We Say Goodbye, You Say Hello

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Goodbye Kyrie.  Hello Coach Gottfried.

Today we’ll examine the changing of the guard in two programs, how one was handled brilliantly, how the other was handled poorly, and how both programs will arguably be better off in the long run.

Kyrie Irving Enters the Draft

This was a no brainer from the moment Kyrie stepped foot on campus.  Despite a record day of traffic to the blog (up 150% over the 2nd highest day) about the “Kyrie Irving Letter”, there is literally nothing to discuss here regarding the decision to go to the NBA.  The discussion, at this point, centers around the return on investment that Duke received from recruiting a point guard that played just 11 games as a Blue Devil.  A narrow view suggests that a Sweet 16 exit and a 2nd place regular season finish in the ACC was a disappointment for a team that entered the year as the defending champions with hopes of a 5th title in its crosshairs.  Even the way Duke went out with All-American Nolan Smith struggling through a tough shooting night against Arizona sparked criticism of Kyrie’s return to the lineup following his freak turf toe injury that sidelined him for the majority of the season.  But in the long run, expect the Kyrie Experiment to pay off huge returns for the Duke basketball program.

It’s been widely reported that following the 2004 early departure of Luol Deng and the decision of Shaun Livingston to completely skip his collegiate career by entering the NBA out of high school that Coach K and his staff shifted their recruiting focus to more three and four-year type players.  It also needs to be understood that the majority of the sportswriting world doesn’t follow recruiting closely, and most hindsight reviews of recruiting make the false assumptions that coaches always sign who they target.  Between 2005 and 2010, Coach K made offers to many projected “one and done” players, but with no success.  The perception was that one year players had no place at Duke; a perception mainly fed by the release of Kris Humphries from his letter of intent in 2004 to pursue his year of college elsewhere, and by the extended careers of alleged “sure-fire” one year players like Josh McRoberts and Shavlik Randolph.  But even as recently as 2009, Duke was heavily involved with John Wall until the final decision to go to Kentucky.

This perception, as with any in college basketball recruiting, picked up steam behind closed doors on the recruiting trail.  UNC guard Dexter Strickland gave a glimpse into the negative recruiting pitch of his coach Roy Williams when he spoke of his former teammate’s decision to attend Duke.  Strickland commented, “I think it’s a good pick for him, I just hope that system doesn’t change who he is as a player.”  I wonder where Dexter become such an expert on “that system” …

Regardless of where this perception began and how it continued to grow, the commitment of Kyrie Irving to do Duke did a lot to change that.  As with most offensive systems, Coach K’s is at its best with an elite point guard, a the fact that a well-liked and well-respected high school point guard committed speaks volumes across the AAU circuit.  You almost have to wonder … if Duke had not have recruited John Wall, would Duke have gotten Kyrie Irving?  If Duke had not have signed Kyrie Irving, would Duke have signed Austin Rivers and Quinn Cook?  And so on.  That’s how recruiting success works … you earn a win with a guy that people look up to and respect, and it begins a chain reaction of getting better access to more players in the circuit.  If that player has a bad experience at your school, you’re in trouble.  Having said that, Kyrie had a fantastic experience.

The injury, even though it kept him on the sidelines and out of the highlight reels for the season, may have turned into a blessing in disguise for Duke’s program.  It’s every NBA prospect’s biggest fear about the one and done rule … what happens if I go to college and get hurt?  Will it hurt my stock?  Will my coach rush me back?  Do I have to say a 2nd year?  Duke passed each of these tests with flying colors.  Even though UNC bloggers and pundits seemed to have a problem with it, the highly publicized rehab work from www.dukeblueplanet.com to the morning TV show “The Doctors” put it out there for all to see: Duke is the best place in the world to get injured.  In fact, I wouldn’t look past the issues that UNC folks had with Duke “exploiting Kyrie’s injury”, I’d take it as proof of its effectiveness as a recruiting tool. 

While Kyrie was recovering, Duke was patient.  Even the final decision to return to the court for the NCAA tournament was entirely on Kyrie’s shoulders; never once did K push for a rushed return to the court.  The downside to returning at all is that Kyrie could send one of two messages to NBA scouts.  Either he’s back and 100%, or he’s damaged goods.  Kyrie’s performance in the NCAA tournament could have cost him millions of dollars, and Duke handled that risk perfectly.  Following the season, there was no talk of pros and cons being provided by the coaching staff.  There was one decision and one decision only for Kyrie to make as a projected top 3 pick in the NBA draft. 

The impact of Kyrie’s legacy as a Duke player will not be felt for a few years, and much of it still hinges on his success as an NBA player.  But looking down the road, Kyrie Irving does more good for Duke in the long run playing next season in the NBA instead of playing in Durham as a Blue Devil.  Does it hurt losing the team’s best player?  Obviously.  But Cook, Thornton, Rivers and Curry are pretty damn good band aids. 

NC State Welcomes Gottfried

Gottfried, in my opinion, is a good hire for NC State.  He won me over in the press conference with one short statement in response to Debbie Yow firing both guns in the air shouting “We’re back, baby!” by answering, “Slow down, Debbie.”  BRILLIANT.  At that moment, I knew State had hired a guy who not only fully understands that State fans needed to hear their AD putting the rest of the world on notice, but who also fully understands that it’s the LAST thing that NC State needs to say.  Yow made a good move in hiring Gottfried, but it’s a shame it was sandwiched between two of the dumbest moves I’ve ever seen an AD make.

