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cspan37421
03-24-2008, 08:52 AM
Does anyone else have the impression that this team, down the stretch, didn't communicate that well with each other? In particular (and I don't have thorough data, just impressions), it seemed that on-court team huddles were rather few, particularly down the stretch. If you remember or watch videos of the Hurley/Laettner years, these guys would huddle and talk to each other after nearly any foul. I didn't notice that a lot with this team. Perhaps I wasn't looking for it though.

This thought came to me as I was recalling the NCSU game in which we played poorly for 32 minutes, then just well enough for 8 to win. I recall this quote from the AP article:


"He kind of let us decide what we were going to do with the game," guard Jon Scheyer said, "because for a lot of it, we weren't doing the things that (the coaches) told us to do."

I have to admit, when I read that I wondered how in the world our guys weren't following what the coaches were telling them to do. I thought, I can't believe these guys are unteachable!? But that's what it sounded like. Of course it could have meant that they weren't accomplishing what the staff wanted, despite effort. I wasn't sure, but it didn't sound normal.

Later in the article, Coach K seemed to clarify, or come to the rescue, if you view it that way:


"For a couple of late timeouts, I let anyone who would actually want to talk — and say something that somebody would listen to — run the huddle," Krzyzewski said. "Teams become really good when they talk to each other...."

Well, again, you can interpret that different ways. Were they not listening to Coach K and the staff? Not listening to each other? Not talking to each other? I guess it is open for interpretation. What do you all think?

I also felt that Coach K's recent and repeated description of them playing "winning basketball" despite the losses to Clemson and WVU, and the squeaker vs. Belmont (keep in mind their RPI/ranking) seemed awfully generous of him.

I guess these are two incongruities to me. On the one hand, can it really be that the team didn't take to heart the coaching staff's entreaties? If not, did they merely not communicate well with each other? Or is that even accurate?
Secondly, the notion that 8 McD All-Americans (sic?) + others are playing winning basketball in the last 3 games against not-great competition ... does that pass the smell test?

I am very proud of our guys for improving so much over last year (5.5 games), despite tremendous youth (and unlike some, I don't dismiss it as a factor). If we can keep guys from leaving early, keep them together, I have confidence they'll learn the system better and dominate even in the post-season. But the communication thing keeps nagging at my curiosity.

dukepsy1963
03-24-2008, 09:33 AM
Is it possible that K, unlike fans, viewed this season as a building year primarily and thus wanted the guys to "learn" by examining themselves somehow? Is it reasonable to think that the coaches see some years as "growing" years rather than "take it all" years? Success may have been defined quite differently this year. That said, "taking it all" would have been wonderful; but maybe what coach wanted was a great building year....which we had I think. I dunno, I am in the dark as much as many of you.

I know this. Before the season, I certainly didn't think we would be anywhere near as successful as we were. It was a great season by any "reasonable" standard.

Next year is next year.

Go Duke Always!!!

cspan37421
03-24-2008, 10:41 AM
Is it possible that K, unlike fans, viewed this season as a building year primarily and thus wanted the guys to "learn" by examining themselves somehow?

It was a great season by any "reasonable" standard.



I agree with the second part, but don't think the first conjecture would apply, and here's why. I thought I remembered Coach K being quoted in the last 12 months about the Duke Football program. Something about whether or not they should be satisfied with improving to a 5-6 or 6-5 record, or satisfied with a coach that had such a goal. I think he basically said, no, you shouldn't set that as a goal, you should always set a championship as the goal. I think he was giving more than lip service too - even though he knew that if we played .500 football that would be a near-miraculous advance from our current state, he felt you still have to be focused on winning a championship. Of course, maybe by being so focused, you can get to that .500 point in the short run and that is a tacit intermediate goal.

As for all the frustration and disappointment of a 2nd round exit from the NCAAs, I think much of that is from a recency effect. We remember more the 6-5 finish than the 22-1 start. [But even then, better a 6-5 finish than last year's 4-8 stumble following an 18-3 start.]. 28-6 is very nice overall but it is the timing that gets to us. I know there have been times that we made the Final Four yet finished with 6-9 losses, so I'd conjecture that not all 28-6 teams are equal in fans' memory.

Folks really tend to remember the tournament more than the season, and within the tournament, I think the most remembered things are championships, Cinderella runs, and upsets of name-brand programs by smaller schools (Davidson) and schools less well-known for their hoops than football (WVU).

BAMDSALL
03-24-2008, 01:23 PM
I agree with the second part, but don't think the first conjecture would apply, and here's why. I thought I remembered Coach K being quoted in the last 12 months about the Duke Football program. Something about whether or not they should be satisfied with improving to a 5-6 or 6-5 record, or satisfied with a coach that had such a goal. I think he basically said, no, you shouldn't set that as a goal, you should always set a championship as the goal. I think he was giving more than lip service too - even though he knew that if we played .500 football that would be a near-miraculous advance from our current state, he felt you still have to be focused on winning a championship. Of course, maybe by being so focused, you can get to that .500 point in the short run and that is a tacit intermediate goal.

As for all the frustration and disappointment of a 2nd round exit from the NCAAs, I think much of that is from a recency effect. We remember more the 6-5 finish than the 22-1 start. [But even then, better a 6-5 finish than last year's 4-8 stumble following an 18-3 start.]. 28-6 is very nice overall but it is the timing that gets to us. I know there have been times that we made the Final Four yet finished with 6-9 losses, so I'd conjecture that not all 28-6 teams are equal in fans' memory.

Folks really tend to remember the tournament more than the season, and within the tournament, I think the most remembered things are championships, Cinderella runs, and upsets of name-brand programs by smaller schools (Davidson) and schools less well-known for their hoops than football (WVU).

It would be wonderful to actually see and hear the goals that the master of motivation, Coach K, has for each individual team member if indeed they exist.

IMHO the obvious goal is to win the national championship. Though I hope that on day one of practice each of the players don't look in the mirror and declare that to be their goal. That would be a big a hill to climb on day one.

Think about how many times we have heard the coaches and players say that they are working on "getting better". That seems to be the incremental and consistent goal that gets them through looking at each segment---Regular season, ACC Tournament and NCAA.

I agree that "folks" (fans and media) do remember the NCAA as the final exam grade but my instincts say the coaching staff uses it as an interim report to set goals for next season both individually and collectively. As Coach K has stated, "the body of work by the team this year is good".

That said, I do not find his remarks about the football teams goals to be inconsistent and I do think you (and Coach K) are right. To be successful, players HAVE to believe they are champion contenders. Think Clemson and their game in Chapel Hill. They played as though they had nothing to lose until the last two? minutes and it dawned on them that they were beating UNC in their house.

Imposter syndrome?

Remarkable mind games seem to go on in the brains of these young guys and don't know but what our team was not a victim of some of that thinking at the end of the season. It's a lot of pressure to live up to previous team performances both positive and negative.