When men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski announced that he would not coach the remainder of the season due to his ailing back, a massive debate soon followed. Sportswriters and fans alike have been attempting to determine if Coach K's departure has led to the disappointing season of the Blue Devils.
Starting with a tough defeat at the hands of Clemson on Jan. 4, Duke spiraled into the depths of despair, which ended only with a trip to battle non-conference foe Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. The Blue Devils broke their six-game losing streak on Jan. 24 against the Fighting Irish, right after the team got a visit from Coach K.
And the second visit from the coach produced the same result--another rare victory for the Blue Devils. Perhaps Krzyzewski's meeting with the team on Monday may have given the Blue Devils that extra incentive they needed to pull out Wednesday night's 72-67 win over Florida State in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"It meant a lot," senior Cherokee Parks said following the FSU game. "He says the right things at the right time. When he speaks, everybody pays 100 percent attention."
Krzyzewski's message had the same tone as the one he gave prior to the Notre Dame contest. He asked the players to forget about the losses and struggles they have faced and to concentrate on the future.
"Basically, he said to try to put everything behind you," Parks said. "It wasn't rehearsed, he came in and was speaking from his heart. He was just telling us some things we needed to do. He said we needed to play harder."
To the Blue Devils' credit, they did play harder, at least defensively, against the Seminoles. And the team was also able to pull out a close one at the end, nailing key free throws in the last minute to ensure the victory over FSU.
It was a win that Krzyzewski would have been proud of, at least this year. It was an ugly win--one that almost got away--but right now the Blue Devils aren't that picky.
The wins have been few and far between since Krzyzewski left the team prior to a Jan. 7 contest at Georgia Tech.
"It was really good," sophomore Jeff Capel said of Monday's meeting. There was a lot of feedback on telling us how to improve."
While the Blue Devils might be improving as a team, many concerns have also been raised about the improvement of Coach K.
Krzyzewski's health has been the frequent source of rumor and speculation since he stepped down for the season on Jan. 22. This announcement, however, did not mean that he stopped all contact with the team.
He has conferred with the coaches several times and has also talked to some of the players individually, outside of the two team meetings.
"When [Coach K] came in here, he was up and at 'em," freshman Ricky Price said. "He wasn't ill, he wasn't sick, he wasn't tired, he wasn't anything. He was Coach K."
"It was definitely good to see him," senior Erik Meek said. "When he left, a lot of the guys lost some confidence. We've had to redirect it to each other and to our assistant coaches."
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