It all started with a letter.  Just days after becoming a huge fan of how Debbie Yow was handling the coaching search privately and on her own terms while being baited over and over again by the media to pull back the curtains, she did the unthinkable.  She sent a “don’t panic” letter to NC State fans and boosters who, from the outside looking in, weren’t panicking at all.  Two phrases from her letter, “square one” and “poor shape”, contributed to an epic reversal of control in this search.  Not only did she suddenly open the curtains to her office, she didn’t clean up before she let company in.  The job that she’d touted as one of the best posts available was now suddenly considered to be in “poor shape”?  And all of this was on the heels of discussions regarding a some general reluctance to work for Yow.  To me, it came off as a desperate attempt to deflect the blame.

I wish I could remember the film, I believe it’s “The Kingdom” but don’t quote me on that.  In the movie, there’s a politician who’s giving advice to someone and recounts a story where his predecessor gave him two letters to open if he ever found himself with the world closing in on him.  The first letter said, “Blame me, the guy who came before you.”  The second letter said “Tell the guy taking your job to write two letters.”  That’s how I saw this move by Yow.  Let’s make sure to blame the guy we just fired.  But the worst part of the letter … IT WASN’T NECESSARY!!!   Yow was sitting beside her coach at the press conference less than 48 hours after releasing her letter.  Now Gottfried appears like a rush hire, a last-ditch effort.  Bad move in my opinion.

I’m not even going to talk about Yow’s “J’Accuse” to Gary Williams during the press conference.  That’s another post for another day.  But I’m going to talk about the mistake of managing the team’s PR during the press conference.  Yow retained Monte Towe to maintain contact with recruits and to be available for the current players.  How does his responsibility not include coaching his players on how to appear at the press conference?  The team trickled in, one by one, on their own.  As one local sports personality put it, CJ Leslie’s body language appeared that he was doing everyone a favor by showing up to hear his new coach.  Ryan Harrow appeared disinterested and was probably researching new schools on his shiny new iPad while Gottfried spoke.  Those players should have arrived together, dressed in suits or jackets and ties, and sitting attentively as their new coach addressed the media.  I’m sorry, but when the knock on your team is that the players are soft and uncoachable, you’re giving the message that maybe changing coaches wasn’t the right move to make in the first place.  Towe, as an extension of Debbie Yow, should have been aware of that optic at that moment.  Extremely disappointing that NC State lost an opportunity to really come off as winners in the press conference.

At least Gottfried appears to be the kind of leader who will take control over behavior like that.

The Joke Within the Joke: We Must Go Deeper

Ok, let’s all get on the same page here:

Read this column titled “An Open Letter to Kyrie Irving“, written by Chris Cusack, which appeared in the Chronicle yesterday.

Then read my post from yesterday titled “An Open Letter to Chris Cusack“.

Finally, read Shane’s post on Seth Curry Saves Duke titled “Kyrie Invites Drama: Chris Cusack, You’re All Right in my Book“.

Now you’re up to speed.  I’m an enormous fan of the SCSD blog.  Literally one of the best blogs out there, never short on compelling opinions.  I don’t even think he’s wrong in his defense of Cusack, and I’ll be the first to admit that my response was entirely emotional and knee-jerk.  But it’s a blog, that’s kind of my job to do just that.  So I’m going to do my job once again and give my knee-jerk, emotional response to Shane’s post that contradicts what I wrote in my post that contradicts not only what Chris Cusack wrote in his post, but what he was REALLY writing in his post.  Okay, I’m already confused.  To try my best to clarify what I’d like to accomplish in this post … in re-reading Cusack and in reading Shane’s blog, I have changed my mind on some things, but have also strengthened my stance on others.

First off, anyone claiming Cusack’s piece wasn’t well written is just looking for a way to get under his skin.  That’s childish.  It’s clear that he’s a good writer.  I’m not even going to address that.

Second, the responses that jumped to mentioning racial overtones – I doubt those individuals really read the article.  I’m picturing the blogger who read that a Duke student wrote an open letter to Kyrie Irving and immediately ejaculated at the thought of being able to write yet another piece about how Duke students are rich, white snobs who love nothing more than to tell minorities what they should and should not value.  You don’t get my time either, race blogger.

Third, let’s examine the joke that everyone missed according to Shane and Cusack.  Evidently it’s clear that Cusack wrote from the viewpoint of a caricatured portrayal of a Duke student.  The article was douchey (and yes I know that’s not a word, but I’m going to continue to use it – I don’t care).  That’s not up for debate.  Some feel that the piece was douchey because Cusack made light of the benefits of going to the NBA by pointing out all of the experiences that Kyrie would miss by saying he wouldn’t miss them.  Funny stuff, right?  Meh.  But at least that joke was clear to me.  I felt that it came off as douchey, which was the intention of the writer, and I totally get that.  I didn’t find it to be a very creative approach, but I got it. 

