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The Roy-Coach K special was good, but could have been much better.
I wrote two books on the Duke-Carolina basketball rivalry. “Blue Blood,” published in 2005, got kind of down and dirty because that was the rivalry from the Larry Brown-Art Heyman fight in 1961 through the heated Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski years. “Blue Blood II” came out in 2018, and some people didn’t like it because it was a much tamer story.
That was due largely because Smith had long retired, and Coach K was the new King. And Roy Williams returned to Chapel Hill from Kansas in 2003 with a different view of the Duke Hall of Famer. They had spent more time in meetings trying to make the game better than squabbling.
The recent ACC Network interview with the two legends reflected that, and Wes Durham was hardly asking tough questions. I am sure that was because either the coaches or the editors, maybe both, wanted it that way.
They talked about what makes good players great and how the two coaches handled certain situations. As a viewer, I was hoping for a lot more because there was a lot more, even though they had become good friends.
For example, there was nothing about some of the still-magic moments between 2004 and 2021, the year Roy retired. Remember when Gerald Henderson came down with an elbow to Tyler Hansbrough’s nose. Psycho T got up ready to fight, but the refs moved in to break it up. And there were the coaches standing next to each other on the sideline, seemingly chatting.
A promotional image for the “Rivals Reunited” special taped with Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski for the ACC Network. The program can be found on-demand in the ESPN app. (Photo via the ACC Network.)
What did they really talk about, and how was the incident handled within each program? The great Carolina comeback in 2005, giving Roy his first win over K and going on to win his first NCAA championship. And likewise with the Duke rally before the 2015 game when all coaches and players gathered at mid court before tipoff for a moment of silence for Dean Smith, who had died. What was it like for both programs when they reached the final game of the regular season with that ACC title at stake? By the way, there were nine of those games during that span, and Carolina won them all.
And there were the politically correct moments, when UNC decided to honor Coach K after he had reached 1,000 career victories. Carolina gave him a plaque that Duke didn’t want, worried about the reaction at the Smith Center. And how they hurried through the short ceremony to keep both sides happy.
They seem close these days, which happens when coaches retire and do more reflecting than genuflecting. “Which Carolina player did Coach K wish he had?” Wes asked. “It was more which player I wished they didn’t have,” said Coach K.
I’ll answer that one. They wanted Tyler, who never lost at Cameron. We wanted Zion, who might have never blown apart his Nike if he were a Tar Heel.
Featured image via Todd Melet
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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