Midway through the first half of Duke's 102-74 victory over the EA Sports All-Stars, junior guard Chris Duhon drove from the three-point line after missing two straight treys. He slashed to the basket angrily, cutting through defenders, before leaping from just inside the foul line. In mid-flight, he was bumped and his legs flew into the air.
The crowd, fearing the season was about to shatter on Coach K court, leapt to its feet as the Blue Devil captain fell from the precipitous height. He landed on his left hand and his rear, and immediately rolled onto his stomach while clutching his wrist. When Duhon catapulted to his feet seconds later, the Duke faithful thought all was well, but a much greater problem had arisen on the bench.
Like the rest of the crowd and Duke sideline, head coach Mike Krzyzewski jumped from his seat as Duhon fell. Watching his point guard writhe in pain on the far end of the floor, Krzyzewski ran most of the way to mid-court. When Duhon appeared to be fine, the coach returned to the bench. There he told associate head coach Johnny Dawkins that his right leg hurt.
"The time we jumped up when Duhon went down, you could see Coach wince like something may have happened," Dawkins said. "He said, 'Something's wrong with my leg.'"
Krzyzewski continued to coach throughout the first half, just as Duhon, who had sprained his left wrist, continued to play. The coach was in visible pain, however, at numerous points.
After limping off the court at halftime, Krzyzewski gave his usual intermission talk to the team. He did not mention his injury and the players could not tell for certain if their coach was hurt.
"It doesn't matter how much pain he's in, his main focus is to worry about the team," Duhon said. "That's why we love him so much."
After finishing talking with the team, Krzyzewski conferred with his assistant coaches and informed them he could not continue in the second half. He was then taken to Duke Medical Center for X-rays, the results of which were not available Thursday night.
"When he came in and couldn't even continue to at least sit on the bench and do what he was able to do last year, obviously it concerned me, Chris and Dahntay [Jones] as well as all the other veterans on the team," senior Casey Sanders said.
Krzyzewski, who has had a history of arthritis-related hip problems, had his right hip replaced in March of this year. He has said that he feels much better now than he did last season.
His left hip was replaced in April of 1999. Prior to that, he missed most of the 1994-95 season because of back problems.
With Krzyzewski out, Dawkins coached the team in the second half. The Blue Devils continued to blow out EA Sports, adding to their 55-34 halftime lead.
"That helped us grow as a team, not having our leader there," Duhon said. "Guys came together and we were still able to execute and play pretty good basketball."
Duhon, who finished with eight points, six assists and five rebounds, continued to play until the middle of the second half. He then had his wrist X-rayed-the results were negative-and iced.
"It's way too early to tell," Duhon said about his sprained non-shooting wrist. "I don't know how serious it is, but it's really bothering me right now.
"I was just trying to brace myself from the fall. I guess my vertical got a little bit higher, because that was a long fall."
Duke now has some time to recuperate before the season opener Nov. 23 against Army. For now, thoughts remain on Krzyzewski.
"I'm concerned about him, because we all love him and I know about his troubles in the past," freshman Shavlik Randolph said. "I hope, I pray that everything will be all right and that God will take care of him."
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