a mistake. At least he eventually owned it. It is amazing how far folks will bend to blame others for Coach's mistakes. Especially when the mistake wasn't even that huge a mistake. It is okay to make mistakes. We don't need to rail against the possibility that Coach is capable of making mistakes.

[Indoor66]

When is the first day of practice?

[NSDukeFan]

Good Lord. K should have said something if it was HIS OWN PLAYER. As a coach, you don't say things to someone else's players. I am a youth bball coach and even I know that.

K looks horrible here. When asked about it, he lied. Then when faced with his lie, the SID put together a horrible non-apology. Not only should have have owned up to it from the beginning (which would have ended it), putting out a press release with "reacted incorrectly" makes the story live longer.

In light of K's failure to discipline Allen for EITHER trip, this looks terrible. If my teams loses, we lose. It doesn't matter if someone wants to jack up another meaningless shot or not. K is a HOF coach, but this behavior makes him look terrible.

Under your logic, every opposing coach should say something to Allen in the handshake line about his boorish behavior.


I really don't think K should have purposefully tripped Brooks after his comment.
I agree this is one of the most terrible things ever and the Duke program should probably be given the death penalty, just like any program in this situation.

[Owen Meany]

I am not stating that Coach K is faultless in this. But I do think its been wildly blown out of proportion by the media, and that even some of the few respondents to this thread are being unduly harsh.

Coach K had a very brief, and not harsh or animated conversation with Brooks. For those who want to argue that he was out of line - fine. But some people disagreed, including Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley - so it was by no means some extreme dressing down or lecturing as some have chosen to portray it.

Next comes how this was handled by Coach K in his press conference. There is a very big difference between saying something to a player after the game, one on one, and saying it in a press conference. I can see that Coach K would feel that being asked if he admonished the Oregon player did not properly capture the gist of their brief conversation. Can anyone actually suggest that things would have gone better if Coach K had given a completely forthcoming answer? Setting aside the initial conversation with Brooks, there was no easy way for Coach K to address a private conversation in a press conference.

"Actually, those were not my exact words. I actually told Brooks that he was to good to do that. I was complimenting his play, but letting him know that maybe he should tone down his behavior earlier. And for the record, I was not talking about the last shot. I was talking about when he ran past our bench earlier in the game screaming profanities. Specifically, he yelled "#^%# you, *%^% &(^*&^!" Its important that I tell you EXACTLY what was said here, and my motivations. Even if it reflects poorly on not just me, but this young man. And if its a huge distraction to his team. Because its very important that this be shared with you, the press, and the public. This is not something to handle just between me and this young man. You have a RIGHT to know. And I'm glad I got this off of my chest, because now I know that it will be dropped. You will all take it in the context it was meant. You will not think I was disparaging this young man. And you will drop it now so it doesn't take away from this kid's game or Oregon's victory and coming game for the Final Four. I appreciate your understanding in this matter. And I am glad I have been able to put this to rest with my honesty. Thank you everyone."

FWIW, this is what I figured happened right after Coach K answered the question, right down to the "better than that", because he's used it so many times for Duke players. I thought his point was "that's not exactly what I said", that he wasn't going to go into his private conversation, but that you could take whatever Brooks had to say about the conversation and go with that. At that point in time I'm not sure there was an eloquent way out of the situation that would not have exacerbated it. As for this being news - it must be a slow news day then.

Finally, I think everyone needs to appreciate the microscope Coach K and Grayson Allen have been under this year - highlighted by Vern Linquist's accusation that Allen shoved the Oregon player followed by a close up replay, a second replay, and no correction for an assertion that would have been totally unnews-worthy even if it had not been false. And this followed the first half, pre-planned, pre-produced tidbit that falsely claimed Allen had intentionally tripped players on other occasions, including twice against Yale - complete with a video that showed nothing of the kind. CBS took something straight off of IC and had it as a planned segment during their game coverage. So excuse Coach K if he figured he could not be completely forthcoming in this situation. This is another subject, but I believe the media may well have completely exhausted Allen this year and may well have run him out of college basketball.

[53n206]

When Duke has a lead like Oregon in the last minute of the game we played stall ball and not made overly aggressive moves to the basket, nor would we have shot from deep as did that the last few seconds. Oregon started last minute or so of the game with a long pass leading to a dunk. I didn't see any class to that, and the final three point shot just added to my disrespect for the Oregon team, and their coach. Yes, they have a very good team. However I can understand that the Oregon coach wanted to blow us out. He probably feels that a victory like this will lead to greater recruiting.

Go Oklahoma!

[Furniture]

Next play!!

[KYtotheCore]

Well, I have to say I am pleasantly surprised about this board's reaction to all of this. Fans everywhere have a tendency to downplay events of their own teams to "justify" those events. Nice to see your all's thoughts on the matter. Unfortunately it was made a bigger story than it probably should have been. Good for Coach K. Good for Duke.

[rsvman]

at worst it was a mild admonishment wrapped in a compliment. it's not like coach K said something like "hey kid, you're an $@&-hole." I would have had a problem with that.

And if Rick Pitino would have said "I was surprised to see that kind of chippy play from a player of your caliber" to Grayson after the Louisville game, I wouldn't have had a problem with that, either.

[WakeDevil]

Play defense if you do not want someone to score on you in the last minute. "Class" has nothing to do with it.

[CDu]

at worst it was a mild admonishment wrapped in a compliment. it's not like coach K said something like "hey kid, you're an $@&-hole." I would have had a problem with that.

And if Rick Pitino would have said "I was surprised to see that kind of chippy play from a player of your caliber" to Grayson after the Louisville game, I wouldn't have had a problem with that, either.

And that is why it was weird that he didn't just acknowledge it immediately when asked. He made it a deal by lying and throwing the kid under the bus. It would have been nothing to just say a brief comment. Instead he made it worse. Not a big deal still, but he made it worse for no good reason.

[sagegrouse]

If this thread, in which I have participated, is a foreshadowing of our off-season discussion, then the seven months until next season may be unendurable.

[DCGeneral]

This isn't an issue if it is another coach and another school.

One, that's incorrect. Two, it doesn't absolve K. He reprimanded someone who is not his player, which is lousy. The player noted the episode to the press (though not as an admonishment, just an aside). K, when asked, said it didn't happen. It did happen, as proven by the video. K was caught in his lie and made it worse with a terribly worded pseudo-apology.

K was wrong multiple times and deserves to be called on on it, as would any other coach in that position. Stupid action at the outset, and he made it infinitely worse by lying.

[Pghdukie]

As usual, Oregon thought they won the Super Bowl. Show some class and win the next game. Oops, down double digits at halftime. So your season is defined by winning 1 game. DAM

[DCGeneral]

* Brooks acted like a classless jerk the entire game
* Altman never did a thing about that
* The stupid reporter asked Coach K to publicly trash a college kid in a press conference
* Coach K lied to the media to try to protect a private conversation and not trash a kid publicly.

There were plenty of mistakes to go around. Coach K's doesn't even come close to being one of the three worst.

K lied, which is inexcusable. He admonished someone else's player, which he shouldn't have done. Even if the kid was a jerk, that doesn't absolve K from his initial action, his lie, or his apology which substitutes "reacted incorrectly" for lying.

All three decisions were terrible and have made him look worse.

[DCGeneral]

I agree this is one of the most terrible things ever and the Duke program should probably be given the death penalty, just like any program in this situation.

Nice strawman.

[Edouble]

The rest of the country can tell Coach K's player (Grayson Allen) how to behave every single game, but Coach K, a HOF coach and ambassador of the sport, can't give a player on another team some helpful advice?

[CDu]

The rest of the country can tell Coach K's player (Grayson Allen) how to behave every single game, but Coach K, a HOF coach and ambassador of the sport, can't give a player on another team some helpful advice?

For me it is far less about the admonishment (which was a little lame but certainly no big deal) but rather the weird denial and weirder throwing of the player under the bus. And even that isn't a huge deal, just weird and dumb. It is just weird that some folks can't even accept that Coach K made a minor mistake and continue to look to blame everyone but Coach K for Coach K's minor mistake.

[wavedukefan70s]

To be honest i have no problem with a team scoring till the clock ends.
We preach a full 40 minutes of basketball.its a teams job to score the other team to stop them.as for the theatrics of flexing and such. I dont like it.

[gofurman]

Well, I have to say I am pleasantly surprised about this board's reaction to all of this. Fans everywhere have a tendency to downplay events of their own teams to "justify" those events. Nice to see your all's thoughts on the matter. Unfortunately it was made a bigger story than it probably should have been. Good for Coach K. Good for Duke.

+ 1. Don't justify things just because its 'your' team. Apply the exact same standards regardless

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

For me it is far less about the admonishment (which was a little lame but certainly no big deal) but rather the weird denial and weirder throwing of the player under the bus. And even that isn't a huge deal, just weird and dumb. It is just weird that some folks can't even accept that Coach K made a minor mistake and continue to look to blame everyone but Coach K for Coach K's minor mistake.

I would explain K's behavior as a disappointment likely incurred as a result of the emotions of the end of the season.

It was an odd choice to address the played post-game with anything other than congratulations. It is a baffling choice to lie about it in the interview. It is gratifying that he owned the mistake today.

Honestly, I felt the Duck player handled it well and certainly didn't seem off put by it in any way.

Not the way you want to end the season, but really, there's likely only one question K was hoping to get at the end of this season - "how did this short-handed Duke team manage to win another national championship?"

[grossbus]

I could swear I just hear Verne say it was his turn to apologize, but I didn't hear him actually apologize. Tried to rewind, but screwed it up.

[tux]

Nice strawman.


We get it buddy. You're not a Duke fan. I just feel blessed that you dropped by to explain everything to us.

[AustinDevil]

The rest of the country can tell Coach K's player (Grayson Allen) how to behave every single game, but Coach K, a HOF coach and ambassador of the sport, can't give a player on another team some helpful advice?

What head coaches of teams we faced said anything to Grayson? That's the relevant comparison.

[AustinDevil]

The Oregon coach shouldn't have told the kid to take a three. K shouldn't have said anything about it, just made a mental note to return the favor some day. He shouldn't have denied saying something about it. I wish this would just die here but since it's Duke it will never die.

This issue should be just what Oregon needs -- a distraction from preparing for Oklahoma. I guess that's their punishment.

They certainly appeared distracted in the first half today. Personally, I'm disappointed to see that. I hate Nike U, but I always want the team we lose to to keep rolling in the tournament.

[gofurman]

I don't really have an issue with K being dishonest in the press conference. Telling someone "you're a better player than that" isn't exactly an earth-shattering admonishment. K actually spends a lot of time, more than most coaches, interacting with opposing players in the handshake line. Most of the time, I think he's complimenting them or encouraging them, etc. I think K was trying to prevent a further distraction by not repeating verbatim what he said in the press conference. I'm sure K regrets not handling the whole thing better, but to come here PRETENDING IT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER with capital letters, etc. is a bit much.

I find it laughable that CBS felt the need to "analyze the audio"... would they have bothered if it was any other coach?

But the fact you don't have a problem w dishonesty is a little telling. I don't believe most religious texts (Bible etc) distinguish when honesty is 'ok' vs 'not ok.' It's just not ok - at all times. Don't recall many texts saying "dishonesty in a press conference is ok". It's Wrong. Case closed.

