Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski is taking one for the team.
Duke is a corner three from Rasheed Sulaimon away from their worst ACC start in 18 years, and many in the media can’t figure out why.
After the ballgame Kryzewski was very candid with the media, and according to CBSSports.com took the blame for the teams recent struggles.
Coach K said he hasn’t been as attentive to his team as he should have been, due to the recent death of his brother William.
“I’ve had to get more observant with my team,” Krzyzewski said. “I take responsibility, full responsibility, for those first three games.”
Krzyzewski’s brother, William, died on Dec. 26. Since then, Duke has gone 4-2 and in general looked like a different team from the group that got to 9-2 just before Christmas. Krzyzewski said his brother’s death had affected him greatly. Affected the way he was running the program.
“I got knocked back right after Christmas. And I’ve been knocked back for a few weeks,”Krzyzewski told the media after Monday night’s win. “It’s on me, not on my team. … We were collectively together tonight for the first time in a couple of weeks. It was my responsibility that we weren’t.”
Krzyzewski said what the team’s been doing in the past two weeks, how it’s been playing and struggling with opponents — all of that is in the past and should have no impact on what the group will do going forward.
“So what we have been doing, to me, doesn’t make a damn bit of difference,” he said. “What we will be doing, that will be on all of us. …. The head coach is going to do a better job. We did a better job tonight. I can do better. I can do better for my team.”
That’s all you need to know in regards to why guys line up to play for Krzyzewski.
He could have easily placed blame on Jabari Parker hitting a freshman wall, or his big men not playing big enough. This bullet that Coach K just bit will work wonders for his team in March.