Shane, and Cusack, go on to talk of the perspective of the speaker, who in this case is allegedly a caricature.  I’ll buy it.  I’m not even going to argue for a second that it wasn’t the case, and I’ll just concede that Cusack (and Shane) changed my mind on that one.  But it doesn’t change the fact that the column, even from the satirical perspective of a fake-douche, is douchey.  Let’s examine:

Duke has a perception problem.  To the “outside” world, Duke is filled with spoiled kids who wear their sense of entitlement as proudly as they wear their Duke colors.  Fair or not, that’s the perception.  And it’s not entirely off-base.  As Shane pointed out with his mention of the famous Elton Brand letter, there are many among us who have done exemplary work in painting this picture of “Duke people”.  This is not unique to Duke by any means;  our peers from UNC and NC State like to prove time and time again that thinking before speaking isn’t necessarily a rule that’s followed closely.  But for this sake of this point, it’s important to understand that Duke has this perception problem.  I’ll come back to that in a moment.

Let’s discuss satire first.  Satire is at it’s best when a small, subtle trait is magnified to enormous proportions to the point where the subject of the satire becomes a cartoonish figure defined by that small trait.  The joke isn’t on the subject at all, it’s on the audience as they’re made to feel foolish for focusing on such a small piece of the subject to begin with while ignoring the bigger picture in front of them.  The key to good satire is to let both the subject and the audience in on the joke, and to bring them together through humor.  Laughter ensues, and everyone walks away feeling great.  The problem with Cusack’s piece is that he shows a lack of awareness that his audience was never going to see THAT satire.  First, the caricature hits too close to home, it’s not cartoonish enough.  Second, the misdirection of the “humorous” look at the decision points is too distracting.  In short, I disagree with Shane … this was not made obvious by Cusack.  To give a backhanded compliment, Cusack played the role of “entitled Duke fan” too well.  Now let’s look at this and how it couples with the above conclusion regarding Duke’s perception.

Again, outsiders (aka “Duke haters”, aka “people”) do not view this sense of elitist entitlement as a small, subtle trait of Duke students/fans.  To them, this is THE defining trait.  Cusack displays a complete lack of self-awareness when it comes to this.  Or he sees it but doesn’t give a shit.  Either way, that’s bad news when writing something like this.  By choosing to use this satirical approach from the perspective of a caricatured Duke fan, he’s accepting that only a small percentage of his audience is going to be in on the joke.  This creates an awkward dynamic where a handful of readers skim through the comments of his piece laughing at how obtuse the readers are.  A small minority is positioned to look down on a vast majority.  In a nutshell, that’s elitism. 

And that’s where, in my opinion, Cusack accomplishes being the douche that he first set out to make fun of. 

Having said that, Mr. Cusack, DO NOT stop writing.  Part of my point yesterday is that many writers make a name for themselves by doing exactly what you did yesterday.  Write something – be wrong to many, be right to a few.  Either way, you’re being talked about.  But if you choose to follow that approach, I strongly urge you not to do it using the Chronicle as a platform.  Perhaps CBS Sports is hiring.

An Open Letter to Chris Cusack

**** UPDATE at https://devilwolfing.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/the-joke-within-the-joke-we-must-go-deeper/

Dear Chris:

Go pro. 

Seriously, drop out of Duke right now, go buy yourself a catchy domain, and start practicing trying to look surprised when your blog is over-run by furious hate mail that you’ll parlay into growing a mindless cult following that will eventually drive you to mainstream notoriety like many before you have done (I’m talking to you Gregg Doyel). 

I mean, what’s there to lose?

Okay, enough of trying to mimic your disgustingly douchey piece on Kyrie Irving and the decision that he has in front of him.  I get your intentions … you set out to write something light-hearted, something to ease the tension that any non-championship off-season brings.  You danced around the actual issues in front of Kyrie Irving … the pending NBA lock-out, the chance to win a collegiate championship, the personal legacy.  Those are all very real factors weighing in the decision that Irving must make by the end of this month. 

But as a writer, as someone who I’m assuming has aspirations to become a sports journalist, you forgot the one aspect of journalism that draws the line between you and me.  You write with an audience in mind while I get to hammer out my personal feelings on my own website without any obligation to inform or to persuade whoever might stumble upon this blog by accident.  Your “article” is not about Kyrie’s decision, it’s about how his decision impacts you as a fan.  And as a writer for Duke University’s student publication, your voice represents the sentiments of the entire student body – and you failed to properly listen to the voices of those around you on campus before jumping in and making the assumption that everyone is on board with you.  I can assure, Mr. Cusack, they are not on board with you.

Aside from your mis-alignment with the opinions of Duke Nation, you also make some horrible mistakes in your analysis of what makes a “Duke Great”.  The idea that Will Avery is any less of a Blue Devil than his fellow program-mates is extremely short-sighted.  Why is he less of a Blue Devil?  Because he left school early?  Well you go on to mention a guy like Carlos Boozer as being an example of a “true Blue Devil”, and he stayed just one year longer than Avery did.  They both left under similar circumstances: against Coach K’s advice.  Boozer, despite being advised to wait a year, entered the NBA draft after his Junior season and wasn’t drafted until the 2nd round.  Carlos has carved out a successful place for himself in the NBA since then, and also left Duke with a championship ring.  Is that your criteria?  If Avery and Maggette and Deng had won rings, they’d be “Duke Greats” too?

