A Contrarian’s Take: Coach K Was Overrated
As an avid NBA supporter, I was never as entranced with the lesser brand of college basketball, especially the elevation of their coaches into deities, as many fans and media members.
That includes Mike Kryzyewski, known throughout the land and from here on out as Coach K, who exited stage right after 42 years patrolling the Duke University sideline when the Blue Devils fell to North Carolina, 81-77, at the Final Four in New Orleans on Saturday night. Coach K retired with the all-time record of 1,202 victories, including 73 at his alma mater Army before Duke came calling. After three trying seasons in Durham, he qualified for the NCAA tournament in 35 of the next 36 seasons, winning five national titles, the second-most behind John Wooden.
The resume, particularly the longevity with one institution, speaks for itself. However, how much of Coach K’s success should be attributed to the elite level of talent that has run through the program over the years as opposed to his redefining the game and its philosophies like Wooden did? In other words, was he really a great basketball coach, or did he just have the best players on so many occasions?
You look at last season, albeit a pandemic-shortened one, and with a relatively pedestrian club, the Blue Devils went 13-11. And at the other end of the spectrum, it was only three years ago that Duke lost to Michigan State in the East Regional Final despite a starting lineup that consisted of the No. 1, 3, and 10 overall picks in that year’s NBA Draft. Some coaching job.
Zion Williamson, that squad’s transformational star, allegedly got paid to play college ball for that one season, hardly shocking news given that college recruiting is, to put it mildly, an unsavory business. Coach K has managed to insulate himself from any shenanigans, though he clearly benefitted as so many other programs have.
Coach K had another recruiting trick up his sleeve, and that was his tenure as the Head Coach of the U.S. Men’s Basketball team that won three Olympic gold medals with dozens of iconic athletes who could be used to pitch awestruck teenagers about Duke and their legendary coach, as laid out in a 2014 column from then-Yahoo writer Adrian Wojnarowski. Adam Silver, the NBA Commissioner since February 2014, is a Duke alum and a big Coach K cheerleader. Also mentioned was how Coach K could legally gain access to the best high school candidates through his involvement with U.S.A Basketball.
Not that it took these tactics for much of the country to start despising Coach K’s teams. For years, the Blue Devils were perceived, sometimes accurately when it came to such thugs as Christian Laettner and Grayson Allen, as dirty, too often getting away with certain illegalities. Some attributed such preferential treatment to racial bias, but Coach K’s intimidation of officials, especially when buffeted by the crazies at Cameron Indoor Stadium, also played a huge role in some of the acquittals. Sorry Bomani Jones, but Duke haters came in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Credit Coach K for establishing a winning tradition that great players wanted to be a part of when everyone was gunning for him. But given all the above advantages and the sheer volume of stars Coach K has had, is it possible, then, that he underachieved?
Duke, a No. 2 seed, was a four-point favorite on Saturday over the eighth-seeded Tar Heels. North Carolina’s Hubert Davis is a rookie head coach while Coach K was in his 13th Final Four. Yet you wouldn’t know it from how the game was managed.
Duke sophomore center Mark Williams, a projected first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft should he enter, sat the final 15 minutes of the first half after picking up his second foul. Meanwhile, when UNC guard R.J. Davis was tagged with his fourth foul with seven minutes remaining in the game, Hubert Davis didn’t foul his key player out before the refs did.
Then there was Coach K’s curious decision to use his final timeout with 1:18 remaining after Wendell Moore’s three-pointer put the Blue Devils up, 74-73. It sure would have come in handy when they subsequently fell behind and needed to stop the clock.
At any level, basketball is a make-or-miss game, and it’s hard to win when one team beats you by 15 points from the three-point line and another five points from the foul line. However, Coach K’s offensive scheme certainly didn’t do his team any favors--it was all drive-into-traffic-and-shoot-or-kick, with nothing specifically designed to get A.J. Griffin, a 45% three-point shooter, going with a clean look.
It's been that way for many years, where Coach K has mostly relied on his teams’ superiority on paper. Maybe that’s why he never had—or felt the need to scratch—any itch to try his trade at the highest level. Despite what you may hear, coaching in the NBA is far more difficult than it looks. It’s possible that Coach K watched as several of his colleagues returned to the college ranks humbled after taking a leap into the pros and said, “Pass.”
I never said Coach K wasn’t a sharp cookie. When it came to managing his brand, in fact, he was a genius.