Duke Blue Devils players celebrate after their win against the
Wisconsin
Badgers Monday night in the 2015 NCAA Men's Division
I Championship
game.
INDIANAPOLIS — As Mike Krzyzewski snipped the last of the net, about
half of his Duke Blue Devils were sitting on the stage, dancing to the
music blaring from the Lucas Oil Stadium speakers. One of the greatest
nights of their lives was just getting started.
Coach K knew the drill. He walked to the stage and snuck up behind them, barking one last order: They had better get up, put their arms around one another and look to the giant screen in the corner.
They had come back from a nine-point second-half deficit, beating the skilled and savvy Wisconsin Badgers, 68-63, Monday night. A Duke-weary nation had watched as an all-too familiar scene played out, the Blue Devils just finding that something extra with the game on the line, the confetti and streamers flying, and Krzyzewski moving toward halfcourt to embrace the opposing coach and send him back to a devastated locker room.
How does he keep doing it? With five national championships, Krzyzewski now finds himself second to John Wooden’s 10. This time, Coach K did it by dipping into the “one-and-done” pool for players such as point guard Tyus Jones, who scored 23 points, 19 of which came in a second-half shot-making clinic. Then there was unsung hero Grayson Allen, also a freshman, coming straight out of the Duke-hater assembly line for 16 points.
“I haven’t loved a team anymore than I’ve loved this team,” Krzyzewski said.
Wisconsin was trying to give the rest of the country hope that one-and-done didn’t have to be the way to get it done. But Frank Kaminsky’s 21 points weren’t enough to lead the Badgers to a historic program win in this heart-pounding classic staged in America’s heartland.
Love him, hate him, Coach K just keeps finding a way to remain the face of this sport. Hiccups such as NCAA tournament losses to Lehigh and Mercer have happened, sure. But for children born in the 1980s, the enduring image of college basketball is Coach K celebrating with his players during “One Shining Moment.”
So Krzyzewski didn’t have to prod his Blue Devils too hard to stop dancing and pay attention. Quinn Cook, the team’s lone senior starter, put his arm around his coach as the video played and the tears poured out of him.
“It’s something that we’ve all dreamed of,” Cook said, “growing up watching Duke, watching Coach K win championships and celebrate with his great players. To be next to Coach … he’s been like a father to me over these last four years ... to have him with his arm around me while we’re watching ‘One Shining Moment’ is probably the best feeling of my life. I’m just blessed Coach thought I was good enough to come to Duke.”
When the video showed one of Allen’s highlights, Krzyzewski grabbed the player’s arm and smiled.
“I dreamed about it I think ever since eighth grade,” said Allen, who grew up a Duke fan. “I saw them win in 2010, the national championship versus Butler, and dreamed about this moment since then. I never thought it would actually come true.”
Up until the Badgers shocked Kentucky Saturday night, this college basketball season had been treated like a competition to be the Wildcats’ date on this magical Monday night in April. Only, Wisconsin, viewed as a small underdog by most, didn’t see it that way. With John Calipari’s Wildcats out of the way, the nation got to watch as two of the country’s other top coaches went for their fifth national title.
Of course, Bo Ryan and Krzyzewski had gone about building their resumes much differently, with Ryan winning his at Division III Wisconsin-Platteville and Coach K building his Blue Devils into an actual blue blood over the past 35 years, their ruthless consistency turning the star of his first national championship team in 1991, Christian Laettner, into the subject of an ESPN documentary called “I Hate Christian Laettner.”
Ryan has spent the last 14 years taking “Bucky” from plucky to a team that was capable of making the Final Four a year ago and entered this season as one of the favorites to return and possibly take down a perennial power such as Duke. Wisconsin hadn’t played in the national championship game since winning it in 1941, and the enormity of this moment for the whole state could be felt all weekend as its citizenry turned Indianapolis into Madison South. They were more than happy to take the place of Kentucky’s Big Blue Nation Monday.