I am always surprised at how many people feel that "ethics ends where the hardwood begins". I guess that's the world we live in.

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

Coach K is an outstanding and very accomplished man. I very much recognize, admire and appreciate his extraordinary achievements and his many contributions to Duke and to the sport of basketball. But the arrogance he demonstrated on Thursday is disappointing to me. At least he has now recognized his mistakes and apologized.

Next play.

[tux]

But the fact you don't have a problem w dishonesty is a little telling. I don't believe most religious texts (Bible etc) distinguish when honesty is 'ok' vs 'not ok.' It's just not ok - at all times. Don't recall many texts saying "dishonesty in a press conference is ok". It's Wrong. Case closed.

I am always surprised at how many people feel that "ethics ends where the hardwood begins". I guess that's the world we live in.

Some dishonesty can be quite ethical. The fact that you don't understand that nuance is even more telling.

[79-77]

No, Coach K was not asked to publically trash a player. And, no, his response didn't protect the player but actually threw the player under the bus instead. He was clearly one of the most if not the most in the wrong here.

And that's ok. He made a mistake. At least he eventually owned it. It is amazing how far folks will bend to blame others for Coach's mistakes. Especially when the mistake wasn't even that huge a mistake. It is okay to make mistakes. We don't need to rail against the possibility that Coach is capable of making mistakes.


For me it is far less about the admonishment (which was a little lame but certainly no big deal) but rather the weird denial and weirder throwing of the player under the bus. And even that isn't a huge deal, just weird and dumb. It is just weird that some folks can't even accept that Coach K made a minor mistake and continue to look to blame everyone but Coach K for Coach K's minor mistake.


I agree with both of these posts and would just add this: I freaking love Coach K. I think he is a good man, of high character, and I would trust him with my son (if, of course, my son could play basketball at an incredibly high level). I have felt this way for a solid 30 years.

But he lied, and in so doing, implied that a kid was lying. I really, really wish he hadn't done that.

To put a positive spin on it, it happened in the heat of the moment, he owned up to it a day later, and this is the worst thing I can think of him ever doing -- and it ain't that big of a sin.

He's human and he made a mistake and he owned up to it and apologized. It wasn't a shining moment, but it's over.

[fan345678]

"Number of opposing players scolded"
-the only Dean Smith record that K hasn't broken

[gofurman]

One, that's incorrect. Two, it doesn't absolve K. He reprimanded someone who is not his player, which is lousy. The player noted the episode to the press (though not as an admonishment, just an aside). K, when asked, said it didn't happen. It did happen, as proven by the video. K was caught in his lie and made it worse with a terribly worded pseudo-apology.

K was wrong multiple times and deserves to be called on on it, as would any other coach in that position. Stupid action at the outset, and he made it infinitely worse by lying.

Exactly. See Nixon, Richard. Much bigger issue but same premise. Don't lie- just be honest or just come forward and apologize asap. Even if K had come forward before the video proved he lied it woulda been better. At least it doesn't look like he had to wait for evidence against him before he would admit it.

As an aside, a friend of mine said "you know they can get lip readers or video and prove this if they want". Turned out he had was rather prescient. As a matter of fact Duke should know this too and shoulda had K apologize quickly - if he lied - knowing someone / somewhere would have it in video in this day and age! Doesnt take a genius to figure that out. If you are in a highly televised arena w TV and phones whatever you did is probably on video

[NSDukeFan]

Nice strawman.

Hyperbole - exaggeration not intended to deceive

[NashvilleDevil]

One, that's incorrect. Two, it doesn't absolve K. He reprimanded someone who is not his player, which is lousy. The player noted the episode to the press (though not as an admonishment, just an aside). K, when asked, said it didn't happen. It did happen, as proven by the video. K was caught in his lie and made it worse with a terribly worded pseudo-apology.

K was wrong multiple times and deserves to be called on on it, as would any other coach in that position. Stupid action at the outset, and he made it infinitely worse by lying.

I am guaranteeing that any other coach does this and there is no way it gets the play in the media that it is getting because it is Coach K.

[NashvilleDevil]

I look forward to the think pieces that K needs to resign his position in USA Basketball and his legacy at Duke is tarnished because of this. They're coming so be prepared.

[NSDukeFan]

I look forward to the think pieces that K needs to resign his position in USA Basketball because and his legacy At Duke is tarnished because of this. They're coming so be prepared.
Probably just from Calipari/Woj.

[Scorp4me]

I read over most of the thread so I apologize if this is simply a repeat. But I assumed that when asked about it K denied it to protect Brooks, not himself. He was probably surprised Brooks even mentioned it and was caught off guard. According to what I've read it was less an admonition and more compliment of his play (as in "you don't need to woof, you're beyond that"). But it's K so big shock that it's a story. Duke lost and they're still the story. Guess we should all be glad.

[DukieInKansas]

With all the talk about this, one would think there are no more basketball games going on to be discussed by the sports media.

[gurufrisbee]

Hey, Dillon Brooks. THIS is exactly why you should listen when there is a coach who cares enough to try to help you not be a jerk. Karma happens. Games like that are always lurking out there.

[DCGeneral]

We get it buddy. You're not a Duke fan. I just feel blessed that you dropped by to explain everything to us.

Nope. I'm not a homer, but find the excuses laughable. I would say the same thing about any coach. It is bizarre and disappointing to see K do it in the first place, and then make it worse by lying about it. And then make it even worse by submitting that non-apology with "react incorrectly".

If he had simply apologized for talking to someone else's player, this would have been a non-story within 5 minutes.

[DCGeneral]

Hey, Dillon Brooks. THIS is exactly why you should listen when there is a coach who cares enough to try to help you not be a jerk. Karma happens. Games like that are always lurking out there.

By that measure, Grayson Allen should really watch out.

[DCGeneral]

I am guaranteeing that any other coach does this and there is no way it gets the play in the media that it is getting because it is Coach K.

You are mistaken. Because you are a homer.

[FerryFor50]

By that measure, Grayson Allen should really watch out.

Oh like getting elbowed in the face intentionally with the elbower getting zero media blowback?

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

You are mistaken. Because you are a homer.
Wow. Almost vacation time...

[FerryFor50]

You are mistaken. Because you are a homer.

Good to see you can speak with such absolute authority on what other coaches say to opposing players. I assume you watch every handshake line and listen in?

[NashvilleDevil]

You are mistaken. Because you are a homer.

Thats all you got? I am a homer? I'll agree I'm a homer but I'm not mistaken that this got major play because of the coach involved. If Dana Altman said something to Buddy Hield tonight and then lied about it in the postgame it gets 3 days of coverage? There is absolutely no way the media clutches their pearls if it is another coach.

[OZ]

Because you are a homer.


We have publically flogged Coach K, drained the last bit of blood from this inflated issue and FINALLY turned to another sport... baseball.
Thanks.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I accidentally sporked the troll. A little help?

[fan345678]

"Number of opposing players scolded"
-the only Dean Smith record that K hasn't broken

And here's some material on this matter for distribution to your UNC acquaintances, who have apparently forgotten that they have a game tomorrow:

http://www.fayobserver.com/sports/woody-capt-queeg-and-unc-basketball/article_5c24f766-e076-5b98-a189-9cf365b63ad0.html

http://acc.blogs.starnewsonline.com/46323/theres-a-guy-named-dean-smith-on-the-phone-and-he-wants-to-talk-to-you/

[jacone21]

6174

[Bostondevil]

The only thing I blame Brooks for is telling the media what Coach K said to him in the first place. I know it's not a written rule, but it is breaking the code. You don't tell those things to the media. Brooks created this distraction. And now his team is out. Are the two related? I dunno, maybe? I'm gonna chalk Coach K's initial reaction up to trying not to break the code. Altman should have coached his kids better on dealing with the media. Oregon comes back and makes the Sweet 16 next year? If Altman is any good as coach, his players will do a better job with the post-game interview.

Taking the three and celebrating - players do that stuff. Trying to hug Grayson on his way off the court wasn't bad. Neither was Grayson's reaction.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

6174
"Just blanks, right?"

"Riiiggght."

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

This thread has moved beyond critical discussion and thought-provoking disagreements. Can we move forward and just all root against UNC?

[NSDukeFan]

You are mistaken. Because you are a homer.

You are mistaken because you believe yourself to be impartial and many others to be wrong and seem to be unaware that Duke is the most polarizing program, coach K the most respected coach and that this would not be a story if it was any other program, much like the Grayson Allen trips. I'm not saying those actions weren't wrong, but following the Entertainment network narrative and believing yourself morally correct because you agree with Verne Lundquist or other commentators trying to fabricate page views does not necessarily make it so.

[Newton_14]

Good Lord. K should have said something if it was HIS OWN PLAYER. As a coach, you don't say things to someone else's players. I am a youth bball coach and even I know that.

K looks horrible here. When asked about it, he lied. Then when faced with his lie, the SID put together a horrible non-apology. Not only should have have owned up to it from the beginning (which would have ended it), putting out a press release with "reacted incorrectly" makes the story live longer.

In light of K's failure to discipline Allen for EITHER trip, this looks terrible. If my teams loses, we lose. It doesn't matter if someone wants to jack up another meaningless shot or not. K is a HOF coach, but this behavior makes him look terrible.

Under your logic, every opposing coach should say something to Allen in the handshake line about his boorish behavior.
He neither lied nor denied it. For the love of basketball people, watch the presser. He was asked what he said to Brooks. K said "I told him he was a terrific player", which he did. In K's mind, the admonishment part of his discussion with Brooks was between he and Brooks and no one else and I agree with that actually. K never denied saying it nor "emphatically denied" it as I've seen written here. At least not in the post game presser.

This is the society we live in. THe media lives for controversy. They pine for it. Thus the Grayson "trip in the Yale game", and the immediate focus on Grayson walking away from the Brooks hug attempt. The media wants to make controversy even when none is present. And there are thousands of suckers that fall for it every time, just like here.

As all of us who have watched thousands of Duke games know, in handshake lines after wins and losses K often takes a minute to speak with the better players on the other team, and it's the same thing everytime.. an extended handshake, a gentle pat to the chest, and words of wisdom. It was not out of character at all and most kids (as did Brooks) appreciate the words no matter what they may be. Dean did it, Roy does it, numerous others do it as well.

CBS is riding it as long as they can including in tonights game, on two different occasions. Thank God Oregon lost or it would have been brought up again in the Final Four. Might happen even with Oregon gone.

[Channing]

If he had simply apologized for talking to someone else's player, this would have been a non-story within 5 minutes.

It was a bad decision to talk to DB. I think everyone agrees on that. BUT, after that, there is nothing we that could have been done to keep this from being overblown. K could have prostrated himself in the post game presser and engaged in self flagellation. It's still click bait.

[MartyClark]

I had my usual disappointment when Duke loses in the tournament. I guess I live vicariously, a bit, through the Duke season. I love watching them twice a week during the height of the season and really enjoyed this team. I'm a Colorado guy who didn't go to Duke. I got to see them in person twice this year, once at MSG and once,for the first time, at Cameron. I greatly admire K. All of this is by way of context.