Let me tell you something about a “Duke Great”.  In 2004, Luol Deng was absolutely unguardable.  Additionally, he was one of the most beloved members of the Duke community, was a model student, and was a loyal friend to many on and around campus.  His departure after his freshman season put such a tremendous burden on the Duke basketball program that it wasn’t really until last season that Duke returned to Coach K’s definition of solid ground.  Was he selfish?  Did he miss out?  Deng was picked 7th in the NBA draft that season and suffered through a few injury plagued seasons before again becoming the elite player he was during his freshman season at Duke.  But off of the court, Luol has done extensive work for young boys left orphaned by war in his native Sudan.  By leaving Duke, he put himself in a position to earn the resources to literally make the world a better place to live in.  So how do you view Luol?  Do you see him as a selfish basketball player who ruined his college years because of greed and a desire to play basketball at the highest level?  Just interested to know if Deng meets your criteria as a “Duke Great”. 

But let’s get back to you for the sake of this letter.  You’re an extension of Duke University, and that is a reality that a good number of writers for student publications struggle with.  I’m guessing that you wrote for your high school’s student paper, which meant that you probably had around 500 to 2000 readers depending on the type of school you attended.  Further, you knew your readers personally.  You sat beside them in class, you maybe even played sports with them.  Your friends most likely read your column and were impressed with the seamless connection of words and phrases and gave you a “good job, man” before moving on to something more important.  In short, you’re used to writing for yourself – being a representative of only yourself.  You could be controversial, you could be off-color, you could write a group-think piece to rally your readers around you.  Not anymore.  Now when you write, you represent me as well.  And most importantly, you represent Kyrie Irving.

When you give us 500 words on why it’s important for you that Kyrie Irving should stay at Duke, what do you expect to accomplish from that?  Do you expect Kyrie to read your letter and think “Wow, Chris.  I’m sorry my decision has such of an impact on your enjoyment of Duke basketball and your opinion of me as a person.  I’m staying.”  The reason you’re coming off as a douche is extremely simple … Kyrie’s decision is about what’s best for Kyrie and his family.  It’s not about how you view him compared to other Duke players who had different decisions to make.  You are not in any position to provide input into this decision, and to trivialize the decision like it’s a random coin toss is to trivialize the commitment of a guy who just risked his entire future to play three more games in a Duke uniform.  Who are you to question his place as a Blue Devil?

I recently got around to watching the brilliantly written “The Social Network”, and the first thought that entered my mind when I read your column this morning was the image of a drunk and bitter Mark Zuckerberg sitting in his dorm room blogging about the girl who just broke up with him.  I honestly think that’s your best move the next time you get a thought in your head to tell someone else in detail how they should approach the biggest decision they’ll likely ever face.  Get drunk and write a blog.  Some people make a very good living doing just that.  And who knows … maybe you’ll get inspired to invent the next big social media breakthrough while you’re at it.  Here’s an idea … what about a website that lets you browse through other people’s life-decisions so you can provide your input on what they should do based entirely on your own personal biases and needs?  Just a suggestion, take it or leave it.

**** UPDATE at https://devilwolfing.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/the-joke-within-the-joke-we-must-go-deeper/

Irving, Barnes Have Tough Decisions to Make

It’s officially hand-wringing season for the majority of college basketball fans… the month-or-so between your favorite team’s last game and the deadline to declare for the NBA draft.  It’s the time of year that controls how a fan views the off-season.  Will you be in a deep depression, sitting silently by yourself looking down at the replica jersey of your favorite early-entry defection trying to remember the good times you had watching them play while not wanting to imagine how life can go on without them?  Or will you be celebrating the return of your team’s savior by saving a place on the wall to add one more framed national championship Sports Illustrated cover next April?  It’s the Groundhog Day of college basketball … if your superstar underclassman sees his NBA shadow and is frightened back into his dorm room for another year, it means two more weeks of car flags flying proudly around town.  Despite the fact that there are as many champions who lost key players to the draft the previous year as there are champions who returned all of their superstars, it’s one of the most intriguing times of year for all fans.

In this area, there are five key figures to keep an eye on … Kyrie Irving and Mason Plumlee from Duke, and Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Tyler Zeller from UNC.  At this moment, the general consensus is that Kyrie has finished his collegiate career, Mason Plumlee is undecided, and the entire trio of Tarheels will return for 2011-12.  Also at this moment, no one outside of those five individuals, their families and their coaches have any idea what they’re going to do – and potentially they don’t know either.  The news on Irving stems from one person, ESPN’s Chad Ford.  Ford stated in an ESPN insider article that Irving was “one foot out of the door” while Mason Plumlee was “50/50”.  The context of the article was Ford’s opinion, and was not based on any conversations he’d had with the players themselves.  Since then, CBS, Yahoo, and numerous mainstream blogs have picked up the story with “ESPN reporting that Irving is going pro” as the backbone of their articles.  This, in a nutshell, is how journalists cover this time of year. 

