Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus #7 UConn on March 29, 2026 , Loss , 72, to, 73
/
Final
Men's Basketball
72
vs #7 UConn
73
Featherston: Living Up To Expectations
3/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. ? When veteran writer Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle asked Mike Krzyzewski Friday whether or not the Duke basketball program had lost some of its mystique in the last few years, the Blue Devil coach cited a relevant note from a curious source.
“I was just reading through Texas' notes,” he said, citing a note that touted Texas' record of reaching the Sweet 16 in five of the previous seven years. What had to catch Coach K's eye was what followed ? Texas bragged that only three NCAA teams had accomplished that feat.
The other two were Kansas ... and Duke.
“We could say we've been to the Sweet 16 in nine of the last 11 years,” Krzyzewski said. “We're one of the few programs that has been to two Final Fours in this decade. And we're one of the only programs that has won a national title this decade. I could give you a list ... but when you become one of the few programs, especially ours, people don't have a tendency of writing those things. They have a tendency to write what you have not done.
“That's also a sign of respect, because they hate talking about what you have done.”
Actually, the Duke notes quite properly list most of Duke's achievements in this decade:
-- Duke has won more games in this decade than any other team in any decade in NCAA history.
-- Duke has won more ACC titles in this decade (seven) than any team in ACC history (four is the previous high).
-- Duke has won more NCAA Tournament games in this decade than anybody except Kansas.
-- Duke has reached the Sweet 16 more often in this decade (8 of 10 years) than anybody else in college basketball.
-- Duke is one of eight teams to win a national title this decade. Only Florida, with two titles, has more than one.
Those numbers are there, prominent in the Duke notes, but often unreported by a media more interested in the program's failure to live up to its own high standards. Instead, you hear the shocked reports ? It's been five long years since the Blue Devils have reached the Final Four! It's been nine years since Duke won a national title!
And before last week: Two seasons in a row that Coach K's team has failed to reach the Sweet 16.
Wow, two whole seasons ... and five years since a Final Four ... is there anybody left alive who remembers that ancient Final Four in 2004?
It's true that the last two seasons have ended on a disappointing note ? but the Blue Devils won 22 and 28 games in those two “disappointing” seasons and reached the NCAA Tournament on both occasions.
Consider that such juggernauts as UNC and UConn have missed the NCAA Tournament twice in this decade. So did Florida, which followed its back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007 with back-to-back NIT seasons in 2008 and 2009. Kentucky lost in the second round of the tournament in 2006 and 2007, the first round last season and failed to make the tournament this year.
Why did Duke's two-year mini-slump ? which were still better than what its rivals have endured in this decade ? such a big deal?
“I think people follow us closer about stuff like that than any team in the country,” Krzyzewski said. “Each team has to be given a chance to grow. I'm really pleased for our junior class. Our junior class has been the backbone of this team. You develop backbone. You're not born with backbone. You develop it. And you develop it by playing tough competition. They did that for the last two years and they did it again this year.
“They've become a really good basketball team because they stuck with it. I love this team.”
Krzyzewski said what happened in 2007 and 2008 was the natural consequences of player turnover. He graduated four seniors after 2006 (when Duke won the ACC title, finished No. 1 in the final AP poll and reached the NCAA Sweet 16), including consensus All-Americans J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams. Luol Deng and Shaun Livingston, who might have been on hand to give the 2007 team some continuity, jumped to the NBA early.
The 2007 Blue Devils played without a senior and with just one junior (DeMarcus Nelson). The 2008 Blue Devils lost leading scorer and rebounder Josh McRoberts to the NBA early entry, yet still improved to a 28-win team that finished No. 9 in the nation.
Now, this core group ? especially the junior class of Jon Scheyer, Gerald Henderson, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek (three starters and a key reserve) ? are ACC champs and are still alive in the NCAA Tournament.
“I've seen them grow,” Krzyzewski said. “We've had good talent in our program during the last 25 years. But a few years ago with guys going pro, or guys not coming because they went pro, all of a sudden we hit a period where we had all these young kids. Then people just put it on them that they're supposed to win the NCAA Championship or the ACC. They're 18 and 19 years old.
“I've seen them grow up and stick to the work. That's why these last two weekends have been so gratifying to me, because it's a culmination of a lot of work and commitment. Winning the ACC and now advancing again.”
Krzyzewski argued that it's unfair to put the same expectations on Henderson, Scheyer and Kyle Singler as he got from Laettner, Hurley and Grant Hill ... or Battier, Boozer and Jason Williams.
“You have to keep everything in perspective,” Coach K said. “I think if I were a pro coach and had my same team every year, the thought of doing something the same every year would be more realistic.
“If I had Derek Jeter playing for me each year and [Mariana] Rivera coming out of the bullpen ... that's not the case. We have new kids. Every college coach has pretty much a new team every year. I think what happens to our kids is that the expectations that somebody has of me as the Duke coach falls on them as Duke players.
“I still have to give them the opportunity to mature and develop like the teams that I've had in the past.”
The worst part, in Krzyzewski's view, is that each new group is seen as part of a long tradition and is not always given credit for their accomplishments.
“They should get the recognition as they do it and not, ?Oh, okay we won another one.'” Coach K said. “Our team, those kids won their first ACC championship. Even though we have won a number of them [11 under Krzyzewski and eight of the last 11] ? but that team hadn't. So that was a joyous occasion for me because I got to see them enjoy it.”
And the veteran coach enjoyed seeing this group reach the Sweet 16 for the first time. True, Krzyzewski has reached the regional finals on 17 previous occasions, but the only players on this year's team that have experienced it before are Greg Paulus and David McClure.
After the hard-fought victory over Texas, Heather Dinich of espn.com asked Krzyzewski if he felt any sense of relief after ending his two-year Sweet 16 drought.
“I'm past relief,” the Duke coach said. “I think part of it was coaching the Olympic team. I coached three years, three summers with a lot of pressure on me, putting a little bit of my career on the line because you got to win. I told myself, I'm not going to do that to be relieved. I'm going to do it and have the time of my life. When we won the Gold Medal, I was exhilarated and not relieved. When we won today, I was exhilarated and not relieved. That is the message I want to send to my players so they never feel that pressure.”
But the pressure of expectations will always be there at Duke. That's something Krzyzewski's players have to learn to deal with.
“I think our standards have been so high, because in the past we've had teams that won,” Gerald Henderson said. “Trying to uphold that standard, you know, we're not really going to worry as much about what people think about us. The biggest thing is just to win.”
And this Duke team has won. But has it won enough?
“You know, for us it's not about what other people feel or how other people feel about how we should do in the Tournament,” Jon Scheyer said moments after the Texas game. “We have our expectations, obviously. For us with these guys right next to me it feels really good to get this win with them.”
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballHall of Fame basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski with a game plan for the country's future
Tuesday, March 31
Maliq Brown - Humble Beast
Tuesday, March 31
Sebastian Wilkins Big Dance Exclusive: Greenville, SC
Tuesday, March 31
Duke Press Conference After Round of 64 (3-19-26)
Tuesday, March 31