K made a mistake. It was no big deal in the scheme of things. I've made worse professional mistakes. I see worse professional conduct than this every day. K is a 3 dimensional human being with flaws, just like the rest of us. (By way of contrast to the IC perception of Saint Dean).

I don't think the media or the K critics move on from this. Duke and K will always be under the microscope. I think that K is astute enough to recognize his mistake and move forward in a productive way. I'm already looking forward to next season.

Finally, I love Grayson Allen. This kid is so good and has such a competitive fire. I hope he stays. I wish him the best if he leaves. He made two mistake this year, I don't buy the other alleged incidents, in a year when the opposing defenses focused on him and sometimes manhandled him.

Anyhow, I'm wishing all the Duke players and staff a good off season. I've appreciated all of you during this season. Go Duke. See you next year.

[Pghdukie]

Dillon Brooks, 7 pts 3 rebounds, 5 fouls in 29 minutes. The biggest game of your life.

[weezie]

Hhhhmmm, can't decide if I should read all this thread. Been a long day of spring yard work.

Did dillon brooks kiss his biceps tonight?

[Troublemaker]

I don't really have an issue with K being dishonest in the press conference. Telling someone "you're a better player than that" isn't exactly an earth-shattering admonishment. K actually spends a lot of time, more than most coaches, interacting with opposing players in the handshake line. Most of the time, I think he's complimenting them or encouraging them, etc. I think K was trying to prevent a further distraction by not repeating verbatim what he said in the press conference. I'm sure K regrets not handling the whole thing better, but to come here PRETENDING IT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING EVER with capital letters, etc. is a bit much.

I find it laughable that CBS felt the need to "analyze the audio"... would they have bothered if it was any other coach?

I agree with this. There are lies and then there are white lies, and this was clearly the latter, imo. Coach K was probably very satisfied and even humbled by how Brooks reacted during their exchange and didn't want one of the postgame stories to be that Brooks was scolded by a Hall-of-Fame coach. Coach naively thought that by denying the exchange, the story wouldn't happen. That was his mistake since the story only blew up from there and became a "search for truth," lol.

Unfortunately, Coach K ended up in a position where people who aren't that fond of him and the program could virtue-signal against his horrible lie and knock him down a peg or two.

I'm a boor, but if were Coach, I wouldn't have even apologized. Never give an inch to those that dislike you. This whole thing is a complete nothingburger.

[DUKIE V(A)]

IMHO:

1. Coach K over-reached and should not have talked to Brooks about his in-game behavior (no matter how egregious) even if he intended to provide him with good advice.
2. That said, Coach K's comments were hardly derogatory and actually seemed well-received by Brooks.
3. During the press conference, the initial phrasing of Coach K's comment to Brooks was much more harshly stated than the words Coach K used and their intent. Coach K denied the harsh characterization of what he said and he also avoided publicly calling Brooks out.
4. When the press member followed up that Brooks said that Coach K addressed his behavior, Coach K seemed caught off-guard that Brooks revealed what he felt was a private conversation. He then said to go with what Brooks said. At that point, perhaps he should have explained in more detail what occurred or just said that was a private conversation that he not going to address publicly.
5. Coach K has acknowledged he made a mistake by addressing Brooks in the way he did. Case closed.

A couple other comments:

1. For those that don't think Coach K disciplines his players just because he didn't suspend Grayson or publicly shame him, that's blind hate. One needs to look no further than his removal of Rasheed from the team last season to see that's not the case. At the time, Duke haters were celebrating and Duke lovers were worried about the impact of that move. Let's just say that Maryland was more than happy to add Rasheed to their roster and many pundits saw it as a move that made Maryland a serious threat in the Big 10 and to win the National Championship.
2. Those that don't think this is a bigger deal because it's Duke, what was the name of the Lousiville player who elbowed Grayson in the face or the Oregon State player you tripped the referee? Last I checked neither was on America's Most Wanted.

[CatDevil]

He neither lied nor denied it. For the love of basketball people, watch the presser. He was asked what he said to Brooks. K said "I told him he was a terrific player", which he did. In K's mind, the admonishment part of his discussion with Brooks was between he and Brooks and no one else and I agree with that actually. K never denied saying it nor "emphatically denied" it as I've seen written here. At least not in the post game presser.

This is the society we live in. THe media lives for controversy. They pine for it. Thus the Grayson "trip in the Yale game", and the immediate focus on Grayson walking away from the Brooks hug attempt. The media wants to make controversy even when none is present. And there are thousands of suckers that fall for it every time, just like here.

As all of us who have watched thousands of Duke games know, in handshake lines after wins and losses K often takes a minute to speak with the better players on the other team, and it's the same thing everytime.. an extended handshake, a gentle pat to the chest, and words of wisdom. It was not out of character at all and most kids (as did Brooks) appreciate the words no matter what they may be. Dean did it, Roy does it, numerous others do it as well.

CBS is riding it as long as they can including in tonights game, on two different occasions. Thank God Oregon lost or it would have been brought up again in the Final Four. Might happen even with Oregon gone.

I watched the presser early yesterday morning. I watched it again today...I am with you. God Bless You for posting... sporks!!!

Go Duke!!!

[ScreechTDX1847]

No, Coach K was not asked to publically trash a player. And, no, his response didn't protect the player but actually threw the player under the bus instead. He was clearly one of the most if not the most in the wrong here.

And that's ok. He made a mistake. At least he eventually owned it. It is amazing how far folks will bend to blame others for Coach's mistakes. Especially when the mistake wasn't even that huge a mistake. It is okay to make mistakes. We don't need to rail against the possibility that Coach is capable of making mistakes.

I think the defensive reactions you are seeing are more related to the hyperbole and overreaction of people attacking K for making the mistake. If you've read any other boards or the tone of the articles written you would think K was one of the most unethical coaches in basketball and this has forever marred his legacy. It's hard to NOT defend against that kind of overreaction even if you would admit mistakes were made.

[cspan37421]

I was afraid this was the case. THe "you're too good of a player ..." sounded just like the K I've come to know at a distance, and not at all like something any player would just make up on the spot.

So wake up DBR, he's not perfect. As for the haters, who else you got that's better ... or even as good? I didn't think so.

[CDu]

He neither lied nor denied it. For the love of basketball people, watch the presser. He was asked what he said to Brooks. K said "I told him he was a terrific player", which he did. In K's mind, the admonishment part of his discussion with Brooks was between he and Brooks and no one else and I agree with that actually. K never denied saying it nor "emphatically denied" it as I've seen written here. At least not in the post game presser.

This is the society we live in. THe media lives for controversy. They pine for it. Thus the Grayson "trip in the Yale game", and the immediate focus on Grayson walking away from the Brooks hug attempt. The media wants to make controversy even when none is present. And there are thousands of suckers that fall for it every time, just like here.

As all of us who have watched thousands of Duke games know, in handshake lines after wins and losses K often takes a minute to speak with the better players on the other team, and it's the same thing everytime.. an extended handshake, a gentle pat to the chest, and words of wisdom. It was not out of character at all and most kids (as did Brooks) appreciate the words no matter what they may be. Dean did it, Roy does it, numerous others do it as well.

CBS is riding it as long as they can including in tonights game, on two different occasions. Thank God Oregon lost or it would have been brought up again in the Final Four. Might happen even with Oregon gone.

Except that he absolutely did deny it. He said "I didn't say that", and added "you can take whatever he said and go with it, all right?" He definitely denied it, and he weirdly kind of implied that Brooks either was lying, made it up, or misunderstood.

Look, we all love Coach K. But every once in a while he messes up. This was one of those times. It happens. No need to cover for him. He is human, and he is allowed to make mistakes. I don't know why he felt the need to deny it, but he did. Good on him for apologizing later.

[CatDevil]

Hhhhmmm, can't decide if I should read all this thread. Been a long day of spring yard work.

Did dillon brooks kiss his biceps tonight?

Minutes of my life I can never get back! On the other hand, Mr. Brooks alter attended the game tonight, zero bicep kissing/hulk moves. Kind of looked for Oklahoma to do a little celebrating, but I missed it if there was any over the top antics. For the most part it was a pretty boring game.

[hurleyfor3]

Hhhhmmm, can't decide if I should read all this thread.

Just don't go on Reddit. Actually that's good advice always.


Did dillon brooks kiss his biceps tonight?

"Dillon Brooks" sounds like something that flows into the lake here. I think it comes in from Keystone or something.

[throatybeard]

Could one of y'all just shoot me a text when this whole manufactured nontroversy has vanished in the gale of some other story 24 to 72 hours from now? Plzkthx I A.

[sagegrouse]

One, that's incorrect. Two, it doesn't absolve K. He reprimanded someone who is not his player, which is lousy. The player noted the episode to the press (though not as an admonishment, just an aside). K, when asked, said it didn't happen. It did happen, as proven by the video. K was caught in his lie and made it worse with a terribly worded pseudo-apology.

K was wrong multiple times and deserves to be called on on it, as would any other coach in that position. Stupid action at the outset, and he made it infinitely worse by lying.

A little humility would be appreciated when you are criticizing Duke folks. This is a Duke fan site. Your use of the terms "stupid," "lousy," "lie," pseudo-apology" are far beyond inappropriate.

K talked to Brooks in a friendly and avuncular manner. He was totally within his rights to do so, but it wasn't the best idea. (No, he did not surrender his freedom of speech when he became a college hoops coach.) Then, at the press conference, he didn't want to air his criticism of Brooks, so he focused on just the positive part of his remarks. The press made a federal case out of it with surveillance techniques and all sorts of overkill -- so, to settle the issue, K apologized -- when he was fully within his rights to tell Brooks what he thought.

[devildeac]

I accidentally sporked the troll. A little help?

All you need to do is whistle...

[JD for Three!]

I better get this out before I pour the second vodka on the rocks!

I have a child who is a an average sized kid with a huge heart and an attitude that makes her an awesome competitor on the court. Basketball is a physical game. Some of you have never been closer to the game than the 6-8 foot distance between your chair and the tv, or at a game up off the floor. Go watch games where you can actually sit and watch the whole game. It's easy to get sucked into watching the ball moving around and going toward the rim. Spend a good chunk of a game ignoring the ball-handling and shooting. Watch as much of the off-ball action as you can. Players grab and hold and swat and scratch and kick and bite (yeah, surprise) and trip. Also, some boys punch each other in the doo-dads (CP3 the current Saint of the NBA). That's just the physical. The chatter you don't see (because it doesn't get to the level of woofing) is things you would hope that no one ever said to your child or that your child ever said back. With girls it's pretty nasty. With boys, it's all about manhood. Everyone is trying to prove who has a bigger pair. Sad that things are that way. Maybe we should have a mandatory public measurement before each game to help cut down the talk!

I like to see games called by the rules (both ways!) early on because it settles the players down. Not the spirit of the rules, or each crew's interpretation of the rules. THE RULES. Late game or big blowout, swallow the whistle. No problem. When refs are inconsistent or make no early calls, the physical nature of the game escalates until it gets borderline dirty and a bit dangerous (think every Louisville game). Some players start out as aggressors. Others become aggressive in response ( some of you might want to think GA).