On the UNC side of things, the story gets a little more humorous.  Apparently the rumors of Zeller, Barnes and Henson’s package decision to return stems from a report from a student who claims to have been at Tyler Zeller’s apartment when Barnes and Henson came over to hang out.  Allegedly, Henson said “It’s time to talk about this decision, bra” and the three retired to Zeller’s bedroom to talk things over.  Unfortunately, we don’t have any more information because the storyteller “couldn’t hear too well because they were in Tyler’s room”, which led to him lamenting over what could have been when he said “I could have been an IC (www.insidecarolina.com) legend.”  Unfortunately, we will not be getting any further information out of the Chi O’s this weekend as they’ve asked their sorority sisters not to ask Kendall Marshall, Harrison Barnes and John Henson about their NBA plans at their formal this weekend.  This leads to another bit of speculation to ponder … why was Tyler Zeller not invited to the party?

Having said all of that, it’s my OPINION that Kyrie Irving will declare for the NBA draft, and that Plumlee, Barnes, Zeller and Henson will all return next season.  I will further clarify by stating that my OPINION is based entirely on the OPINIONS of others.  Cue the Duke fans freaking out about having Kyrie Irving for 11 games while Roy Williams was able to swindle money from Ty Lawson and Raymond Felton by hotboxing them into staying for three seasons, and cue the rosterbation from UNC fans looking through a lineup of 11 NBA players and planning their celebration of their 6th or 7th title (depending on which Tarheel fan you talk to).  As the decisions start being made public, two more hilarious items from this silly-season rear their ugly heads: the overnight change in player evaluation from fans, and the onslaught of early entry rule ideas.

So here’s how this is going to play out … if you ask a UNC fan today to evaluate Harrison Barnes, he’s a poor man’s Sean Elliot who needs to stay in college to become more than just a jumpshooter.  Duke fans think he’s a dynamic talent who should be a top 3 pick and would be absolutely foolish not to go take his place as the next Kevin Durant.  UNC fans feel like Kyrie Irving is the next Derrick Rose, while Duke fans have concerns about how Kyrie will hold up over an NBA season being so small and so out of shape from not playing.  If Barnes comes back, UNC fans are already polishing his Naismith Trophy while Duke fans are taking bets to see who from Roy Williams’ deep bench will transfer first.  Likewise if Irving returns, UNC fans become immediately concerned about Austin Rivers being able to get enough touches to make him happy while Duke fans are writing blog posts about the greatest backcourts in basketball history (coming to this site soon should Kyrie come back to Duke).  It’s the hilarious dance that fans do during this time of year.

And don’t get me started on the early entry opinions that will be thrown around ad nauseam following the conclusion of the championship game.  From the “baseball model” to the “hockey model” to the LeBron/Howard/Garnett model … ideas will be thrown around left and right.  Most of them not even feasible, all of them entirely uninformed and extremely biased.  The only fact you need to know about the early entry debate is this … it’s the NBA’s decision to make, and the decision will ALWAYS be what’s in the best interest of the NBA.  Talk all you’d like about how one-and-dones kill college basketball, or how “high school straight to the NBA” detracts young athletes from pursuing education.  It doesn’t matter.

Personally, I want to see as many kids stay for four years as possible because I like college basketball.  Specifically this season when the NBA is facing a likely work-stoppage, this could be college basketball’s time to shine.  If every underclassmen returned to school for the 2011-12 college season, you’d likely see three of the best teams ever assembled with the talent that Kentucky, UNC and Duke would have on their rosters.  The depth of talent would be legendary.  The worst part about college basketball these days is that we know the above scenario would never play out with all of those players returning.  The best part about college basketball these days … if it DID happen, it wouldn’t be shocking in the slightest if the championship was won by someone other than those three powerhouses.  So while you’re sitting on the edge of your seats over the next few weeks, living and dying with every rumor that gets posted, just remember the games still have to be played next year.  And for every ‘super-team’ that’s ever won a championship, there are two or three champions who came from nowhere to win.

What Happened? Duke’s Season Ends Suddenly

Eyes will tell you all you need to know.  If you’re one who pays attention to the details of Coach K’s philosophy on communication, you already know his thoughts on how important the eyes are in telling a story.  Words are only a fraction of what makes up communication, but a person’s eyes can you tell you all you’d ever need to know about someone in one brief moment.  As the horn blew at the scorer’s table and Kyle and Nolan dropped their heads and slinked their way off of the court for the last time in a Duke uniform, I was screaming at the TV as the producers panned from Arizona fans celebrating in the crowd to Sean Miller trying to keep his team calm and then to Arizona players high fiving and chest bumping.  I needed to see them leave the court.  I wanted to see their eyes.  Selfishly, I needed some closure to this debacle of a season finale.  I got a brief glimpse of Coach K talking to his two seniors on the sidelines, but I couldn’t tell anything from that other than that none of the three seemed to know what to do or say.  Then another reaction shot from the court, and then finally … Nolan on the bench, looking out on the court, I saw his eyes.  There were a few tears, but nothing as memorably emotional as Chris Carrawell coming off of the court and draping himself on his coaches in exhaustion and in the bitter realization that he gave his best, but his best wasn’t quite good enough to win.  I didn’t expect Nolan to cry because he knows real loss and real pain, and this is just a basketball game.  But I did expect an answer.  I wanted to know what happened.  I wanted to know why the season was ending, why were we getting destroyed by Arizona, what the hell happened.  Nolan’s eyes told me that he was wondering the exact same thing.  I don’t think anyone knew what happened.  There’s only one thing we know for sure at this point … this season is over.

