Duke can win title if it can ‘learn from losing’
“On the road and everywhere else, we’ll be hungry. We’re not playing the NCAA Tournament here (at Cameron Indoor) so we look forward to going on the road and making up for it.”
DURHAM, N.C. – Long before the 2021-22 men’s basketball season even began, Duke associate head coach Jon Scheyer said escaping the emotions of a farewell tour for coach Mike Krzyzewski would be virtually impossible for all the players on this year’s roster.
“When you’re trying to do something to the best of your ability, you have to naturally feel something,” said Scheyer, the heir to Coach K at Duke upon his retirement. “This season is emotional. That emotion is important to fuel this year’s team.”
It’s safe to say the euphoria on display last weekend to honor Krzyzewski backfired in epic fashion for a nightmarish ending against archrival North Carolina – the team’s first double-digit loss all season. Duke lost by more to UNC (13 points) than the margin of its previous four losses combined (nine points total).
The Blue Devils (26-5, 16-4 ACC) had been surging before the setback – having won seven consecutive games, including three on the road. And they hammered this same UNC team by 20 points a month earlier. But this usually determined group, made up of a mix of talented freshmen and some veterans, looked flat and like it had no counterpunch when the Tar Heels started delivering knockout blows in the game’s final minutes.
It’s a nightmare that doesn’t have to carry over into this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. And more important, next week’s NCAA Tournament – where Duke is a long shot to land a No. 1 seed but is solidified as a No. 2 seed on Selection Sunday.
“The season isn’t over,” Krzyzewski told his beloved fans at Cameron Indoor Stadium in his last game coaching in front of them.
“I love my team, but I hated how today went,” he told reporters
Paolo Banchero Duke freshman
afterward. “Now we’re 0-0. I’m glad this (final home game pageantry) is over. Let’s just coach and see what the hell happens in the (NCAA) tournament.”
Coach K is not a fan of the pageantry. Instead, he’s eager to coach this team when it counts and when it’s win or go home – all the way home to retirement, that is. If and when the Blue Devils lose in March Madness, there won’t be any do-overs on cementing the legacy of the winningest coach in the sport. Yet they essentially get a clean slate now for a proper send-off.
In the grand scheme of Krzyzewski’s retirement tour, the 94-81 loss to UNC was just a blip and a setback that could serve as necessary fuel for a team that appears to take on a different identity if it’s not fully locked in and engaged.
The real issue of inconsistency is on the defensive end.
North Carolina had five total turnovers in the Duke game and just one in the second half. There were too many miscues for open shots. Offense typically isn’t an issue for Duke (ranking sixth in KenPom’s efficiency ratings), but a lack of defensive stops just means too many Paolo Banchero pull-up jumpers in the halfcourt. A team can’t live and die off its best player like that if it wants to win it all.
“We need to learn from losing,” Krzyzewski said.
Learning in this case applies directly to the goal of getting to New Orleans with a national title on the line.
Krzyzewski knows as well as anybody how cruel the singleelimination NCAAs can be to a blue-blood program that’s heavily hyped. Some of his best teams over the years have lost in the first two rounds with stunning early exits (losing to Lehigh in 2012 and Mercer in 2014).
He also knows how hard it is to get to a Final Four – where Duke hasn’t been since it last won a national title in 2015. The Blue Devils came up short with back-to-back Elite Eight finishes in 2018 and 2019 – the latter of which happened despite having national player of the year Zion Williamson on the roster.
Perhaps the March 5 ugly loss to North Carolina was the exact wake-up call this team needed. Banchero, the Blue Devils’ lightning rod freshman with an NBA future, said as much on Saturday.
“On the road and everywhere else, we’ll be hungry,” Banchero said. “We’re not playing the NCAA Tournament here (at Cameron Indoor) so we look forward to going on the road and making up for it.”
Krzyzewski believes the hunger factor could be the difference-maker in whether this group becomes an underachiever with an early NCAA tournament exit or an overachiever that cuts down the nets in April.
“Basically we’re living in a penthouse the last few days. With room service and everyone saying nice things,” Krzyzewski said of the week heading into his final game at Cameron Indoor. Krzyzewskiville was piled up with students all day Saturday, and the entire week was hyped with coverage of the fan base he’s helped build.
“We didn’t play hungry today. ... It’s tough to find somebody hungry all the time. There are only so many Kobe Bryants in the world. We can all be beaten by human nature. The ones that do it really well have a really high winning percentage against human nature. It’s hard to stay at that level when you’ve already eaten well. We had a big meal. We weren’t ready for that (versus North Carolina).”
One caveat or strength about this passing-of-the-torch season from Krzyzewski to Scheyer is that the entire offseason saw the assistant spearhead all recruiting.
Meanwhile, Coach K poured his heart and soul into this team. His
“I am gonna dive in with this team deeper than I was (previously) able to do,” he said. “I want it this year. I want to do a really good coaching job. Not a retirement year. To stay hungry. I have. And I will, until this is done.
“We’ve got a chance next week (in the ACC tournament) and the following week (NCAA Tournament). When it’s done, I’ll be able to walk away and say, ‘We did our job.’ I’ve loved coaching.”
last Duke team.