As Duke basketball heads into its offseason, The Chronicle's Andrew Beaton went one-on-one with head coach Mike Krzyzewski to discuss this team's 2012-13 season and what lies on the horizon for the Blue Devils.
The Chronicle: All season everybody talked about how good the chemistry was. What was it about this team that made it that way?
Mike Krzyzewski: It doesn’t happen all the time, obviously. It doesn’t mean that something bad was happening, but when it happens like this year it’s great. Everybody involved loved this year.
I think the fans loved it because they could see us loving it. I believe it happens because everybody takes ownership. They’re only concern is our place, not their place, and that’s what our group had. I believe the players had that as a result of the leadership of our three seniors.
Our three seniors are really studs. Two of them played hurt. One of them started last spring and said, ‘I’m going to change who I am, I’m going to go for it, I’m going to be with you every step of the way.’ Mason did that every day. Seth’s commitment—everybody knew the extent of his injury. Ryan, while he was hurt and then to come back—at whatever percentage, but much less than 100 percent—and be so cooperative set the tone.
As a coach, if you are constantly giving and not getting back emotional energy, you wear out. We were never worn out because our team, as much as we gave the team, the team gave back.
It was a team worthy of winning 30 games, it was a team worthy of winning the whole thing. A lot of times you can have that and not win the whole thing because the whole thing is very difficult. The only way I could be happier is if we won the whole thing. But I’m not sad about that. I loved my team.
TC: Had you ever been through anything injuries the way this team was?
MK: We don’t publicize our injuries. I’ve never done that because it goes back to my military days where one of your answers was, ‘No excuse, sir.’ In other words, you line up and you go.
You start putting everything out all the time or on a daily basis—every once in a while I’ll talk about Seth’s injury because I wanted people to understand the commitment he was making. I’ve never had a kid going through something like that. For him to have the year he had, are you kidding me?
TC: Seventeen points per game, second in the ACC.
MK: I do imagine this: what would have happened—what could have happened if he was healthy the whole year, individually. He could have led country in scoring. But in saying that, I’m not saying if we had those two guys we’d win. I do think if he had the surgery or has an injury or Ryan doesn’t come back. We might not be an NCAA team. We went through the whole year worrying about that, even if the whole world doesn’t worry about that. We’re also happy because our guys gave it all.
TC: Did that toughness remind you of an old school Duke basketball team?
MK: It was more of an old-school Duke basketball team because you had the ability to be old school. I don’t see how you can be old school unless you have people who have gone through the experiences. Old school is about going through things for a longer period of time.
When you have senior leadership, and those guys have been through it—all three of those guys from their freshman year, none of them had a prominent role. Seth didn’t play, Ryan because of sitting out, and Mason had the biggest role but certainly wasn’t in the top five. And Ryan was way down the ladder in that. So they were able to experience the program in a growth process—basically working in the mail room to being the top executive. You’re more apt to be old school because they’ve experience all of that, and it can help the guys going through those experiences now much better.
TC: Do you see the same potential for that next year with not only Josh Hairston and Tyler Thornton, but also Andre Dawkins returning to the team?
MK: Well you would hope that the experiences that those three guys have had would equate to help for everybody. The one thing is that our three best players were our three seniors this past year. Next year, our three best players will not be those three guys. They can be key players, they can start. One or two of them might start.
This year, you not only had them being seniors but they were the best players and the most important players. That dynamic will be a little bit different.
TC: For those returning guys, what are the most important things for them to be focusing on this summer as they transition?
MK: For the returning players, it’s all about individual improvement during the off season—what they have to do to change their bodies or keep their bodies at a certain level, the skill work they need to practice on and the maturity that needs to be developed. And then the maturity that needs to be developed: what did you learn and how are you going to change that into being a more mature player.
Our team was very mature this year. To me, that will be one of the biggest things about next year’s team. Can we have a high level of maturity? But that means you keep your eyes focused on what we are all doing and not getting sidetracked by what you’re doing.
Maturity equates to a team vision much more so than individual vision. Your individual vision should be incorporated into the team vision. We talk to our guys about that. When reality sets in and you’re the ninth man now, and you thought it would be really good and it’s not going as well, or the role you anticipated someone has and now it’s something different and now you have to adapt. Those are mature things.
When we’ve had a team worthy of winning, that’s what we’ve had. Our seniors, the four years that they participated, they were on two teams that were worthy of winning. One we did win and then this past year. Their sophomore year, we weren’t cohesive enough because of the injury problem to Kyrie to show that we were worthy, but we were close. Their junior year, we were worthy of losing in the first round, and we got what we were worthy of.
TC: So when you do have another team that wins a national championship, are you getting a tattoo?
MK: I will never get a tattoo. I promise you. Even if I promised my team that—I don’t like to break promises—but that will never happen. A tattoo on a 60-year old, on my body, would not be a pleasant sight. So that’s not going to happen.
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