First, let’s start with the game itself.  The 2nd half that Arizona put together is the best half of basketball I’ve seen since UNLV ran Duke out of the gym in 1990.  I’m confident in saying there is not one team in America that would have beaten Arizona last night.  Sure, Duke’s defense contributed to the offensive performance of the Wildcats, but their offense made Duke’s defense take on uncomfortable challenges.  Classic man-to-man defense says to stay low, slightly off of one shoulder, and an arm’s length away from the player with the ball.  The way Arizona hit contested jump shots forced Duke’s defenders to defend too closely which led to blow-by opportunities for Arizona guards.  And when I say Arizona guards, I mean everyone on the court.  Help-side defense had to rotate over from such a great distance that it would leave a player open for a wide open three.  Usually you can hope a team misses enough of those looks to stay in the game, but Arizona was not missing anything.  You can blame slow feet or you can blame a lack of conditioning from Kyrie Irving as a culprit, but for anyone who has ever competed against a team who can do no wrong, it messes with your head to the point where your body doesn’t respond like it normally does.  My advice – do not waste a single minute breaking down the game film.  All you’d see would be a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes being caused by doubt, frustration, anxiety and exhaustion.  A bunch of guys, normally unflappable, looking around wondering what the hell happened.

And cut with the chemistry talk.  There was no chemistry issue against Hampton, there was no chemistry issue against Michigan.  Additionally, there was no chemistry issue against Arizona.  Putting blame on Kyrie’s return is just a contrived conclusion found while aimlessly seeking for an answer as to why we lost.  Nolan Smith had a bad game.  Nolan Smith hasn’t had a bad game in a really long time.  Kyrie Irving hasn’t played extended minutes for a really long time.  So by that, I concluded that Kyrie Irving playing extended minutes caused Nolan Smith to have a bad game.  Nolan had a bad game because he’s human.  It happens.  Just a few short months ago, I celebrated my San Francisco Giants destroying four of the most dominant starting pitchers in all of baseball.  Tom Brady didn’t win the Super Bowl.  Tiger Woods hasn’t won a major since 2008.  Sometimes the best athletes have bad performances.  So why are we so quick to blame this on Kyrie’s return?  Because Nolan Smith is one of the most beloved Duke players ever, and he laid an absolute egg in his last game ever as a Blue Devil.  Did Duke lose because of Nolan?  No, that’s not at all what I’m saying.  But Nolan had an awful game at the worst of times, and it was a direct result of nothing more than being mortal.  Don’t fall into the trap of somehow trying to use this Duke loss to undermine Coach K’s ability to lead championship teams, because that’s what “they’re” doing to you, Duke fans.  Within minutes of the final horn, I saw two memes spreading around Twitter … K’s declining success rate in the Sweet 16 round, and Kyrie’s impact on team chemistry and Nolan’s role.  I’m begging you, Duke fans, take a step back and see how transparent that is.  Nolan, and likely Kyrie, are gone after this year.  So let’s place the blame on the guy who will be at Duke for years to come and try to chip away at the respect and adoration Coach K’s players and fans have for him.  That’s not working on me, I’m sorry.  Nolan Smith, our leader, our player of the year candidate, one of my favorite players of all-time, played an extremely bad basketball game.  And it makes me feel for him even more.

It’s fitting that the team poster this year featured the motto “One”.  Thought it was used to demonstrate the bond between the players, this season will forever be remembered as Kyrie’s year.  Over the first 8 games, he electrified us with every aspect of his game.  After being stolen away from college basketball by a freak toe injury against Butler in early December, Duke fans followed along with one of the most frustrating rehab efforts in sports history.  Meanwhile, the team rolled on to a 21-4 record without him, and even while celebrating an ACC record 19th ACC championship, the big story was the enthusiastic proclamation of the freshman phenom that he might record for the NCAA tournament.  There were so many great moments for Duke this season.  A legendary 2nd half comeback win against rival UNC, career high after career high by Nolan Smith on his way to being named as a finalist for every post-season award in existence, a 2nd straight undefeated home record and the nation’s longest home-court winning streak, and Coach K passing legend Dean Smith in all time wins on his way to being the 2nd coach ever to win 900 games in a Division I career.  But to me, watching the season unfold felt like skimming through the pages of a book rushing to get to the end to see how it finishes.  Now’s the time of year to look back and reflect on the great moments this team provided us, but once you find out the hero dies at the end of the second act, the beautiful soliloquy a few scenes earlier just doesn’t have the same impact. 

