Dick Weiss on College Basketball
NEW YORK CITY– Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski was presented with a huge plaque honoring his accomplishments at halftime of the first game of the Champions Classic between Kansas and Michigan State, an hour and a half before Duke took the floor against Kentucky in the feature game of the Champions Classic. There was also conversation featuring John Calipari, Tom Izzo and Bill Self discussing their favorite memories of Coach K played on the video board.
The Garden, much like the old Meadowlands, has long been a second home for the Blue Devils during Krzyzewski’s 42 years in Durham. Duke fans and alums– many of them from the Northeast routinely fill the arena anytime the Devils play there and Coach K has taken on a sainted persona among the faithful.
It is hard to believe this will be his farewell victory tour. Krzyzewski, who has won 1,171 games, five national championships and taken the Devils to 12 Final Fours, 15 ACC tournament tiles and 10 conference championship, can challenge the late John Wooden as as the best college basketball coach of all time.
In a fairy tale world, Coach K would get to cut down the nets one more time at the NCAA Final Four in New Orleans before walking into the sunset at age 75.
His current Duke team, which defeated Kentucky, 79-71, is better on paper than his last two national championship teams in 2010 and 2015 with three elite freshman– 6-10, 250 pound forward Paolo Banchero, powerful 6-4 guard Trevor Keels and forward A.J. Griffin– who are capable of playing major roles for a perennial national contender.
Two of them– Banchero and Keels– were the best players on the floor against Kentucky. Banchero, a McDonald’s All American from Seattle who was selected pre-season ACC Player of the Year, has a complete game and could be one of the first two picks in the 2022 NBA draft,, gave us a preview of coming attractions with 22 points on 7 for 11 shooting and 7 rebounds in his debut.
Keels was even better, scoring 25 points on 10 for 18 shooting with three steals. He totally outplayed Kentucky’s prize freshman guard Ty Ty Washington. Keels, who chose Duke over Villanova when he was D.C. Catholic League Player of the Year at Paul VI High in northern Virginia, dominated the first eight minutes of the second half while Banchero was in the locker room dealing with leg cramps, and then helped the Blue Devils put the game away.
“I knew when P went out, somebody had to step up and that’s what I did,” Keels said.
When Banchero was out of the game, Kentucky erased Duke’s halftime lead and was up up with momentum. Eight minutes later, Duke led by 15. Keels took over, scoring 12 points on a 24-8 run that gave the Devils control heading into the stretch.
“This kid right here is going to be a great player,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s not a good player. Trevor is a great player. He weighs 230 pounds and if he was a running back, he would know to pick holes. He gets fouled. He doesn’t charge very much because he’s so low and has great body control. For three straight years, he was probably the best player in the D.C. area.”
Banchero and Keels should turn Duke from a mediocre 13-11 back into a Top 10 team.
“I said, their two top-five players played like top-five players,” Calipari said. “Now if you want to be them, then step up your game.”
But in the ever-evolving landscape of college basketball, young talent does not always rule the day.
Krzyzewski has taken the same recruiting approach as Kentucky coach John Calipari lately, filling his roster with one and done talent. It worked in 2015 when the Blue Devils won with three freshman starters– Jahlil Okafor, Justice Winslow and Tyus Jones– and a key freshman backup, Grayson Allen.
But, Duke has only been to one Final Four since 2010. The Blue Devils looked like they may have had the best team in 2019 when freshmen Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett– the first two picks in the NBA draft that season. but Michigan State upset Duke in the East Region finals.
This year’s team has enough size up front with 7-0 sophomore center Mark Williams, experience at guard with Jeremy Roach and Wendell Moore and overall talent to win the ACC and make another deep run in March. But the Devils are not without flaws. They shot just 1 for13 from three against Kentucky and were outrebounded by a smaller Wildcats’ team.
And their season will be filled with potential distractions as Krzyzewski’s career will be scrutinized by the media all season and he will be honored before every road game.
Duke has always been a lightning rod, Love them or hate them. The feelings toward Duke and Krzyzewski from opposing crowds will be more visible than anytime since 1992, the start of the bitter rivalry between Kentucky and the Blue Devils.