I believe, and I am sure I will be told I am wrong, that K's comment was not focused on the last shot. The last shot was just the icing on the cake. Brooks flexed and pointed to and kissed the bicep, woofed at our bench and taunted all game. Plus pulled that weird I want to hug you routine with GA at the end! CBS showed the replays of all of it and apparently encourage it because no one said a word about him. My guess is that is because he is 1) not a Duke player, or 2) not a white player, or 3) especially because he is not a white Duke player. If CBS is so pious, someone should have said something. Jimmy Spanarkel was a year ahead of me at Duke. Always loved watching him play and enjoyed the few times we interacted on campus. Actually like listening to him on games. Shame on him for doing the equivalent of a ref swallowing a whistle by not responding to Verne's GA rant in the first half when GA had not been involved in any controversial plays. He could also have called out Brooks and other Ducks for their in-game behavior. But, the only thing that is black and white about the broadcasting and reporting of college basketball is that it is truly about black and white when Duke is involved (sorry, had to get that off my chest). Remember that we have been told that our white players are too white, and our black players are not black enough. Whew! Poured and started the second Ketel One on the rocks. Better stop this particular train of thought.

Back to K. I would not call his statement an admonishment. I would call it coaching. If my kid ever acted like as big an a-hole for the duration of a game as Brooks did (again, not all about the last shot) and her coach apparently had no problem with it (that's you in this example Dana Altman), I would be really fine with having a USA Basketball coach with five National Championship rings "coach" her. I think Brooks actually responded fine to the interaction (hmm, do I want to publicly get in a p/<sing contest with a USA basketball coach with five natty rings and lots of NBA connection?). I think he caught himself and thought about his actions. What created the problem was that he forgot that what is said in the handshake line stays in the handshake line. A reporter who probably did not have enough knowledge of the game went down a different path to fill a column and Brooks took the bait. I watched the presser live, and K was clearly caught off guard by the fact that Brooks had said something about the stuff that should remain between players and other players and coaches. He was awkward, I think, because he didn't expect Brooks to have said anything, and he didn't want to rehash all of the other in-game behavior (as other posters have pointed out) and didn't want to trash Brooks. He shut the thread of the question down quickly. He actually tried to protect the kid from what really drove the comments. Again, my opinion, he coached him. He told him how to do better. He told him he was a skilled player. It was awkward because it should never have been spoken of, and Coach K was far from being quick on his feet (jeez, you think an emotional game, last game with many players on this team had anything to do with it?)

Lastly, for all of you who are quoting scripture and condemning K to hell, get over yourselves. You are truly clueless and don't understand what is going on in the world or even the game of college basketball. After an emotional, and I would say somewhat unclean game with some of the play, he fielded a question from left field poorly. I'm actually disappointed a bit that he has had to do any level of apology. I would like to see Altman man up and admit that he has some work to do in developing his players as men. Spend some time scrutinizing his players. Coach K wasn't trying to lie. Turn your face to Ol' Roy for the lies boy. Actually look around a lot of the NCAA. Plenty of liars.

Meanwhile, I would kill to have Coach K spend a day with my daughter. If she never took a shot in front of him the entire time, I'm sure his words would resonate with her, and I would trust him to do the all the right things whether he was being watched or not. We got within about 50 feet of Coach K a couple of years ago and ran out of time to speak to him. She's gotten to meet Chris Collins and Jon Scheyer with me, and I consider them to be fine young men and great representatives of the program. K must not have spun his evil with them (that's a joke you haters)! I would be equally happy to have her meet GA. I've watched him and listened to him, and he is a talented, intelligent, self-effacing young man. He doesn't always react well to being beaten on, but I think we all can probably do better about that.

PS - when we consider the character of players, let's remember the Pitt game this year. As other posters have noted, and I agree, that team just thumped us that day. Would it happen in CIS? Probably not. Regardless, they out played us and had none of the theatrics or manhood questioning or anything else. They just showed up and played the game and did a little butt-kicking. The game can happen that way.

PPS. Apologize for the tome. Long-time lurker. Recent to posting. Decided for many years to impose my own time out when I wasn't happy about something. I expect lots of disagreement with my post, but too many have been way off base on this topic.

[freshmanjs]

He neither lied nor denied it. For the love of basketball people, watch the presser. He was asked what he said to Brooks. K said "I told him he was a terrific player", which he did. In K's mind, the admonishment part of his discussion with Brooks was between he and Brooks and no one else and I agree with that actually. K never denied saying it nor "emphatically denied" it as I've seen written here. At least not in the post game presser.



You left out the part where he said "I didn't say that."

[jipops]

This is one of the most pathetic topics of this tournament, and here I am commenting in it. K said something to a player that had some tinge of critique. So what? Who cares? Brooks certainly didn't seem to mind at all. Anybody notice that K is smiling and touching the guys chest during that exchange? Has anybody else noticed, after all these years, that when K is putting his hand on the chest of an opposing player, it's a sign of respect? Should K have not said something to him? Maybe not. I admit I find K's apology strange but I truly believe his initial denial was to keep this from being such an overblown story, which the media has obviously taken hold of and made an overblown story. But again, who cares? The exchange was about as friendly as one could have been. This topic is a complete joke. But of course it plays quite well into the continued media lynching.

[Emerrick]

"i did not have sexual relations with that woman"

Even if he did, who cares... Most worthless non topic I've seen on this board in quite sometime. How many more days until October? I can't wait for next year!!!

[Stray Gator]

Nope. I'm not a homer, but find the excuses laughable. . . .

You've made it clear that you're anything but a homer. To the contrary, with respect to Coach K, you've dispelled any doubt that you're an unabashed hater. What's laughable is that you've doubled your total postings in this forum today with the same repetitive rant about how inexcusable it was for Coach K to lie about what he said to the Oregon player in the post-game handshake line, and how equally inexcusable is Coach K's failure to punish Grayson Allen publicly for what you characterize as "boorish" behavior -- all without the faintest sense of irony.

Of course, while you've found a few messages that provided you a pretext to prolong your bashfest, most of the regular posters here who are longtime Duke fans have acknowledged that Coach K's conduct following the Oregon game was, at the very least, inappropriate, and unbecoming, and a poor reflection on a man of his customarily good character. To the extent that we also feel he has now been berated enough in the past two days, and that his apology should suffice to resolve the matter without subjecting him to further punishment, perhaps we can fairly be labeled as homers. But I think the worst thing that can be said about our being homers is that we love our team and our coach so much that sometimes we're naively willing to fool ourselves -- and even make excuses in an attempt to find satisfactory explanations -- because we want to believe the best about someone even when we recognize that he is guilty of an error in judgment.

By contrast, about the best that can be said of haters is that they make fools of themselves by hovering like dark clouds on the horizon, just waiting for the moment when they can pounce upon the misstep or failure of someone more respected, in the perverse belief that pulling down the better person elevates them by making their own shortcomings less prominent, and perhaps less painful to contemplate. Homers may be faulted for cheering too loudly, and holding out hope for too long, and looking too hard for positive answers. But haters are a sad and pitiful lot, because they are the repositories of society's collective misery, always looking for the opportunity to accentuate the negative and bring someone else down.

If I were Coach K, I'd probably vow to never speak to another opposing player again in a handshake line -- just smile politely, shake each one's hand, and walk away without a word. But knowing Coach K, I expect that he'll continue to offer words of praise and encouragement to deserving players; and the vast majority of them will appreciate the personal interest he's taken in them. Hopefully, though, the next time an opposing player tries to provoke a reaction by showing his tail and taunting the Duke bench -- and we can count on it happening again -- Coach K won't give that player, or the legions of haters, the satisfaction of using the spotlight that is focused on Duke and its coach as a means of drawing attention to himself by creating an absurdly overblown controversy.

[Tom B.]

I better get this out before I pour the second vodka on the rocks!

I have a child who is a an average sized kid with a huge heart and an attitude that makes her an awesome competitor on the court. Basketball is a physical game. Some of you have never been closer to the game than the 6-8 foot distance between your chair and the tv, or at a game up off the floor. Go watch games where you can actually sit and watch the whole game. It's easy to get sucked into watching the ball moving around and going toward the rim. Spend a good chunk of a game ignoring the ball-handling and shooting. Watch as much of the off-ball action as you can. Players grab and hold and swat and scratch and kick and bite (yeah, surprise) and trip. Also, some boys punch each other in the doo-dads (CP3 the current Saint of the NBA). That's just the physical. The chatter you don't see (because it doesn't get to the level of woofing) is things you would hope that no one ever said to your child or that your child ever said back. With girls it's pretty nasty. With boys, it's all about manhood. Everyone is trying to prove who has a bigger pair. Sad that things are that way. Maybe we should have a mandatory public measurement before each game to help cut down the talk!

I like to see games called by the rules (both ways!) early on because it settles the players down. Not the spirit of the rules, or each crew's interpretation of the rules. THE RULES. Late game or big blowout, swallow the whistle. No problem. When refs are inconsistent or make no early calls, the physical nature of the game escalates until it gets borderline dirty and a bit dangerous (think every Louisville game). Some players start out as aggressors. Others become aggressive in response ( some of you might want to think GA).

I believe, and I am sure I will be told I am wrong, that K's comment was not focused on the last shot. The last shot was just the icing on the cake. Brooks flexed and pointed to and kissed the bicep, woofed at our bench and taunted all game. Plus pulled that weird I want to hug you routine with GA at the end! CBS showed the replays of all of it and apparently encourage it because no one said a word about him. My guess is that is because he is 1) not a Duke player, or 2) not a white player, or 3) especially because he is not a white Duke player. If CBS is so pious, someone should have said something. Jimmy Spanarkel was a year ahead of me at Duke. Always loved watching him play and enjoyed the few times we interacted on campus. Actually like listening to him on games. Shame on him for doing the equivalent of a ref swallowing a whistle by not responding to Verne's GA rant in the first half when GA had not been involved in any controversial plays. He could also have called out Brooks and other Ducks for their in-game behavior. But, the only thing that is black and white about the broadcasting and reporting of college basketball is that it is truly about black and white when Duke is involved (sorry, had to get that off my chest). Remember that we have been told that our white players are too white, and our black players are not black enough. Whew! Poured and started the second Ketel One on the rocks. Better stop this particular train of thought.

Back to K. I would not call his statement an admonishment. I would call it coaching. If my kid ever acted like as big an a-hole for the duration of a game as Brooks did (again, not all about the last shot) and her coach apparently had no problem with it (that's you in this example Dana Altman), I would be really fine with having a USA Basketball coach with five National Championship rings "coach" her. I think Brooks actually responded fine to the interaction (hmm, do I want to publicly get in a p/<sing contest with a USA basketball coach with five natty rings and lots of NBA connection?). I think he caught himself and thought about his actions. What created the problem was that he forgot that what is said in the handshake line stays in the handshake line. A reporter who probably did not have enough knowledge of the game went down a different path to fill a column and Brooks took the bait. I watched the presser live, and K was clearly caught off guard by the fact that Brooks had said something about the stuff that should remain between players and other players and coaches. He was awkward, I think, because he didn't expect Brooks to have said anything, and he didn't want to rehash all of the other in-game behavior (as other posters have pointed out) and didn't want to trash Brooks. He shut the thread of the question down quickly. He actually tried to protect the kid from what really drove the comments. Again, my opinion, he coached him. He told him how to do better. He told him he was a skilled player. It was awkward because it should never have been spoken of, and Coach K was far from being quick on his feet (jeez, you think an emotional game, last game with many players on this team had anything to do with it?)