So what now?  We have more Kyrie drama to look forward to.  Just moments after Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler slipped away from the podium for the last time and the floor was opened up for questions for Mike Krzyzewski, the Charlotte Observer asked Coach K about Kyrie’s plans regarding the NBA draft.  This certain reporter (who will remain unnamed) knew he wouldn’t get an answer, and he knew exactly what kind of reaction he’d get from Coach K.  And still he asked.  This from a member of the same media who writes daily columns laughing at athletic directors for having the audacity to hope to land that elite head coach for their open position.  What’s the difference?  What’s the difference in asking Mike Krzyzewski a question that you KNOW he won’t answer and, for argument’s sake, Debbie Yow thinking she has a shot at an elite basketball coach.  But this is what we have to look forward to this off-season … the “will he” or “won’t he” decision that Kyrie Irving has to make.  I’m not willing to say I feel strongly that he’ll go one way versus the other.  There’s a long list of pros and cons for both decisions.  There will be those who say he’s an idiot if he doesn’t take the money and run, and there will be those who will call him a sell-out if he hangs up that beautiful #1 jersey after 11 glorious performances.  There’s going to be a third group who will sit back without an opinion waiting to jump on whichever of the other two groups gets to have their voices heard.  Me?  I’m in my own group.  I don’t care what Kyrie Irving does as long as he ends up doing what he wants to do.  If he comes back, I’m not going to be in the ear of every Carolina fan telling them our lease on the rivalry has been extended.  If he goes, I’m not going to be looking down our roster next year trying to figure out how we’ll ever win a basketball game.  Kyrie Irving gave me two gifts this year.  The first was the gift of being able to tell my kids and eventually tell their kids that I saw Kyrie Irving play basketball in person.  The second gift, the understanding that expectations can suck the joy out of being a fan.

I remember back in October reading how NBA scouts were crowning Duke as the most complete college basketball team they’ve seen in years.  I remember walking into Cameron on October 23rd to see Duke taking on St. Augustines and looking up at the four National Championship banners picturing how it would look with the 5th hanging beside them.  I remember the feeling after the Kansas State game when my dad turned to me and said “I don’t think anyone can beat us.”  Now, looking back on the season where Duke won 32 games and an ACC Championship, it just seems like this year sucked.  Next year, this will not happen.  I’m going to enjoy the journey.  Next year, regardless of how Duke’s season ends, I refuse to be left wondering “what happened?”

Kyrie Returns, K goes Inception

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has defeated a long list of coaching legends during his careers.  He’s beaten legendary teams, he’s beaten the best players ever to step on a basketball court, and he’s even beaten entire nations.  None of those conquests come close to being as impressive and improbable than Coach K’s latest victim … the media in the internet age.

When Kyrie Irving limped off of the court against Butler 8 games into the season, word slowly spread throughout Blue Devil Nation that Duke would be shutting down Kyrie for a few games to allow him to rest and recover during the Holiday stretch.  A few days later, a few games turned into a month, and a month turned into “a very long time”, which potentially meant the end of the season.  Each post game press conference for the Blue Devils followed a pattern – opening comments from Krzyzewski, a question specific to the game that had just been played, and then “Coach, tell us about Kyrie.”  Each answer got more and more depressing for Duke fans … it was becoming clear that Kyrie Irving’s career as a Blue Devil would likely be only 8 games long.  “We’re moving forward without Kyrie,” Coach K confirmed.  And with that, the questions stopped coming.

While Kyrie’s diagnosis and recovery was deep and complex with many twists and turns, the recovery process for the team was only one easier-said-than-done step.  The team needed to move on and focus on the task at hand and not worry about what could have been, or what might still be.  From the very morning after the injury, K convinced himself that Kyrie was not coming back.  I say “convinced” because there was never any clear cut truth to Kyrie’s status to accept.  You could either choose to be pessimistic, or you could choose to be optimistic (op-TOE-mistic, if you will), or you could choose to be indifferent.  Krzyzewski needed his team to choose the one option that had them looking straight ahead at the next opponent and not looking towards an arbitrary date on the calendar when Kyrie may or may not return.  Next, K “convinced” his team.  Players never addressed Kyrie’s injury because they were never asked about his possible return.  Why, in this day and age where a blogger like myself can work my way into a press room, were players not constantly grilled?  Because Coach K did what might have been one of the most impressive feats of his career; he “convinced” the media that Kyrie was done.

With almost every day came a new development, a new milestone, a new decision point.  Sure, the fans on the message boards went back and forth celebrating every positive rumor and discrediting any negative one.  But the overall message was still clear that Kyrie was not coming back.  The media went from snickering whenever Coach K would hint that a simple toe injury could keep arguably the country’s best player off of the court for the entire season to snickering whenever a fan might display the slightest bit of hope for a return.  “Kyrie was never even close to coming back,” tweeted CBS Basketball anchor and Duke-alum Seth Davis.  “He’s not coming back,” growled ESPN’s Jay Bilas when his play-by-play partner hinted at the chance of a return late in the season.  “This is hilarious,” exclaimed local sports talk radio personality Joe Ovies as fans buzzed around the Greensboro Coliseum while Kyrie took to the court in game shorts to go through a light workout at the ACC Tournament.  Even following Kyrie’s proclamation that he felt great and there was a chance he could play, K’s “We’re not even close to making that decision” was the quote that reporters ran with.  In summary, we’re all puppets and Coach K is the puppet master.

Looking back, Kyrie’s injury absolutely threatened his season.  For Kyrie to return, he had to convince the doctors, the Duke training staff, the Duke coaching staff, and finally his family, before stepping back on the court in a Duke uniform.  That is a lot of moving parts harboring opportunities for something bad to happen.  It’s not that K knew Kyrie would be taking the court this afternoon in Charlotte in Duke’s ‘second round’ matchup.  But he knew it was possible, and he knew he couldn’t let his team know it was possible.  The flow of insider information from the Duke camp stopped dead about a month ago, heading into Duke’s most important stretch of the season.  During that same stretch of time, Duke looked flat against Virginia Tech in a loss, looked flat against Clemson in an awkward senior-night victory, and looked flat against the Tarheels in Chapel Hill.  Hindsight being 20/20, Duke looked like a team who knew they were missing a piece to the puzzle.

