On the Record with Mike Krzyzewski

With his team having finished up its regular season and preparing to defend its national championship in the postseason, men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski sat down to discuss the state of Duke basketball in an exclusive interview with sports editor Craig Saperstein and sports managing editor Paul Doran. Here are some of the highlights of this conversation.

CS: Obviously, the team underwent a deep thought process after its loss to Florida State, but there's been little talk of deep reflection after the Maryland and Virginia losses. Do these defeats merely represent minor setbacks for the team or do you think they exposed the vulnerabilities of this team?

MK: Really, with our team, we're trying to cram a couple seasons of maturity into one. Any team that I've coached has lost games, but they've lost it over like a two-year period. With a team of four juniors, a sophomore and freshman in the top six, we're trying to cram more in. Our experience in big games, whether they be wins or losses, is huge. The losses that we've had have just been part of the process.

To assume that we were functioning at full capability and that Florida State was a wake-up call is such a mundane, surface-level analysis. Obviously, before that, we weren't playing really good, but were we one of the top teams? Yeah, probably, but the Florida State game helped us define one of the areas we were going to define: When were we going to start over and separate ourselves from last year? So basically, that's what that game did. What we did with the locker room and all that was symbolic. It wasn't me coming in here and throwing things.... There had to be a visible sign that we needed to start over.... Thinking about it after the game we needed that. Now I'm sure there are probably some high school coaches around that after a loss are throwing chairs or doing that, but I think they're doing it for another reason.

PD: Last year, when you guys were making your championship run, you had to restructure your lineup. Casey Sanders, Matt Christensen and Reggie Love were really big for relieving Boozer's minutes. Do you see them having that type of role now? Do you see someone else having that type of role? Or is it mainly the six guys that are going to be your guys?

MK: I think one of the kids that people haven't been emphasizing is [Nick Horvath]. If you watch our game yesterday, the sharpest kid in movements, etc. was Horvath. He got five rebounds, he was close to getting about four or five buckets.... But his movements were terrific. Where would he be now if he didn't have all his injuries...? He's become a very dependable guy, not just to come in for Boozer, but also to come in for Dunleavy.

The problem is that our initial team is built around four guards--with Dunleavy being a guard. If you have two big guys, you change the very nature of you team.... With the emergence of Nick, we get a little different look if he and Carlos are in.

I want to tell you, though, last year the key move was Duhon.

MK: Well, one, he has the respect of everybody. Now he has to feel that not just when you're sitting around, but when the bullets are firing and whistles are blowing and the crowd is cheering. Is is fair? Yes. Is he capable of doing it? Absolutely. He did it this summer... in the youth games.... He's played almost 80 games--for some kids, that's more than they do in almost three years. I think the fact that we need him will help him.... We need Chris to be at his best for us to win.

PD: Is he on the three-year plan?

MK: No.... He's going to go this summer to the new language institute. The language thing is really unfair for a two-semester athlete. Language is best learned semester after semester. The spring semester for basketball players is really ridiculously [difficult].

What our school is doing--it's for everybody, it's not just for athletes--it'll be an intensive six-week language institute where you really go to school for eight hours a day and you get two credits out of it, and then we can follow it up with a fall semester. And I know that summer school is not going to be easy.

CS: Coming into the season, Jason Williams was billed as a national-player-of-the-year candidate and little has changed to alter that consensus. Assuming that he receives this recognition, is it likely that we can see his jersey in the Cameron rafters someday?

MK: I talked with the students about the jersey thing. The thing about the jerseys is you have to have gotten some type of national recognition and not just an All-American--at least the guys who play for me.

So Jason was a national player of the year, why don't you talk about it now? The reason you don't is because the biggest criteria of being up there is that you have to graduate.... If you're on schedule to finish in the normal time period [like Battier], that's the precedent. Jason cannot finish in that time period. It's not even about Jason, it's the precedent of [where you draw the line]: Do you have to have two [credits] left, three left for graduation? Jason, once he finishes, will be considered and then the powers-that-be will make that decision.

CS: Were you surprised just how much Mike Dunleavy improved his physical presence and his skills during last summer even though he did not play organized basketball?

MK: Well, before he ever left here... he already started putting on the weight. One of the reasons I recruited Mike Dunleavy--I didn't know he was going to grow to be 6-foot-9 (laughs)--I knew he was going to be an exceptional player. I knew he was going to get bigger--not taller. It really didn't surprise me because he is a throwback from how you prepare, how you play the game.... He's an incredible player. I think he has a growth period in the game not just physically, but emotionally and mentally that will take him into the next decade.... He's going to be great. Now he's learning to lead--what the burden of leadership can do to wear you out, but also what the excitement of leadership to even immerse you more into the game. I think as big a jump as we've seen from last year to this year, we'll see from this year to next year.

CS: Based on the criticism leveled at the program by ESPN and other news outlets, do you feel like there is a backlash against Duke?

MK: I don't know if backlash is the word--I don't know what exactly the word is. I think there's resentment of anybody in a competitive situation who wins at a high level for a period of time, whether it be in business, music, theater or sports. I think we should expect some of that, but while we're doing it, we should never get tired of the pursuit of excellence.... This year we've experienced it at a high, high level.... The alternative is to lose and have everybody like that accept you. The alternative is much worse.

PD: It seems like there is a big gap between Duke, Maryland and Kansas and the rest for the race for the NCAA title. Do you find that true?

MK: I'm not sure, because in the last week and a half, all those teams could have lost or did lose.... In a one-shot deal there isn't a gap. If we played a series, I'd take those three teams to be pretty tough to beat, but in a one-shot deal, anything could happen.

PD: One last question that everyone has been debating. Would you rather be a No. 1 seed in the South and have to play in Rupp Arena or be a No. 1 seed in the East and possibly meet Kansas in the first round of the Final Four?

MK: I think we're deserving of a No. 1 seed--basically, we've led the race most of the year. I really don't care where they put us. I think the committee should use its discretion--whether we go West or if we go South I don't really care.... I just hope we get really good matchups.... [Last year's] Final Four was one of the first times that someone has played in a championship where they did not have an advantage based on who they played in the Final Four.... That's why a lot of people have talked about over the years reseeding the Final Four. It's not a bad thing to look at because it does give credit for the whole year.... It's a great tournament. That would be the only thing I'd like to look at or consider for the future of the tournament.