This game was packed with intriguing matchups that highlighted the way the coaches formed their rosters. The headliner was Kaminsky, Wisconsin's senior big man and the consensus national player of the year, against Duke freshman center Jahlil Okafor, who is expected to be a top pick in the June NBA draft.
Four years ago, Kaminsky was lightly recruited; the Badgers only had to beat out mid-majors like Bradley and Northern Illinois to get him. Once in Madison, Kaminsky averaged 1.8 and 4.2 points his first two seasons, playing just 7.7 and 10.3 minutes per game, respectively. Entering his junior season, more people knew the name of Okafor, who was about to begin his senior year of high school.
Coach K, in trying to keep up with the likes of Calipari, had started to recruit “one-and-done” players such as Okafor and Jones, who declared themselves to be a “package deal.” So, there was the 68-year-old Krzyzewski, interacting with the two of them via group calls and text-messaging sessions, hoping maybe kids like this would help him stay young.
“They’ve introduced me to a new world in a good way,” Krzyzewski said.
In the first half, though, Ryan’s old-school development of Kaminsky was winning out. Kaminsky, who had 7 points and 7 rebounds, helped Wisconsin win the rebounding battle 19-15 (the Badgers stayed in the game thanks to grabbing eight of their 19 misses). Kaminsky was also able to coax Okafor into two fouls, which sent him to the bench.
Duke shot 50 percent to Wisconsin’s 38.7 but was only able to force a 31-31 tie at halftime.
The second half somehow exceeded the first. Kaminsky rendered Okafor useless by drawing two more fouls, sending him to the bench with four halfway through.
Wisconsin had jumped out to a nine-point lead, but Duke fought back thanks to gutsy play by Allen, a little-known freshman guard, and Jones, who made several circus shots. Suddenly, Duke was ahead, 61-58, with 2:39 left, with Okafor back on the floor for the finish.
“Wisconsin is also deserving of being a champion,” Krzyzewski said. “It was a heck of a game. When we got nine points down, we were in foul trouble, and a little bit disjointed, and Grayson put us on his back.
“My team showed great grit and determination, and our defense down the stretch was magnificent. I don’t know how you can be any better than we were down the stretch.”
Coach K knew the drill. He walked to the stage and snuck up behind them, barking one last order: They had better get up, put their arms around one another and look to the giant screen in the corner.
They had come back from a nine-point second-half deficit, beating the skilled and savvy Wisconsin Badgers, 68-63, Monday night. A Duke-weary nation had watched as an all-too familiar scene played out, the Blue Devils just finding that something extra with the game on the line, the confetti and streamers flying, and Krzyzewski moving toward halfcourt to embrace the opposing coach and send him back to a devastated locker room.
How does he keep doing it? With five national championships, Krzyzewski now finds himself second to John Wooden’s 10. This time, Coach K did it by dipping into the “one-and-done” pool for players such as point guard Tyus Jones, who scored 23 points, 19 of which came in a second-half shot-making clinic. Then there was unsung hero Grayson Allen, also a freshman, coming straight out of the Duke-hater assembly line for 16 points.
“I haven’t loved a team anymore than I’ve loved this team,” Krzyzewski said.
Wisconsin was trying to give the rest of the country hope that one-and-done didn’t have to be the way to get it done. But Frank Kaminsky’s 21 points weren’t enough to lead the Badgers to a historic program win in this heart-pounding classic staged in America’s heartland.
Love him, hate him, Coach K just keeps finding a way to remain the face of this sport. Hiccups such as NCAA tournament losses to Lehigh and Mercer have happened, sure. But for children born in the 1980s, the enduring image of college basketball is Coach K celebrating with his players during “One Shining Moment.”
So Krzyzewski didn’t have to prod his Blue Devils too hard to stop dancing and pay attention. Quinn Cook, the team’s lone senior starter, put his arm around his coach as the video played and the tears poured out of him.
