If you go back over Mike Krzyzewski’s 32 years as head basketball coach at Duke, you’ll discover that the Blue Devils are constantly evolving and the legendary coach never employs any one style for very long.
Recent recruiting and acquisitions suggest the program is transitioning again.
Perhaps no top coach in college basketball history has been more flexible. The main constants have been the way Duke plays defense, usually extending man-to-man forcing teams to operate out of comfort zones, and the culture within the program that necessitates veterans teach the younger players program values on and off the court.
The offensive approaches and makeups of his teams have gone through phases. They have been guard-heavy when Johnny Dawkins became the program’s all-time leading scorer in the 1980s to being led by multidimensional forwards in national players of the year Danny Ferry and then Christian Laettner, who led Duke to consecutive national titles in 1991-92 and is the program’s greatest player ever.
Grant Hill was more like a point-forward, Elton Brand gave Duke a rare true power game on the low post on the way to a national runner-up spot in 1999 with what may have been the Devils’ most athletic team ever.
Duke went long and maybe was its most balanced under Krzyzewski in winning the 2001 national title behind the play of Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy and Jason Williams. Duke fell in love with the 3-point shot during the J.J. Redick era, which saw the team run more set plays and using high ball screens than ever before as Redick became the all-time leader from beyond the arc.
Shelden Williams was a terrific conventional power forward, but since his departure in 2006, Duke hasn’t had a consistent low post presence. High screening, questionable shot selection from the perimeter, and even losing its identity on defense, Duke has not even been as competitive as it once was for the last half-decade.
At 65, Krzyzewski is changing that.
Let’s face it, other than Duke’s surprising run to the 2010 NCAA championship, the Blue Devils have failed to get past the Sweet 16 every year since 2004. This past season culminated with a loss to Lehigh in the first round of the NCAA Tournament that wasn’t so shocking to those who know the Blue Devils well.
Duke had become a somewhat slow team that lacked the many interchangeable parts that used to define the program. It also lacked stars. Austin Rivers was first-team All-ACC a year ago, but no other Blue Devil even made the second team.
Since that embarrassing loss to Lehigh, Krzyzewski has added 6-foot-9 athletic forward Amile Jefferson to next year’s freshman class, joining 6-4 shooting guard Rasheed Sulaimon. The coach and would-be senior guard Andre Dawkins decided it was in their best interest for him to redshirt and play his final season in 2013-14, and this past week reeled in Mississippi State forward Rodney Hood, who must sit out a year before playing.
Hood is 6-8 and quite athletic. Duke has lacked that mid-sized forward capable of attacking the rim and finishing, but has now addressed that issue. And, it did so by adding a player from a school that is inconsistent with the others - Rutgers, St. John’s and Liberty - that have fed Duke transfers. That surprised some longtime ACC observers.
Athletic shooting guard Matt Jones will arrive for the 2013-14 campaign and give Duke an athletic backcourt that will include current Devils Tyler Thornton and Quinn Cook plus Salaimon and Dawkins. Given the balance of experience and raw ability, that should make for a formidable group.
Hood and Jefferson, assuming he stays for his sophomore season, along with 6-11 Marshall Plumlee and 6-8 Alex Murphy, both of whom redshirted this past season, give Duke a potentially very good and ridiculously athletic front line, and this is without further additions.
Krzyzewski can revisit employing that trademark dog-in-heat defense, run more freelance with motion principles drilled into the players’ heads, and regain a psychological edge it used to have over nearly every opponent it faced. Duke used to win a lot of games before the opening tip. That magical spell has all but disappeared.
Three of Krzyzewski’s four national titles have come when his teams have had tremendous balance and were quite cocky. Some of the best teams to not win titles have also had excellent balance and were exceptionally self assured.
The course in Durham is changing again: More athleticism; a return to defensive glory; confidence; and better balance are returning, meaning Coach K just may have another national title push in him.