Lastly, for all of you who are quoting scripture and condemning K to hell, get over yourselves. You are truly clueless and don't understand what is going on in the world or even the game of college basketball. After an emotional, and I would say somewhat unclean game with some of the play, he fielded a question from left field poorly. I'm actually disappointed a bit that he has had to do any level of apology. I would like to see Altman man up and admit that he has some work to do in developing his players as men. Spend some time scrutinizing his players. Coach K wasn't trying to lie. Turn your face to Ol' Roy for the lies boy. Actually look around a lot of the NCAA. Plenty of liars.

Meanwhile, I would kill to have Coach K spend a day with my daughter. If she never took a shot in front of him the entire time, I'm sure his words would resonate with her, and I would trust him to do the all the right things whether he was being watched or not. We got within about 50 feet of Coach K a couple of years ago and ran out of time to speak to him. She's gotten to meet Chris Collins and Jon Scheyer with me, and I consider them to be fine young men and great representatives of the program. K must not have spun his evil with them (that's a joke you haters)! I would be equally happy to have her meet GA. I've watched him and listened to him, and he is a talented, intelligent, self-effacing young man. He doesn't always react well to being beaten on, but I think we all can probably do better about that.

PS - when we consider the character of players, let's remember the Pitt game this year. As other posters have noted, and I agree, that team just thumped us that day. Would it happen in CIS? Probably not. Regardless, they out played us and had none of the theatrics or manhood questioning or anything else. They just showed up and played the game and did a little butt-kicking. The game can happen that way.

PPS. Apologize for the tome. Long-time lurker. Recent to posting. Decided for many years to impose my own time out when I wasn't happy about something. I expect lots of disagreement with my post, but too many have been way off base on this topic.


Thanks for that. A breath of much-needed perspective on a topic that's otherwise been flogged well beyond its sell-by date.


One other thing -- has anyone else noticed that Brooks traveled before hitting that last rub-it-in-your-face three-pointer? All of this could've been avoided if the officials hadn't checked out at the end like that.

[CatDevil]

You've made it clear that you're anything but a homer. To the contrary, with respect to Coach K, you've dispelled any doubt that you're an unabashed hater. What's laughable is that you've doubled your total postings in this forum today with the same repetitive rant about how inexcusable it was for Coach K to lie about what he said to the Oregon player in the post-game handshake line, and how equally inexcusable is Coach K's failure to punish Grayson Allen publicly for what you characterize as "boorish" behavior -- all without the faintest sense of irony.

Of course, while you've found a few messages that provided you a pretext to prolong your bashfest, most of the regular posters here who are longtime Duke fans have acknowledged that Coach K's conduct following the Oregon game was, at the very least, inappropriate, and unbecoming, and a poor reflection on a man of his customarily good character. To the extent that we also feel he has now been berated enough in the past two days, and that his apology should suffice to resolve the matter without subjecting him to further punishment, perhaps we can fairly be labeled as homers. But I think the worst thing that can be said about our being homers is that we love our team and our coach so much that sometimes we're naively willing to fool ourselves -- and even make excuses in an attempt to find satisfactory explanations -- because we want to believe the best about someone even when we recognize that he is guilty of an error in judgment.

By contrast, about the best that can be said of haters is that they make fools of themselves by hovering like dark clouds on the horizon, just waiting for the moment when they can pounce upon the misstep or failure of someone more respected, in the perverse belief that pulling down the better person elevates them by making their own shortcomings less prominent, and perhaps less painful to contemplate. Homers may be faulted for cheering too loudly, and holding out hope for too long, and looking too hard for positive answers. But haters are a sad and pitiful lot, because they are the repositories of society's collective misery, always looking for the opportunity to accentuate the negative and bring someone else down.

If I were Coach K, I'd probably vow to never speak to another opposing player again in a handshake line -- just smile politely, shake each one's hand, and walk away without a word. But knowing Coach K, I expect that he'll continue to offer words of praise and encouragement to deserving players; and the vast majority of them will appreciate the personal interest he's taken in them. Hopefully, though, the next time an opposing player tries to provoke a reaction by showing his tail and taunting the Duke bench -- and we can count on it happening again -- Coach K won't give that player, or the legions of haters, the satisfaction of using the spotlight that is focused on Duke and its coach as a means of drawing attention to himself by creating an absurdly overblown controversy.

Not typically an emotional gal, but this got me. Beautiful

[kAzE]

This story has created a 5 (now 6) page thread here in the last 8 hours? This is ludicrous. The level of media/public scrutiny around our team is horrifying.

Thank God it's the off season.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Thanks for that. A breath of much-needed perspective on a topic that's otherwise been flogged well beyond its sell-by date.


One other thing -- has anyone else noticed that Brooks traveled before hitting that last rub-it-in-your-face three-pointer? All of this could've been avoided if the officials hadn't checked out at the end like that.

He took about 12 steps. That, combined with the fact that the shot itself really looked like more of an afterthough rather than an "eff you" is part of why I have no issue with Brooks.

I saw his exuberant reaction to the shot as more of a surprise than anything else.

I am more than ready to put this thread and issue to bed, barring any "second shooter on the grassy knoll" developments

[Tom B.]

You've made it clear that you're anything but a homer. To the contrary, with respect to Coach K, you've dispelled any doubt that you're an unabashed hater. What's laughable is that you've doubled your total postings in this forum today with the same repetitive rant about how inexcusable it was for Coach K to lie about what he said to the Oregon player in the post-game handshake line, and how equally inexcusable is Coach K's failure to punish Grayson Allen publicly for what you characterize as "boorish" behavior -- all without the faintest sense of irony.

Of course, while you've found a few messages that provided you a pretext to prolong your bashfest, most of the regular posters here who are longtime Duke fans have acknowledged that Coach K's conduct following the Oregon game was, at the very least, inappropriate, and unbecoming, and a poor reflection on a man of his customarily good character. To the extent that we also feel he has now been berated enough in the past two days, and that his apology should suffice to resolve the matter without subjecting him to further punishment, perhaps we can fairly be labeled as homers. But I think the worst thing that can be said about our being homers is that we love our team and our coach so much that sometimes we're naively willing to fool ourselves -- and even make excuses in an attempt to find satisfactory explanations -- because we want to believe the best about someone even when we recognize that he is guilty of an error in judgment.

By contrast, about the best that can be said of haters is that they make fools of themselves by hovering like dark clouds on the horizon, just waiting for the moment when they can pounce upon the misstep or failure of someone more respected, in the perverse belief that pulling down the better person elevates them by making their own shortcomings less prominent, and perhaps less painful to contemplate. Homers may be faulted for cheering too loudly, and holding out hope for too long, and looking too hard for positive answers. But haters are a sad and pitiful lot, because they are the repositories of society's collective misery, always looking for the opportunity to accentuate the negative and bring someone else down.

If I were Coach K, I'd probably vow to never speak to another opposing player again in a handshake line -- just smile politely, shake each one's hand, and walk away without a word. But knowing Coach K, I expect that he'll continue to offer words of praise and encouragement to deserving players; and the vast majority of them will appreciate the personal interest he's taken in them. Hopefully, though, the next time an opposing player tries to provoke a reaction by showing his tail and taunting the Duke bench -- and we can count on it happening again -- Coach K won't give that player, or the legions of haters, the satisfaction of using the spotlight that is focused on Duke and its coach as a means of drawing attention to himself by creating an absurdly overblown controversy.

Dangit, can't spork you until I spread some more love around. But, yeah......this.

[DUKIE V(A)]

Thanks for that. A breath of much-needed perspective on a topic that's otherwise been flogged well beyond its sell-by date.


One other thing -- has anyone else noticed that Brooks traveled before hitting that last rub-it-in-your-face three-pointer? All of this could've been avoided if the officials hadn't checked out at the end like that.

I did not notice the travel and this is WAY off topic, but I did notice that Trevor Cooney travels on nearly every inbound pass (and I am not talking about after made baskets). Last night, in the second half, he took eight steps inbounding a ball. I guess the refs just don't call that kind of stuff.

[Mike Corey]

FYI: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2016/03/26/oregon-dana-atlman-dillon-brooks-coach-k-apology/82312368/

[-jk]

I did not notice the travel and this is WAY off topic, but I did notice that Trevor Cooney travels on nearly every inbound pass (and I am not talking about after made baskets). Last night, in the second half, he took eight steps inbounding a ball. I guess the refs just don't call that kind of stuff.

Um - from a rules perspective - if you're talking about a player throwing the ball in, there's no such thing as travel. A player just has to keep a foot over a three foot wide area at the throw-in spot - an area about 6 to 8 feet wide with a wide stance. And there's no backwards limit. That player can run dozens (scores, even) of steps within that space so long as he releases within 5 seconds.

-jk

[tbyers11]

FYI: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2016/03/26/oregon-dana-atlman-dillon-brooks-coach-k-apology/82312368/

Thanks Mike. Good find. Maybe the tweets (https://twitter.com/dandakich/status/713860828978618369)from blowhards like Dan Dakich suggesting that Brooks played like crap because of the Coach K issue will stop. Doubt it though.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Thanks Mike. Good find. Maybe the tweets (https://twitter.com/dandakich/status/713860828978618369)from blowhards like Dan Dakich suggesting that Brooks played like crap because of the Coach K issue will stop. Doubt it though.

That is one of the dumbest things I have seen in awhile. Come on, people.

[DUKIE V(A)]

Um - from a rules perspective - if you're talking about a player throwing the ball in, there's no such thing as travel. A player just has to keep a foot over a three foot wide area at the throw-in spot - an area about 6 to 8 feet wide with a wide stance. And there's no backwards limit. That player can run dozens (scores, even) of steps within that space so long as he releases within 5 seconds.

-jk

Thanks for the clarification. Never knew that or if I did I had totally forgotten.

[throatybeard]

This story has created a 5 (now 6) page thread here in the last 8 hours? This is ludicrous. The level of media/public scrutiny around our team is horrifying.

Thank God it's the off season.

Exactly.

I'm trying to remember a more ridiculous "news story" involving Duke than this since I started paying attention when I was seven. I'm sure there are a few, but I can't remember them right now because of the throbbing, unapologetic silliness that we're even talking about this more than 90 minutes after the game.

Seriously, aren't the Kardashians scratching their butts or something?

[DCGeneral]

He neither lied nor denied it. For the love of basketball people, watch the presser. He was asked what he said to Brooks. K said "I told him he was a terrific player", which he did. In K's mind, the admonishment part of his discussion with Brooks was between he and Brooks and no one else and I agree with that actually. K never denied saying it nor "emphatically denied" it as I've seen written here. At least not in the post game presser.

This is the society we live in. THe media lives for controversy. They pine for it. Thus the Grayson "trip in the Yale game", and the immediate focus on Grayson walking away from the Brooks hug attempt. The media wants to make controversy even when none is present. And there are thousands of suckers that fall for it every time, just like here.

