EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Mike Krzyzewski won't have to show his players videotapes anymore. They're ready once again to make their own.
Saturday night, on the eve of his team's second straight appearance in the Regional Finals, Krzyzewski decided to pull out a video, albeit one just 40 seconds long.
It was March of 1989, and Duke was cutting down the nets after having just beaten Georgetown to reach the Final Four.
"He was smiling on the tape," Corey Maggette said of Krzyzewski. "It was great to see him be a kid for a minute."
Just four seasons after watching his team plummet to its worst record in 12 years, Krzyzewski could smile again yesterday in New Jersey.
With an 85-64 win over Temple, Krzyzewski tied former UCLA coach John Wooden for second all-time by recording his 47th NCAA tournament win. More importantly, it marked a triumph of sorts, a return to the final weekend once dubbed the Duke Invitational earlier this decade.
After a loss in the championship game to Arkansas in 1994, the Blue Devils took a slide. Krzyzewski had to sit out the last two-thirds of the next season with back problems. Trajan Langdon is the only player still around from that 13-18 campaign, and he knows how far back Duke has come and how little time it took to get back.
Yesterday's opposing coach, John Chaney, certainly well-respected among his peers, hasn't even taken his team to the Final Four once. In comparison, this will be Krzyzewski's eighth.
"I think it comes from Coach," Langdon said. "Coming back off the year where he missed part of the season, he was very disappointed where the program was. He has the most dedication of anyone in the nation in getting the program back up. The motivation comes from him and the team just follows him."
They followed him by playing 40 minutes of disciplined basketball against Temple. Not that the effort was any different than it has been all season; Duke's average margin of victory is in the upper 20s.
The Blue Devils didn't exactly win yesterday by accident. It has been a steady progression since Krzyzewski first returned his team to the tournament in 1996 and upped the ante a little each season. They almost made it all the way last year, but the progression took its final step yesterday.
"Duke has a great history and Mike has a great ability to teach and a great respect for the game," Chaney said. "There is class about the team."
With that class, Krzyzewski has elevated his own standing among the coaching elite. No current coach has a higher winning percentage in the tournament, and now just one, Dean Smith, has won more games (65).
"We're ecstatic about winning the region and having the chance to play for the national championship," Krzyzewski said. "You don't have a chance to win a national title until you reach the Final Four. Now we can start talking about winning a national championship."
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