“It’s something that we’ve all dreamed of,” Cook said, “growing up watching Duke, watching Coach K win championships and celebrate with his great players. To be next to Coach … he’s been like a father to me over these last four years ... to have him with his arm around me while we’re watching ‘One Shining Moment’ is probably the best feeling of my life. I’m just blessed Coach thought I was good enough to come to Duke.”
When the video showed one of Allen’s highlights, Krzyzewski grabbed the player’s arm and smiled.
“I dreamed about it I think ever since eighth grade,” said Allen, who grew up a Duke fan. “I saw them win in 2010, the national championship versus Butler, and dreamed about this moment since then. I never thought it would actually come true.”
Up until the Badgers shocked Kentucky Saturday night, this college basketball season had been treated like a competition to be the Wildcats’ date on this magical Monday night in April. Only, Wisconsin, viewed as a small underdog by most, didn’t see it that way. With John Calipari’s Wildcats out of the way, the nation got to watch as two of the country’s other top coaches went for their fifth national title.
Of course, Bo Ryan and Krzyzewski had gone about building their resumes much differently, with Ryan winning his at Division III Wisconsin-Platteville and Coach K building his Blue Devils into an actual blue blood over the past 35 years, their ruthless consistency turning the star of his first national championship team in 1991, Christian Laettner, into the subject of an ESPN documentary called “I Hate Christian Laettner.”
Ryan has spent the last 14 years taking “Bucky” from plucky to a team that was capable of making the Final Four a year ago and entered this season as one of the favorites to return and possibly take down a perennial power such as Duke. Wisconsin hadn’t played in the national championship game since winning it in 1941, and the enormity of this moment for the whole state could be felt all weekend as its citizenry turned Indianapolis into Madison South. They were more than happy to take the place of Kentucky’s Big Blue Nation Monday.
This game was packed with intriguing matchups that highlighted the way the coaches formed their rosters. The headliner was Kaminsky, Wisconsin's senior big man and the consensus national player of the year, against Duke freshman center Jahlil Okafor, who is expected to be a top pick in the June NBA draft.
Four years ago, Kaminsky was lightly recruited; the Badgers only had to beat out mid-majors like Bradley and Northern Illinois to get him. Once in Madison, Kaminsky averaged 1.8 and 4.2 points his first two seasons, playing just 7.7 and 10.3 minutes per game, respectively. Entering his junior season, more people knew the name of Okafor, who was about to begin his senior year of high school.
Coach K, in trying to keep up with the likes of Calipari, had started to recruit “one-and-done” players such as Okafor and Jones, who declared themselves to be a “package deal.” So, there was the 68-year-old Krzyzewski, interacting with the two of them via group calls and text-messaging sessions, hoping maybe kids like this would help him stay young.
“They’ve introduced me to a new world in a good way,” Krzyzewski said.
In the first half, though, Ryan’s old-school development of Kaminsky was winning out. Kaminsky, who had 7 points and 7 rebounds, helped Wisconsin win the rebounding battle 19-15 (the Badgers stayed in the game thanks to grabbing eight of their 19 misses). Kaminsky was also able to coax Okafor into two fouls, which sent him to the bench.
Duke shot 50 percent to Wisconsin’s 38.7 but was only able to force a 31-31 tie at halftime.
The second half somehow exceeded the first. Kaminsky rendered Okafor useless by drawing two more fouls, sending him to the bench with four halfway through.
Wisconsin had jumped out to a nine-point lead, but Duke fought back thanks to gutsy play by Allen, a little-known freshman guard, and Jones, who made several circus shots. Suddenly, Duke was ahead, 61-58, with 2:39 left, with Okafor back on the floor for the finish.
“Wisconsin is also deserving of being a champion,” Krzyzewski said. “It was a heck of a game. When we got nine points down, we were in foul trouble, and a little bit disjointed, and Grayson put us on his back.
“My team showed great grit and determination, and our defense down the stretch was magnificent. I don’t know how you can be any better than we were down the stretch.”
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