As all of us who have watched thousands of Duke games know, in handshake lines after wins and losses K often takes a minute to speak with the better players on the other team, and it's the same thing everytime.. an extended handshake, a gentle pat to the chest, and words of wisdom. It was not out of character at all and most kids (as did Brooks) appreciate the words no matter what they may be. Dean did it, Roy does it, numerous others do it as well.

CBS is riding it as long as they can including in tonights game, on two different occasions. Thank God Oregon lost or it would have been brought up again in the Final Four. Might happen even with Oregon gone.

By saying he didn't say it, he implied the kid told a falsehood. K made three incredibly poor decisions.

1. Telling someone else's player how to behave. That is wrong (as he admitted later);

2. Lying by saying the account was false. Just should have nipped it in the bud immediately. Instead, he made it worse and should have foreseen that a video/audio account would arise.

3. When caught in his lie, he should not have used the laughable words, "reacted incorrectly", which weakens an already weak apology.


Being a Duke and/or Coach K fan doesn't mean one should be a homer that cannot call things like it is. He should have done things much differently, and deflecting and denying the truth about this episode does not make one a great fan.

[DCGeneral]

After reading some replies, it seems to me that 50% of the people who've replied have a reasonable take on this episode. K made an initial mistake to confront someone else's player, and made it worse by lying about what happened. The SID's apology made it even bigger by using "reacted incorrectly", which has brought more ridicule. But overall, it's an episode that should have ended long ago. It's not a big deal in the context of K's long and incredible coaching career.

The other 50% of the people on this thread have made it worse by:

1. Deflecting by talking about Oregon's subsequent loss and the player's performance (which has nothing to do with the topic);

2. Saying that Coach K had every right to confront the player in the handshake line, or that some "code" exists where the player is not allowed to share what Coach K said.

3. Crying about how this is only a controversy because it involves Duke. Whereas it would have gotten very little traction if it had been a small, directional school, it would have been the same if it had involved the coaches at Arizona, Villanova, etc.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

After reading some replies, it seems to me that 50% of the people who've replied have a reasonable take on this episode. K made an initial mistake to confront someone else's player, and made it worse by lying about what happened. The SID's apology made it even bigger by using "reacted incorrectly", which has brought more ridicule. But overall, it's an episode that should have ended long ago. It's not a big deal in the context of K's long and incredible coaching career.

The other 50% of the people on this thread have made it worse by:

1. Deflecting by talking about Oregon's subsequent loss and the player's performance (which has nothing to do with the topic);

2. Saying that Coach K had every right to confront the player in the handshake line, or that some "code" exists where the player is not allowed to share what Coach K said.

3. Crying about how this is only a controversy because it involves Duke. Whereas it would have gotten very little traction if it had been a small, directional school, it would have been the same if it had involved the coaches at Arizona, Villanova, etc.
And a minute percentage of people on this thread are clearly choosing to ignore Altman's post apology comments on the "episode".

[WakeDevil]

There is some serious JCD going on in this thread. It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his whole point of view depends on his not understanding it.

Anyway, this is about K the emperor coach, with a little Knight and Bennett thrown in.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/sports/ncaabasketball/duke-mike-krzyzewski-ncaa-tournament.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

CHICAGO — My first experience with an emperor coach took place more than 25 years ago in Bloomington, Ind., in the court of Bob Knight.

My line of questioning had taken a turn that did not please Coach Knight, something about the integration of the Big Ten. When I made a facial expression in reaction to a response, he said he was finished. “I’m not one of those Big East coaches who needs The New York Times,” he said, then left the gymnasium.

Emperor coaches dot the landscape of intercollegiate athletics, and the longer they have been in place, the more imperially they behave.

Knight was finally overthrown by Myles Brand, then the president of Indiana University, after a series of unsavory incidents.

The nation was exposed to the actions of another imperial coach on Thursday, when Mike Krzyzewski of Duke chastised the Oregon sophomore Dillon Brooks for his behavior at the end of the game, which included launching and making a 3-point shot as time wound down with the N.C.A.A. tournament round of 16 game well in hand for the Ducks.

[Troublemaker]

By saying he didn't say it, he implied the kid told a falsehood. K made three incredibly poor decisions.

1. Telling someone else's player how to behave. That is wrong (as he admitted later);

2. Lying by saying the account was false. Just should have nipped it in the bud immediately. Instead, he made it worse and should have foreseen that a video/audio account would arise.

3. When caught in his lie, he should not have used the laughable words, "reacted incorrectly", which weakens an already weak apology.


Being a Duke and/or Coach K fan doesn't mean one should be a homer that cannot call things like it is. He should have done things much differently, and deflecting and denying the truth about this episode does not make one a great fan.

Coach K told a white lie but your overwrought, haughty indignation in this thread is an actual lie.

No human being could actually summon 10+ posts of indignation over something so trivial.

[DCGeneral]

Coach K told a white lie but your overwrought, haughty indignation in this thread is an actual lie.

No human being could actually summon 10+ posts of indignation over something so trivial.

You should take lessons from others on this thread. This attitude only keeps the episode.

[Owen Meany]

That's the weirdest apology I've ever seen. He should have just been truthful from the outset and the story would have died.


Good Lord...K looks horrible here. When asked about it, he lied. Then when faced with his lie, the SID put together a horrible non-apology. Not only should have have owned up to it from the beginning (which would have ended it), putting out a press release with "reacted incorrectly" makes the story live longer.

In light of K's failure to discipline Allen for EITHER trip, this looks terrible. K is a HOF coach, but this behavior makes him look terrible.

Under your logic, every opposing coach should say something to Allen in the handshake line about his boorish behavior.


He reprimanded someone who is not his player, which is lousy. ... K was caught in his lie and made it worse with a terribly worded pseudo-apology.

K was wrong multiple times and deserves to be called on on it, as would any other coach in that position. Stupid action at the outset, and he made it infinitely worse by lying.


K lied, which is inexcusable...All three decisions were terrible and have made him look worse.


Nope. I'm not a homer, but find the excuses laughable. I would say the same thing about any coach. It is bizarre and disappointing".

If he had simply apologized for talking to someone else's player, this would have been a non-story within 5 minutes.


By that measure, Grayson Allen should really watch out.


By saying he didn't say it, he implied the kid told a falsehood. K made three incredibly poor decisions.



Its very clear you have an axe to grind and are prone to extreme exaggeration (horrible, terrible, worse I've ever seen, infinitely worse). But what is laughable here is that the player in question, and his coach, have both made very clear that they do not have a problem with what Coach K said, in private, to the player. So to me, it exposes all of those who protested so loudly about Coach K and this non-incident. To continue with your selective outrage, supposedly on behalf of someone who has made clear that they were not offended - clearly shows that your indignation is completely manufactured. It has nothing whatsoever to do with this kid or what Coach K said. Even after Brooks has made clear he didn't think the very brief comment was bad, you have come onto this site to post yet another comment about Coach K, and then followed it up with another before anyone has even responded. So every additional post you make further exposes the fact that you have used this "incident" and this kid to push your own personal agenda. So just be up front, drop the faux indignation, and stop hiding behind this kid who has stated unequivocally that he was not offended.

[left_hook_lacey]

I read most of this thread and some of it was repetitive, so forgive me for skipping to the last page if this wS mentioned before; but this is not the first time that coach has admonished an opposing player in the handshake line.

For those that are of the opinion that admonishing the player from another team after the game is a misstep, I'm suprised none of you have brought up the time coach did this against I think it was VA Tech at Cameron some years back. I don't remeber the player, but I think it was the year they had that WAshington kid that could jump out of the building. They had just pulled off a major upset at Cameron and one of the tech players was walking around after the buzzer with his thumbs inside the front of his jersey in an effort to prominently display his school name to let the crowd know who had just beaten them(a popular celebration during this years, almost everyone was doing it). Coach went out of his way to find him and said the exact same words to him that he said to brooks.

The va tech player admitted in the pressed that was what coach told him. I don't remeber such a big deal being made about it back then. Maybe it's because this was on the national stage in the sweet 16, or maybe it's this day and age of any and everything going viral.

However, coach lied about it this time, and add that to the game earlier this year when he skipped the handshake line, and it's not a good look for him. Just another example of folks in the puplic eye having to be so careful of his/her actions as not to become an overnight meme for the amusement of the masses.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

...So just be up front, drop the faux indignation, and stop hiding behind this kid who has stated unequivocally that he was not offended.

We are giving him exactly what he wants.

[Andre Buckner Fan]

This is a click-bait story, nothing more, nothing less. As all of those involved have said... it's a dead issue. The media invents, hypes and extends stories that create controversy, only for attention, and nothing else.

Siiiiiiiigh.

[Troublemaker]

Its very clear you have an axe to grind and are prone to extreme exaggeration (horrible, terrible, worse I've ever seen, infinitely worse). But what is laughable here is that the player in question, and his coach, have both made very clear that they do not have a problem with what Coach K said, in private, to the player. So to me, it exposes all of those who protested so loudly about Coach K and this non-incident. To continue with your selective outrage, supposedly on behalf of someone who has made clear that they were not offended - clearly shows that your indignation is completely manufactured. It has nothing whatsoever to do with this kid or what Coach K said. Even after Brooks has made clear he didn't think the very brief comment was bad, you have come onto this site to post yet another comment about Coach K, and then followed it up with another before anyone has even responded. So every additional post you make further exposes the fact that you have used this "incident" and this kid to push your own personal agenda. So just be up front, drop the faux indignation, and stop hiding behind this kid who has stated unequivocally that he was not offended.

Bingo! Owen, thanks for expressing this better than I did.

The biggest liar here is actually DCGeneral.

If irony were made of strawberries, we'd all be drinking lots of smoothies right now.

[dukelifer]

We are giving him exactly what he wants.

I think he/she wants us to take Coach K off the pedestal and acknowledge that he is a flawed human being like the rest of us. This incident confirms yet again what I suspected for a long time- Coach K is not perfect and human after all. I am still not sure that is the case for Patrick Davidson.

[DCGeneral]

This is a click-bait story, nothing more, nothing less. As all of those involved have said... it's a dead issue. The media invents, hypes and extends stories that create controversy, only for attention, and nothing else.

Siiiiiiiigh.

There wouldn't be an issue to talk about if K hadn't confronted somebody else's player, and then lied about it.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

There wouldn't be an issue to talk about if K hadn't confronted somebody else's player, and then lied about it.
It's been made clear by the parties directly involved in the interaction (not confrontation) that it was NOT inappropriate. And it's been acknowledged repeatedly here that K did not handle the question with the greatest of aplomb.

What else do you want? Or maybe it's just that you're three posts away from receiving a special badge of merit from some other site?

[Reilly]

He neither lied nor denied it. For the love of basketball people, watch the presser. ...


Except that he absolutely did deny it. He said "I didn't say that", and added "you can take whatever he said and go with it, all right?" He definitely denied it, and he weirdly kind of implied that Brooks either was lying, made it up, or misunderstood. ...

I agree with Newton. K did not lie; he denied, in my opinion, the phrasing that the reporter used (showboating). In denying (correctly) that phrasing, K did make it easy for others to be left with a misimpression -- others took away that K said nothing at all in admonishment, when K clearly did.

