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Final Four Special Edition

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Men's basketball seeks 3rd title**

On paper, it looks like the men's basketball team might have a home-court advantage at the Final Four in Charlotte.

The Queen City is just 150 miles from Durham, it's located in Duke's home state, and the Blue Devils played in the Charlotte Coliseum three weeks ago in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

But for Duke and head coach Mike Krzyzewski, Charlotte is anything but friendly turf.

The Blue Devils will head to the Queen City in search of their third national championship in the last four years. Duke defeated Kansas for the 1991 national title, then the Blue Devils came back to beat Michigan for the 1992 crown.

"It's tough to talk about matchups, except for the team matchups," Krzyzewski said. "For some games, I'm sure you put your charts up there -- who's going to start, who's going to play that guard -- and analyze everything. In some games, that's very important. I think in this game, it's how each team functions. Each team plays really well together."

For the Blue Devils, it took a whole season to develop that cohesiveness. It came, for sure, in the second half against Purdue when Duke played for six minutes without senior All-America Grant Hill, who was on the bench with four fouls.

"We've tried to keep Grant on the court most of the time," Krzyzewski said. "In a couple of the games that we lost, I thought that at the end of the ball game, we were tired -- and he was especially tired and we became too dependent on him.

"That even happened in the ACC tournament. But I was very pleased with how they responded [against Purdue.]"

The player who stepped up in that game, more than any other, was freshman Jeff Capel. A contributor all season long, Capel became a leader last Saturday.

"I especially like how Jeff Capel has played in the NCAA Tournament," Krzyzewski said. "I think the three games before Purdue helped him, so that when he was in the situation, he was much more assertive."

Krzyzewski has given much credit to his senior co-captains, particularly Hill and Antonio Lang, for fostering an environment where players like Capel could shine.

Again, the transformation from a collection of players to a cohesive team didn't happen over night.

"We have had a different personality and a different defense for the last three or four years -- especially with Bobby [Hurley] pressuring the basketball and picking up full court more," Krzyzewski said.

"We really had to change our personality, and we've changed. Our points of emphasis -- the way they've picked that up -- has been very pleasing to me."

So pleasing, in fact, that at times during the 1993-94 season, Krzyzewski sat on the bench -- and just watched. He expects to do a lot of that in Charlotte, particularly against Florida and its head coach, Lon Kruger.

"Actually, we're going to be two of the most boring suckers who've ever been regional champions and then played in the Final Four," Krzyzewski said of the coaching matchup. "I really believe we both allow our players to play and our teams to play. That's been the strength of both units."