Coach K of Duke coaches nothing but winners, except for when he is not coaching Team USA

Bob on 07 15, 2009

Mike Krzyzewski is regarded as one of the best coaches in all of college basketball. He certainly has a good amount of hardware to back it up, but this hardware is from a long time ago. In regards to the popular phrase “what have you done for me lately?”; the answer is “not much.” Duke’s last NCAA tournament championship was in 2001, and it looks like the only championships Mike Krzyzewski will be celebrating in the future will be with Team USA, not the Dukies.

It’s great what the Blue Devil program has going for them with the whole “this isn’t just basketball, we’re teaching you how to succeed in life after basketball” approach. It really is. Considering the majority of the most recent and current Duke players aren’t cut out for the NBA , it’s great to prepare them for the “real world,” but let’s not stroke ourselves. Not many fans care about the graduation rate of their favorite team’s athletes; they care about W’s and championships. Wins they will get, but championships are a different story.

I’m not quite sure what Coach K and the Blue Devils are aiming for, but it is definitely not a championship. It’s great to recruit some players with a lot of character to your program, every championship team has at least one of them, but assembling an entire team full of these guys is not a recipe for success. Krzyzewski and his Dukies are like Charlie Weis’ Fighting Irish of college basketball. Weis’ plan at Notre Dame is to “assemble individuals who are good people first, studious people second and good football players third.” He claimed he “could get hoodlums and thugs and win tomorrow,” but he “won’t do it that way.”

Well Charlie, it sounds nice and all, but the Fighting Irish will continue to disappoint their fans if that’s the plan you’re so adamantly sticking to. Unfortunately, you don’t win championships for putting together the team with the most genuine and warm-hearted players. Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils’ basketball program seem to have taken a very similar approach when it comes to assembling their team (too bad they didn’t rub off on their lacrosse team). Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee headline Duke’s recruiting class this season, and they undoubtedly fit the mold…lanky, goofy looking white boys with a dependable jump shot who lack strength but make up for it with a ‘great attitude.’

Hate to break the news, but championship teams typically consist of superior athletes. Character, basketball IQ, coaching etc. are obviously other important factors, but without great athletes, these factors are generally not enough to win a ‘ship. It’s great if you want to recruit these 4 year guys and try to teach them the harsh realities of life via basketball if you’re taking the Dr. Phil approach on basketball, but this isn’t Oprah. If you want to teach life lessons, take up counseling or something of that nature. Go coach at Yale. Hell, I don’t care what it is; just don’t do it at a premier basketball program like Duke.

Don’t get me wrong, team cohesiveness is crucial for success, but it must be coupled with several other factors. You could assemble a team of valedictorians with average skill sets and let them play their 4 years together, but you will NOT win a championship by doing so. So what if you’ve got to recruit some potentially ‘one-and-done’ type players? Do whatever it takes to bring home the hardware.

The only logical explanation I can think of for Duke’s recent methods is that maybe they got scared after the Corey Maggette incident (where he admitted to taking money, but of course Coach K and the Duke program had no idea) and vowed to go about the recruiting process honestly in an attempt to not tarnish Duke’s reputation. Let’s be real, players are getting paid under the table and all sorts of recruiting violations take place all the time, we only hear about a small percentage of them.

Whatever the Blue Devils’ objective may be, it’s not working. Duke fans are accustomed to success and are thirsty for another championship. They will remain thirsty until Krzyzewski and crew realize their current motives aren’t going to bring home the bread.