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball-news/4699848-duke-march-madness-2016-coach-k-krzyzewski-apologizes-dillon-brooks-oregon

That said, K should not have said anything to the player in admonishment (and K has now said as much himself). Cut had an issue with an opposing player in 2011 at UVa, and Cut let Mike London know in no uncertain terms Cut's problem, and London to his credit said something along the lines of "I'll take care of it, Coach."

[Troublemaker]

There wouldn't be an issue to talk about if K hadn't confronted somebody else's player, and then lied about it.

Still signaling, I see.


you have used this "incident" and this kid to push your own personal agenda.

I think he/she wants us to take Coach K off the pedestal


What else do you want?

To be clear, the intent of DCGeneral's faux outrage is to signal to us that he's a very moral person, someone to be respected, and superior to many of us in this thread.

I don't really fault him too much for constructing this fake persona, though. "He's" just part of the internet culture that our society has created for ourselves in which moral signaling and boasting are rewarded. You mostly see it on the Signal-Fests that are Twitter and Facebook, where 80% of all content are either humblebrags (http://grantland.com/features/humblebrag-hall-fame/) or moral signaling.

Speaking of humblebrags, notice that for his username, he chose the lowly Washington Generals. Because he knew he would use this account to lecture others and morally signal, he wanted to add just a dash of humility via choice of username. People humblebrag because there's just enough discomfort with naked boasting that they tend to add that dash.


This incident confirms yet again what I suspected for a long time- Coach K is not perfect and human after all.

Indeed. And that's why I forgive the fake persona, the fake outrager DCGeneral.

Almost no one who has ever lived has been perfect.

Happy Easter.

[TruBlu]

This thread reminds me of the quote from Thomas a' Beckett: (Substitute "troll" for "priest")

"Would no-one rid me of this troublesome priest"

This whole issue is nothing more than a tempest in a teacup, stirred by the media and Duke haters.

[dukelifer]

I agree with Newton. K did not lie; he denied, in my opinion, the phrasing that the reporter used (showboating). In denying (correctly) that phrasing, K did make it easy for others to be left with a misimpression -- others took away that K said nothing at all in admonishment, when K clearly did.

http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball-news/4699848-duke-march-madness-2016-coach-k-krzyzewski-apologizes-dillon-brooks-oregon

That said, K should not have said anything to the player in admonishment (and K has now said as much himself). Cut had an issue with an opposing player in 2011 at UVa, and Cut let Mike London know in no uncertain terms Cut's problem, and London to his credit said something along the lines of "I'll take care of it, Coach."

I was about to post this as well. Brooks told a reporter that K said that he was "too good of a player to be showing off at the end" when the audio said "You're too good of a player to do that". It is not even clear what K was referring to so I can see him focusing on the phrase "showing off" when denying to a reporter. K is a coach and coaches have a hard time getting out of coach mode. They are also not in the best state of mind after a loss. We all saw Roy swear on National TV and criticize a reporter for not being sensitive when asking about the NC job when he just lost the NC game in 2003. Stuff happens after a loss when confronted by reporters.

[Newton_14]

Could one of y'all just shoot me a text when this whole manufactured nontroversy has vanished in the gale of some other story 24 to 72 hours from now? Plzkthx I A.

Eggsactly! I'll be glad to text u..

[BeachBlueDevil]

No matter what was done here, Coach K couldn't have won in this situation. If he told the reporter he did that, he would have caught crap. Instead he lied, audio came out and he caught crap and apologized for it. Now it's over, this will be forgotten about in a couple weeks.

I will also say this, Ive read articles this morning that are calling for Coach K to think about retiring after the Olympics because of this incident..... That is an asinine request and his coaching at 69 is better than at 49 or 59. Everyone has a lapse of judgement. This story now is being used for nothing more than clicks at this point.

[Ultrarunner]

You left out the part where he said "I didn't say that."


There wouldn't be an issue to talk about if K hadn't confronted somebody else's player, and then lied about it.

Dillon Brooks on Coach K's statement - "too good of a player to be showing off at the end,"

Coach K's actual statement - "You're too good of a player to do that. You're too good of a player,"

So, he didn't say what Brooks said he did. Nor are the two statements identical in content. There is a real, subtle, and substantive difference between the statements, the first being a criticism of behavior, the second a call to a higher standard. Note the reiteration of the praise part of the cycle - that's a building up process, not a tearing down.

On a more subjective level, listen to the tone of voice. Coach K didn't sound angry. He sounded disappointed. It's the same tone of voice that my daughters hated - the 'you can do so much better' tone of voice.

[weezie]

...Now it's over, this will be forgotten about in a couple weeks...Ive read articles this morning that are calling for Coach K to think about retiring after the Olympics because of this incident...

1) Highly unlikely it will EVER be forgotten. Not when the unwashed mobs can fulminate and grind their stubby, yellow teeth.

2) I hope he decides to stick it to the wankerants and hang around even longer just to watch them foam.

[arnie]

1) Highly unlikely it will EVER be forgotten. Not when the unwashed mobs can fulminate and grind their stubby, yellow teeth.

2) I hope he decides to stick it to the wankerants and hang around even longer just to watch them foam.

Would love for K to publicly state he's gonna coach 10+ more years to prove he can improve his decorum.

[gofurman]

Dillon Brooks, 7 pts 3 rebounds, 5 fouls in 29 minutes. The biggest game of your life.

I am a HUGE Duke fan. Huge. But what is the relevance of Dillon brooks stats vs Oklahoma to Coach K not handling this well? No relevance whatsoever. Let's stay on point

[Edouble]

Dillon Brooks on Coach K's statement - "too good of a player to be showing off at the end,"

Coach K's actual statement - "You're too good of a player to do that. You're too good of a player,"

So, he didn't say what Brooks said he did. Nor are the two statements identical in content. There is a real, subtle, and substantive difference between the statements, the first being a criticism of behavior, the second a call to a higher standard. Note the reiteration of the praise part of the cycle - that's a building up process, not a tearing down.

On a more subjective level, listen to the tone of voice. Coach K didn't sound angry. He sounded disappointed. It's the same tone of voice that my daughters hated - the 'you can do so much better' tone of voice.

Exactly! But this is not the kind of subtlety that most folks can pick up on.

From what Brooks told reporters, it sounds like he still doesn't get it.



I am a HUGE Duke fan. Huge. But what is the relevance of Dillon brooks stats vs Oklahoma to Coach K not handling this well? No relevance whatsoever. Let's stay on point

The relevance is that Coach K was wrong. Dillon Brooks, it turns out, isn't too good of a player to do that.

[gofurman]

Exactly! But this is not the kind of subtlety that most folks can pick up on.

From what Brooks told reporters, it sounds like he still doesn't get it.




The relevance is that Coach K was wrong. Dillon Brooks, it turns out, isn't too good of a player to do that.

I know, right. Quoting brooks stats (poor day vs Oklahoma) vs Oklahoma just Makes it appear coach K Isn't a good evaluator of talent. "Too good of a player... ". LOL

[gofurman]

I agree with this. There are lies and then there are white lies, and this was clearly the latter, imo. Coach K was probably very satisfied and even humbled by how Brooks reacted during their exchange and didn't want one of the postgame stories to be that Brooks was scolded by a Hall-of-Fame coach. Coach naively thought that by denying the exchange, the story wouldn't happen. That was his mistake since the story only blew up from there and became a "search for truth," lol.

Unfortunately, Coach K ended up in a position where people who aren't that fond of him and the program could virtue-signal against his horrible lie and knock him down a peg or two.

I'm a boor, but if were Coach, I wouldn't have even apologized. Never give an inch to those that dislike you. This whole thing is a complete nothingburger.
A) it's not the biggest issue. B) however, White lies are called LIES because they are still lies. C) The fact you wouldn't Apologize if you were coach is telling. The coach we both pull for felt he should apologize.

[Potato Head]

Oh my god. How is this still a thing? This is a bigger non-story than Grayson's compulsive tripping.

[CDu]

I might suggest the mods nix this thread. Not much more to say on this topic. Some folks don't believe Coach K did anything wrong at all. Some think he goofed up a little. One or two folks think he made a major mistake. And some folks think the player is a jerk. The only thing left is the snipping at each other that does nobody any good, and that has already started.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I might suggest the mods nix this thread. Not much more to say on this topic. Some folks don't believe Coach K did anything wrong at all. Some think he goofed up a little. One or two folks think he made a major mistake. And some folks think the player is a jerk. The only thing left is the snipping at each other that does nobody any good, and that has already started.

Begun, the offseason has.

[fuse]

The media narrative continues:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/sports/ncaabasketball/duke-mike-krzyzewski-ncaa-tournament.html?smid=tw-share&referer=&_r=0

[Henderson]

Coach K told a white lie * * *.

What was the white lie? He said he told the guy he's a great player but said he didn't say what Brooks quoted him as saying. Coach K didn't recount the whole conversation but said he's a heck of a player and referred to Brooks' statement to fill in the story. Brooks was cool about it and mostly got it right, but he misquoted K. The actual colloquy was something more like, "You're too good a player to do that; too good a player," and Brooks said, "I'm sorry; my bad." The next day Coach K said he shouldn't have presumed to talk to an opposing player like that.

Somebody please tell me why this is an issue. It was 20 seconds. Coach K and Brooks had a good post-game moment. K never stops teaching. He shouldn't purport to teach other coaches' players, and that was the emphasis of his apology.

Leave it to the NY Times, that stalwart of quality sports reporting, to weigh in with some erudite analysis. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/sports/ncaabasketball/duke-mike-krzyzewski-ncaa-tournament.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Do those guys even move off the couch?

P.S.: “Coach K is a great coach,” Brogdon said. “Everybody has a lot of respect for him. I think it’s O.K. for him to say that. I think he would also reprimand his player if one of his players did the same thing.”

Dana Altman said the apology was "unnecessary." Yep.

[Blue KevIL]

For all of the media moral posturing in the last 48 hours, anybody want to bet that CBS (or now TBS) will ask/beg Coach K to do game analysis at the Final Four next weekend?

I'd tell them to go pound salt.

[Stray Gator]

One thing that bothers me a little, and I assume must be quite disappointing to Coach K, is that as this seemingly incessant berating of him by the media continues unabated, it appears that none of the numerous opposing players and coaches to whom Coach K has offered positive encouragement and advice over the years is stepping forward to counter these condemnations by attesting to the fact that, even though what he did was probably wrong in this instance, it doesn't begin to outweigh all the good he has done, and certainly doesn't justify the vicious assaults on his character that are currently being spewed out by media commentators.

[ChicagoDevil]

What was the white lie? He said he told the guy he's a great player but said he didn't say what Brooks quoted him as saying. Coach K didn't recount the whole conversation but said he's a heck of a player and referred to Brooks' statement to fill in the story. Brooks was cool about it and mostly got it right, but he misquoted K. The actual colloquy was something more like, "You're too good a player to do that; too good a player," and Brooks said, "I'm sorry; my bad." The next day Coach K said he shouldn't have presumed to talk to an opposing player like that.

