Duke Blue Devils: K Closes Down Locker Room
The Duke Blue Devils basketball team will not be wearing their Duke sweaters and workout gear for awhile.
Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski must have decided enough was enough. He arose from his recovery to meet with the team at his house about their recent performance. Here’s what came of that: Coach K has closed off the Duke locker room and prohibited his players from wearing Duke apparel until such time as they prove worthy of the Duke tradition according to reports from Jeff Goodman and Dana O’Neil of ESPN.
Duke is having a series of flashbacks to 1995. Their 2-3 start to the conference season was the worst since that year. They last lost to NC State at home in that year. That was also the year that Coach K first dealt with a back issue leading to using Pete Gaudet as interim coach. Later those losses were expunged from Coach K’s record.
There is a key difference between this team and 1995 Duke team. This team has a lot more talent to play with. That may make their current struggles harder to understand. Whatever it is, Coach K is not waiting for his return to act on it.
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The 2016 Duke team hasn’t figured itself out yet. Injuries prevented an early synthesis with Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, and Marques Bolden all starting the year out. Grayson Allen had his tripping episode again leading to a suspension. The team has no dedicated playmaker at guard since Frank Jackson has not really developed that way. Veteran glue guys Amile Jefferson and Matt Jones can’t seem to find the court enough.
Duke has become a team of many agendas. Giles and Tatum are gearing toward going pro, although Giles has been limited. Allen is also probably looking at his swansong (although would anyone really be surprised if he came back next year?). Jefferson and Jones are cogs that need to be oiled. Luke Kennard is playing well, but does not create for others.
So will Coach K’s mind games work? Maybe. The team needs a primer in unselfish play, and I am not talking about assists. If I were Jeff Capel or Coach K I would make Amile Jefferson the sole captain and voice of the team. I would make sure that he or Jones was always on the court. Name Allen the point guard and tell him that this is the only position he will be playing (Duke has Nolan Smith coaching so this idea should not be new). Make the talent prove itself to earn time.