GREENSBORO - As if it wasn't emotional enough.
It's the NCAA tournament for crying out loud.
Never mind the intensity of this Thursday's Duke-UCLA matchup or the potential for an East Regional showdown with Kentucky. Mike Krzyzewski had to get through Saturday's game first, when he faced off against former Duke player and assistant coach Quin Snyder.
The wacky folks on the selection committee absolutely die for this sort of thing: pitting mentors against their protégés and anxiety-ridden Maryland coaches against former Maryland coaches.
After waxing Monmouth 95-52 in the opening round Thursday night, Krzyzewski did not want to talk much about facing Snyder. He made a joke about how good Snyder looks before making fun of his own big ears and big nose.
But the potential matchup became reality when Snyder's Tigers vaulted back against Georgia to a last-second 70-68 win. Even then, it did not seem real.
"A couple of times I found myself looking down at the Duke bench and thinking, 'Wow, that's Coach K down there.' It was part strange and part scary," said Snyder, whose Tigers were defeated 94-81 by Krzyzewski's Blue Devils.
It did not seem real when the tanned Snyder, donning a gray pinstripe suit with an appropriately green tie for St. Patrick's Day, walked onto the court at Greensboro Coliseum. He looked more like a manager returning from some beach on spring break than one of college basketball's rising coaching stars.
It still did not seem real when Krzyzewski walked up to Snyder before the game and the two embraced as cameras snapped away.
"I was sitting on the bench and he came over," Snyder said. "I didn't know whether to hug or shake hands. He said, 'No handshake now, good luck and have a good game.'"
By the time the Tigers trailed only 63-62 with 10:42 remaining Saturday, there was nothing surreal about Mizzou, and Krzyzewski was hoping for some luck himself. The Blue Devils, of course, did not need good fortune-just Shane Battier down the stretch.
"I got a little bit emotional before the game when I saw him," Krzyzewski said. "I love Quin. In addition to loving him, I respect Quin.... I'm glad this is over and I'm glad we both played terrific games today."
From Mizzou's man-to-man defense, which Snyder used for most of the game, to a familiar freedom on the team's offense, to the very way Snyder tried to match Duke's smaller, speedier lineup with a small lineup of his own, the similarities of the two programs are undeniable.
Of course, that should not really be surprising. It helps explain why the No. 9 seed hung with big, bad Duke for so long.
But there is more to Snyder than just the way his team plays.
Beyond the boyish grin and the curly locks, beyond the M.B.A. and the J.D., beyond even the emotional dynamics of Saturday's game, Snyder has the respect of his players.
"I believe we gave Coach Q all we had," junior Clarence Gilbert said. "We fight for him, he fights for us. We've got his back, he's got ours."
His kids like him, his kids listen to him, his kids trust him-it is obvious why he is a rising star. Watch the eyeballs. They all come back to Snyder.
"He has passion, heart and the ability to communicate with his players," Krzyzewski said. "His players believe in him. He's terrific."
Perhaps that's why the Big 12's leading scorer, Kareem Rush, does not hesitate to say that he looks forward to next season with Snyder rather than the NBA draft, despite facing the reality of a dislocated thumb earlier this season.
Snyder already has the type of respect that Krzyzewski commands.
But make no mistake, Snyder is not a Krzyzewski clone. He's new school, more Billy Donovan than Bob Knight. Even so, there remains something special about Snyder, and it showed Saturday. Most coaches come out of a game against Duke humiliated. Snyder came out of it unscathed after only two years as a head coach.
But for both men, Saturday's game could not have turned out better. Sure, Duke advanced as expected, but Snyder deserves a lot of credit for the intensity of his Tiger squad.
Still, both coaches are likely relieved to leave the second round behind; Duke will go on through the tournament and Missouri will look back on a very decent season and plan for an even better one next year. And Krzyzewski will be rooting for Snyder every step of the way.
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