Somebody please tell me why this is an issue. It was 20 seconds. Coach K and Brooks had a good post-game moment. K never stops teaching. He shouldn't purport to teach other coaches' players, and that was the emphasis of his apology.

Leave it to the NY Times, that stalwart of quality sports reporting, to weigh in with some erudite analysis. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/sports/ncaabasketball/duke-mike-krzyzewski-ncaa-tournament.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Do those guys even move off the couch?

P.S.: “Coach K is a great coach,” Brogdon said. “Everybody has a lot of respect for him. I think it’s O.K. for him to say that. I think he would also reprimand his player if one of his players did the same thing.”

Dana Altman said the apology was "unnecessary." Yep.

After the reporting by the New York Times on the lacrosse railroading and how they assumed those guys were guilty, I would believe anything reported in that rag.

[Indoor66]

...And I repeat: How long until practice starts?

[Furniture]

One thing that bothers me a little, and I assume must be quite disappointing to Coach K, is that as this seemingly incessant berating of him by the media continues unabated, it appears that none of the numerous opposing players and coaches to whom Coach K has offered positive encouragement and advice over the years is stepping forward to counter these condemnations by attesting to the fact that, even though what he did was probably wrong in this instance, it doesn't begin to outweigh all the good he has done, and certainly doesn't justify the vicious assaults on his character that are currently being spewed out by media commentators.

I don't think it bothers K. It's comes with the territory of being the best! That's why us fans shouldn't get too worked up about it either. Would we really have it any other way?
I watched the game again today and it was Altman that instructed Brooks to shoot so he definitely played a part in it and should have known better. The way he was jesticulating for him to take the shot you'd think there was life or death involved. Brooks did walk too and the refs should of caught that except even they thought the game was over..

[Skitzle]

The media narrative continues:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/03/27/sports/ncaabasketball/duke-mike-krzyzewski-ncaa-tournament.html?smid=tw-share&referer=&_r=0

Terrible article.

Couldn't get anyone to talk. Talked to Tony Bennet. Exact quote "You are making a mountain out of a mole hill" Reporters response. Well yes and no..

Every quote in the article supports K, then the writer goes on to bash K. K was wrong, but this is ridiculous.


"100 out of 100 scientists say Global Warming exists". Well Yes and No, we had record cold last year.

[Troublemaker]

What was the white lie? He said he told the guy he's a great player but said he didn't say what Brooks quoted him as saying.

Sure, let's parse.

Hendo -- if your interpretation is correct, which it could be, then there is no white lie. (Reilly and Newton share your interpretation, and you three give me pause.)

That said, my interpretation is slightly different. When Coach said, "I didn't say that," in the presser, I don't think he meant that he did not literally speak the words "showing off" to Brooks. I think he was denying that he gave Brooks an admonishment (or avuncular advice, if one prefers) in the handshake line.

As I wrote upthread, I believe he did this for a good reason, which is why I call it a white lie. I think Coach was very satisfied with Brooks' response ("I'm sorry, Coach") in the handshake line and didn't want any stories written up that Brooks was admonished on his behavior by a legendary, Hall of a Fame coach. He wanted the admonishment (or avuncular advice) to remain private and the praise to be public.

I think Coach thought it was over at that point, but obviously he badly miscalculated what the press would do from there.


A) it's not the biggest issue. B) however, White lies are called LIES because they are still lies. C) The fact you wouldn't Apologize if you were coach is telling. The coach we both pull for felt he should apologize.

It just means that I agree with Dana Altman and Dillon Brooks that Coach had no need to apologize.

[Scorp4me]

Dillon Brooks on Coach K's statement - "too good of a player to be showing off at the end,"

Coach K's actual statement - "You're too good of a player to do that. You're too good of a player,"

So, he didn't say what Brooks said he did. Nor are the two statements identical in content. There is a real, subtle, and substantive difference between the statements, the first being a criticism of behavior, the second a call to a higher standard. Note the reiteration of the praise part of the cycle - that's a building up process, not a tearing down.

On a more subjective level, listen to the tone of voice. Coach K didn't sound angry. He sounded disappointed. It's the same tone of voice that my daughters hated - the 'you can do so much better' tone of voice.

At first I thought it was simply a coach trying to point out that he wasn't admonishing a player. The more I read the more it looks like it was just a difference in interpretation, but the overall content was right. Neither Brooks nor K said anything wrong or lied. If anything it's more a product of this PC society we live in and another example of PC ruining even...the handshake line after a game. Where will it end haha.

But I hope that DC guy sticks around a while longer. He's been the best part of this thread :D

[Henderson]

That said, my interpretation is slightly different. When Coach said, "I didn't say that," in the presser, I don't think he meant that he did not literally speak the words "showing off" to Brooks. I think he was denying that he gave Brooks an admonishment (or avuncular advice, if one prefers) in the handshake line.


Why would you infer that Coach K was dissembling when his comments were entirely accurate? Brooks gave a paraphrase of the exchange. A reporter rephrased it, and K said, "I didn't say that." But K said I shouldn't have said what I said, which was, essentially, "You're a better player than that." Brooks took no offense and said that K was right. Dana Altman said no apology needed. Malcolm Brogdon said it was a fair comment that Coach K would lay on his own player in a similar circumstance. Which is true: K has talked about Grayson's "enthusiasm", both to GA and the press.

The Coach K statements are a matter of record. I challenge someone to point to a "white lie" on the Brooks issue. Post the K statement and point out the falsehood.

Anyone?

[sagegrouse]

Words matter, but so do attitude, facial expressions, and physical gestures. Within 60 seconds of Dillon Brooks throwing up a shot that was a violation of end-of-game accepted protocols, K did the following: he smiled; he patted him on the chest; and he kept smiling while he was talking.

His words were, "You're too good of a player to do that. You're too good of a player." Is that even mild criticism? K was smiling. I would hear "too good of a player" and would accept the rest as good-natured ribbing, as in, "Why did you make that 40-foot putt -- you had the match won?"

In this sense, a reporter asked about Brooks' loose paraphrase of what K actually said -- what was it? -- "You're too good of a player to be showing off at the end." Although his words may have implied something like that, among several other meanings, his gestures and facial expression indicated something much milder and more joking. So, when K said didn't say that, he didn't say those words and he didn't truly mean what Brooks' translation implied. Moreover, neither Brooks or his caoch, Dana Altman, had any problems with what K said.

I tell ya' guys, I've received a lot of criticism in my life -- I tell ya' I don't get no respect. If the most respected coach in the entire world of basketball said to me, "You're too good of a player to do that," I would be on cloud nine for the next two days. This isn't in any sense an "admonition."

Anyway, K issued an apology in the end because it was the best way to "move on" and leave this non-issue behind.

Kindly,
Sage Grouse
'As it turns out, Dillon Brooks was on cloud nine for two days, and played poorly against Oklahoma'
"Also, in the intro to the Oregon-Oklahoma game Verne Lundquist and reported on K's apology and then Verne said he had something to apologize for as well. What was that? I missed it"

[wavedukefan70s]

Wait until your friends whom happen to be unc fans call him classless.
You will chuckle right before you say speaking of class.the look on thier face at that moment is priceless.

[weezie]

For all of the media moral posturing in the last 48 hours, anybody want to bet that CBS (or now TBS) will ask/beg Coach K to do game analysis at the Final Four next weekend?

I'd tell them to go pound salt.

I'd like to see K get his knee replaced and get rehabbing.

[mph]

Why would you infer that Coach K was dissembling when his comments were entirely accurate? Brooks gave a paraphrase of the exchange. A reporter rephrased it, and K said, "I didn't say that." But K said I shouldn't have said what I said, which was, essentially, "You're a better player than that." Brooks took no offense and said that K was right. Dana Altman said no apology needed. Malcolm Brogdon said it was a fair comment that Coach K would lay on his own player in a similar circumstance. Which is true: K has talked about Grayson's "enthusiasm", both to GA and the press.

The Coach K statements are a matter of record. I challenge someone to point to a "white lie" on the Brooks issue. Post the K statement and point out the falsehood.

Anyone?

A couple of caveats: 1. I agree with everything cdu had said in this thread. 100% agree with both his interpretation of events and his conclusion that this is a minor mistake in the scheme of things. 2. I also agree that there's not much more to be said on this subject so I don't plan on engaging in a back and forth on whether K technically lied.

That said, I don't agree with the view that Coach Ks comments were "entirely accurate". Specifically, in the press conference when Coach K was initially asked what he said to Brooks, he replied, "Yeah, I just congratulated him. I said, 'You’re a terrific player.'" I don't see how that statement is either technically true or gives an accurate impression of their conversation. Clearly Coach K did more than "just" congratulate him. Coach K's experience with the media and his intentionality with words makes me believe he knew what he was doing when he used the word "just". Again, while I agree with cdu, I see how someone could conclude that Coach K had good reason to misrepresent the conversation. But, I can't get on board with the interpretation that there was no lie.

Either way, we all make mistakes. I'm glad we have a man of Coach K's character at Duke.

[duke74]

After the reporting by the New York Times on the lacrosse railroading and how they assumed those guys were guilty, I would believe anything reported in that rag.

But their plastic newspaper delivery bags are great for picking up the deposits on my walks with my Airedale...about all I like about the NYT.

[blazindw]

If I were Coach K, I'd probably vow to never speak to another opposing player again in a handshake line -- just smile politely, shake each one's hand, and walk away without a word. But knowing Coach K, I expect that he'll continue to offer words of praise and encouragement to deserving players; and the vast majority of them will appreciate the personal interest he's taken in them. Hopefully, though, the next time an opposing player tries to provoke a reaction by showing his tail and taunting the Duke bench -- and we can count on it happening again -- Coach K won't give that player, or the legions of haters, the satisfaction of using the spotlight that is focused on Duke and its coach as a means of drawing attention to himself by creating an absurdly overblown controversy.

Of everything you said Stray (which was fantastic and 100% spot on), this is the most important. People keep saying he had no business talking to another coach's player. They're only upset at that because he said something that others--not the player himself or the coach--took to be negative. On the flip, Coach K is one of the first people after victories and defeats to praise a team or a player's efforts. Remember when he visited Mercer's locker room (http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24496442/video-coach-k-visits-mercer-locker-room-after-round-of-64-upset) after their victory back in 2014? But he shouldn't have done that either, if the haters' logic holds true. If he had gone through the line doing the "blow-by," offering only handshakes and nothing else like many coaches do after a loss, people would lose their minds at that too.

This is only an issue because it's Coach K. Grayson gets painted as the villain because he goes to Duke. There is a bias and people love to hate us, which is why this is still click bait news 72 hours later. We all here know that to be the case, so hopefully Stray's words win out and we consider this a dead issue like the parties involved have rendered it.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Four ACC teams are playing ball tonight, and this thread has workes through its natural life a few times over. Can we close this thread?

[Turk]

Let's let Mr. Brooks have the last word:

"Me and Coach K, that conversation should have stayed with us," he said on Friday, via ESPN.com. "But overall, me and Coach K are both professionals, and I have to move on from this situation..."

(nudge nudge wink wink - did he declare for the NBA already and I missed it?)

Can we have that clip in the "One Shining Moment" montage? That's not too much to ask, is it?