This Just In — Mark your calendar. I’m going to overtly praise Mike Krzyzewski without irony or sarcasm.
I’ve spent the last five weeks with my feet up and my arm in a sling recovering from rotator cuff surgery. Everything went well and although the recovery is slow and deliberate, it is happening, so thank you Big Pharma for the assist!
During my convalescence, I’ve had the opportunity to watch an ESPN program, “Rivals Reunited,” an extended interview with Coach K and Roy Williams. As we await Saturday’s installment of our beloved Blue Bloods rivalry with Duke, the perspective of this program is much appreciated.
The two coaches are interviewed in the center of the basketball court in the Greensboro Coliseum — the site of many of the greatest ACC tournament basketball games in the last 40 years.
The interviewer is Wes Durham, of course. What a glorious tribute it is to the great Woody Durham to have his doppelgänger son carrying the torch of ACC coverage forward.
The stands for this interview are filled with coaches. The focus of the questions was one of coaching and managing great talent.
What emerges, though, is slightly surprising and utterly delightful. A long-time friendship between two titanic rivals is on full display. They both talk a fair amount about fundamentals.
Krzyzewski, at one point, is talking about dribbling and the players’ love for displaying their skills in weaving the ball though their legs and behind their backs. A mentee of the late Bobby Knight, Coach K has something of a reputation for colorful language. He held back, a little … “Jiminy Christmas,” he said, “Just dribble the ball for Chrissakes.”
My first thought was that I don’t think I’ve heard anybody say “Jiminy Christmas” for at least 30 years. I found the reference completely endearing and charming.
Again and again it’s clear how very much and very often Coach K and Coach Williams completely agree about the most important things in the game.
They both approached their jobs as head coaches for their universities first as educators. Of course, they care about the win-loss record. That’s what they’re paid to do. And let’s be real that’s what the alumni wants them to do.
They both make clear that these young men who are in their programs are their top priority. They want them to become good people and they’re very proud of them when they do so whether they happen to play on a championship team for them or not.
These two people set such an excellent example of something that we’re really missing right now-the embrace of fair competition featuring intense effort, highest level preparation and a friendly handshake at the end of the contest.
Asked if he ever saw Carolina players that he wished were playing for Duke, Coach K said “No … not that I wished I had them, just that I wished he (Roy) didn’t.”
Coach Williams concurred. The fact is, I can’t think of anything they disagreed about.
Since these two world class coaches (you read that right) are supporting the game and urging good improvements in the NCAA’s operation of college basketball, I’ll just say it — along with Coach Williams, Coach K is right. Just dribble the ball. Stick to the fundamentals.
Now, Tar Heels, let’s get over to Cameron and beat Dook!
Featured image via Todd Melet/WCHL & Chapelboro.com.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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