Coach K was having a tough time, and deservedly so.
I watched Mike Krzyzewski’s press conference after his team beat Pitt Tuesday night, when he said the Blue Devils played tired for much of the game. But it was Coach K who looked like he hadn’t slept in two nights.
He said his team was “in a war” against the Panthers, coached by his former player and assistant Jeff Capel. “He’s my son, we’re part of a brotherhood, I love Jeff,” he said. “Playing against him is very difficult, I don’t like it.”
Krzyzewski was caught yelling at the Cameron Crazies in the first half and started scolding them when he left the court at halftime. The Crazies were chanting, “Capel, come sit with us!” – an innocuous cheer considering the words Duke students have hurled at other opposing coaches over the last 40 years.
So, when he heard Capel’s name, Coach K thought the worst. He apologized to the students, but allowed he’d “rather make a mistake in protection of my guy.”
Soon, he acknowledged the other thing was going on, touching the shirt he was wearing and recalling the ceremony before the game. Krzyzewski was Kobe Bryant’s coach on the Olympic teams that won gold medals in Beijing (2008) and London (2012) and he and his wife were very close with the former Lakers star, who was killed with his 13-year-old daughter in the shocking helicopter crash on Sunday.
Duke held a moment of silence for Bryant and legendary former ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan, who died the day before at 92. Krzyzewski and his staff wore purple and gold numbers 8 on the front and 24 on the back of their shirts.
“It’s been bad,” Coach K said, “I’ve been very emotional, privately. Kobe was the key guy in building the culture on those teams, he and LeBron. Those were moments in time that don’t happen for everybody. He was amazing with my grandkids. Micki had an unbelievable relationship with Kobe.
“And the others, 9 people. Horrific, so very tragic,” he said.
Indeed.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Bailing OutRoy Williams probably had reasons for the soft statements. Carolina fans reacted strongly to the video of a team party after the win over Duke. Only Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe were in the video, but a statement from players and managers said it was supposed to be a closed event that other students and […]
Chansky's Notebook: Please, Go In!UNC men's basketball faces what is an early season must-win at Georgia Tech. Art Chansky says a look at the statistics is painful, but not terminal.
Chansky's Notebook: Leaky Steps UpDean Smith used to say he’ll be happy with a one-point win. The legendary UNC basketball coach struggled spiritually between playing well according to his teachings, regardless of outcome, and winning no matter how poorly you play. Since his job was to win and he was so competitive, he chose the latter. If he was […]
Chansky's Notebook: Rock(et) StarBen Kiernan was UNC’s MVP of the Notre Dame game. When Mack Brown went over the 31-17 loss, he gave mixed reviews to the two main branches of his Tar Heels’ play. He said the offense was good in the first half and then “went dead” in a scoreless second half. He praised the Tar […]
Chansky's Notebook: Goals and AmbitionsGarrison Brooks has both opportunity and pressure. On paper, the ACC looks as weak as it has been in some time due to widespread losses to graduation and early departures to the NBA, and no sure-shot superstars in the incoming recruiting classes. A beneficiary of this development is Brooks, the Carolina senior who was second-team All-ACC last year and earned the league’s […]
Chansky's Notebook: A COVID DebateClemson was livid that Florida State wouldn’t play the game. Let’s be lawyers, and make a case for each of the teams that did not play its scheduled game over the weekend. Clemson had traveled to Florida State when it learned a player with mild symptoms who had practiced with the team all week tested […]
Chansky's Notebook: Draft DodgersCarolina and Duke players have lost ground in the NBA draft. Like everything else with sports in the COVID era, the NBA draft goes off tonight after being postponed for five months. And if you look at the various mock draft boards, certain things jump off your screen. First of all, about half the names […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Two-Thirds Bet?What if Phil Mickelson and Mack Brown amended their bet? With the Masters being moved back to this weekend due to COVID, perhaps the three-time champion should revisit the fun bet he made with Carolina’s football coach back in 2003. The famed lefthander was still seeking his first Green Jacket when he partnered with the Texas football coach at the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kudos To CarolinaUNC teams did a commendable job beating the odds. Who among us thought the ACC would be playing football and other fall sports last summer? With the pandemic upon us and the medical experts still learning, the seasons looked like a long shot. While other conferences pumped the breaks and/or called off football, the ACC […]
Chansky's Notebook: Extra MotivationCarolina’s schedule could be working to its advantage. When the COVID-revised list of games came out, it looked troublesome for the Tar Heels with Virginia Tech and Florida State basically bookending Notre Dame and Miami with four rivalry games in a row right in the middle. Coaches usually don’t like that because it takes a […]
›