The word leaking out of the program was that the Virginia Tech/Clemson week was the target for Kyrie’s return.  Something happened, and what that is, we will never know.  But it was the first time all season where Duke went from accepting their roster to anticipating their roster, and it showed in their approach to those three games.  It was the attitude that Coach K protected his team from the entire season.  And then, as if magically, the spark returned to the team, and to the entire fanbase, when Kyrie Irving took the court in Greensboro.  Kyrie missed 26 games during the only season he’ll likely ever play at Duke.  Regardless of how healthy he is, regardless of how he plays, or how many minutes he’s on the court over the next month, if Kyrie Irving finishes his career with a 14-0 record, he will forever be a Duke legend.  And we’ll never know the story behind it.

 

Tri-Winning: Duke Extends Lease on ACC Crown

What a difference a week makes …

Last Saturday night in Chapel Hill, Duke looked like a team with no answer to UNC pace and the overwhelming advantage in the post.  Not only were fans licking their wounds over the 14 point loss, they were left to wonder if February 9th’s comeback win was the fluke that Tarheel nation was claiming it was.  Eight days later in Greensboro, it was the Heels’ turn to ponder their place in the college basketball world as Duke pounded the regular season champ from start to finish.  Duke headed back to Durham to drop off their record-extending 19th ACC Tournament Trophy (their third in as many seasons) and to grab a quick bite before heading on to Charlotte as the #1 seed in the West Region.

Before we move on to talk about the NCAA Tournament, let’s examine some quick facts about Duke’s dominance in the ACC Tournament.  Dating back to 1999, Duke has won 10 of the last 13 ACC Championships.  While it’s popular belief that the ACC has been “down” during that time frame, consider that in the last 13 years the ACC has 11 Final Four appearances and has won 5 National Championships.  And how unprecedented is Duke’s run?  Prior to Duke winning 5 titles in a row from 1999 to 2003, the previous record for consecutive championships was three in a row by NC State from 1954-1956 and North Carolina from 1967-1969.  Over any 10 year period since the first tournament, no school has won more than 5 conference championships.  Duke won 7 out of 10 between 1999 and 2008, and have tied that mark with 7 out of 10 between 2002-2011.  In short, Duke’s current ownership of the ACC title has never happened before in the history of the league, and there are no signs of that run slowing in the near future. 

Why Duke Should Feel Good Heading into March Madness

 “I thought the last two weeks of the regular season we were working hard, but there wasn’t a spark.  It was almost like you wanted to get to March too soon.  We beat Clemson, but there was something missing and this week we found that. There was just a really good spirit, like a newness.” – Coach K

I cannot believe this quote isn’t getting more run today.  The difference in body language and attitude between Saturday night in Chapel Hill and Friday night in Greensboro is about as violent a mood swing as I’ve ever witnessed … and I have two kids under the age of 3.  Coach K touched on “a great week of practice” multiple times during post-game interviews yesterday, and it certainly showed in Greensboro.  You can break down the Duke/UNC game all you want to, but the moment the camera switched to the reaction of the Duke bench following UNC’s third turnover and the scoreboard reading 8-0, you could tell the game was over.  That Duke team was not going to lose. 

The scary thing for the rest of the field is that is the same look Duke wore last March in Houston.  Playing against a brutally physical Purdue team and an extremely athletic and intimidating Baylor team essentially on their home floor, there was a sense in the air that each possession was leading to the inevitable … a winning basketball play by any member of Duke’s roster that would serve as the final death-blow for the opponent.  Whether it was a Dawkins three in the first half, a Nolan step-back jumper in the second, or a Lance Thomas “and-1” dunk off of an offensive rebound – Duke was going to make a play to win the game.  That same look emerged again this weekend, and there is nothing more dangerous than a confident and determined Duke team.

Then there’s the trump card.  Duke’s merits were good enough to earn them a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament and win another ACC Championship.  Ohio State, Kansas, Kentucky, UCONN … all great teams riding high into the tournament with big conference championship wins.  But the difference is those teams are who they are, whereas Duke can add the NBA’s top draft pick to their lineup.  Kyrie Irving returning to Duke would be the equivalent of a tri-athlete qualifying for the Iron Man, and then being allowed the use of a Sea-Doo and a Ducati in the first two legs.   Even if Irving is able to slowly work himself back into the offense, the pressure defense he can provide would speed the game up for the Blue Devils which often spells doom for teams who try to pull the upset by controlling tempo and playing physical defense.  If Irving comes back and is able to master the half-court offense like he did the last time we saw him against Michigan State and Kansas State, it’s hard not to paint Duke as the favorite. 

While Kyrie’s return is still up in the air, Duke will find itself in a comfortable position of letting its experience lead the way.  There will be no stage fright for Duke, even with a potential matchup between San Diego State in Anaheim looming in the distance.  Last season Duke beat Baylor in Houston in the Regional Finals, and this season Duke pounded Kansas State in nearby Kansas City.  The most impressive statistic on Duke’s side?  Duke has won 29 of the last 30 games on a neutral court, including 21 wins in a row.