DURHAM, N.C. -- The engraved nameplates were off the lockers. The pictures were off the walls. The chairs were out the door. All that remained in the Duke locker room the day after its 77-76 loss Jan. 6 at unranked Florida State were the players, the coaches and an uncomplimentary newspaper clipping from a local paper.
"We basically started over," said Duke guard Chris Duhon.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was angry. Which means his team was angry. And an angry Duke team was no fun for Georgia Tech, which came to Cameron Indoor Stadium four days later and soon found itself trailing 26-6. As the Blue Devils poured it on, their intensity seemed only to rise. Krzyzewski picked up his first technical foul of the season, later yelled down the sideline at the Georgia Tech bench after a hard foul by the Jackets, and then could be heard slamming his clipboard to the floor during a timeout -- with Duke leading 95-61.
|  | | Losing at Florida State has sent Dahntay Jones and Duke into a focused frenzy. |
After the game, Krzyzewski's postgame handshake with Georgia Tech's assistants might have left bruises. Two of them turned their heads and quizzically looked at Coach K as he stormed off Coach K court and into the locker room, a 104-79 winner.
"Don't confuse anger with hard play," Krzyzewski said after that game.
The Blue Devils are playing harder than they have all season, and just in time. Maryland comes to Cameron Indoor Stadium tonight (ESPN, 9 ET) for the first really big showdown of the season. Duke is No. 1, Maryland No. 3.
You have to wonder about the timing of Krzyzewski's motivational ploys. Were they hastened, after just one loss, by the knowledge that the Terps were coming to town 11 days later? Come to think of it, no, you don't have to wonder. You know.
"Coach really wants this game," Duhon said of Maryland. "He wants every game, but you know he wants us ready for Maryland."
Krzyzewski has re-dedicated himself to his team in much the same bunker-mentality way he did in 1995 after he returned from exhaustion and pared down his schedule to the bare minimum. After the Florida State loss, Krzyzewski told the team's sports information office he wouldn't talk any more to the media this season beyond the weekly ACC coaches conference call and post-game briefings.
"I think our kids deserve more," Krzyzewski said. "More of what we (as a coaching staff) can do, and especially more of what I can do. Sometimes in trying to appease everyone, the people you don't take care of are the people closest to you. After my family, that's my team. Hopefully, people understand."
His players understand, perfectly.
"Coach is trying to give us as much as he can," said guard Jason Williams. "He's refocused, and we've refocused. We're starting over."
The first step of Motivation 101? Inventing, perhaps, imaginary slights. The Blue Devils were furious from the opening tap against Georgia Tech. It didn't help that the Jackets dared to convene at center court before the national anthem. Duke center Carlos Boozer caught them there, standing atop the Duke logo, and started pointed and screaming. He got the attention of his teammates, who stared in silence while Boozer continued to scream. Minutes later, during the anthem, Boozer still was grumbling.
Not that Duke wasn't angry already.
"Everybody has been disrespecting us. Everyone has been calling us soft," Duhon said. "Everyone's been saying we're not tough, and that's never happened to a Duke team."
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Coach is trying to give us as much as he can. He's refocused, and we've refocused. We're starting over. ” |
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— Jason Williams,
Duke point guard |
Basketball people in the know say Seton Hall first whispered something about Duke's softness after the Blue Devils nearly lost their opener to the Pirates in Hawaii. Then, Florida State allegedly made the same claim after beating Duke. Whether the whispers have been real or not doesn't matter. What matters is this: Duke's players believe they are real.
Walking slowly across the road, to be hit by the Duke bus, was Georgia Tech.
"They won the national championship last year, and they've got the player of the year in the country. If our guys don't respect Duke, that's my fault," said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, after initially lowering his head in stunned silence after being told of Duhon's comments. "I know I have a lot of respect for them. Maybe they need to contrive some things to get themselves motivated after that (FSU) game."
Maybe so. Maybe it worked better than anyone -- Krzyzewski? -- could have hoped.
"Today wasn't about winning," Duhon said after the Georgia Tech game, which at one point was 103-63. "Today was about dominating. We let up the last five minutes and they scored 14 points, so we're not where we have to be yet. We're in training. That's one down, and we've got more to go."
Next up was N.C. State. Down went N.C. State.
The Blue Devils used a 27-2 run spanning both halves to take a 49-21 lead. Duke's Mike Dunleavy caught fire toward the end of the first half and outscored the Wolfpack over the first 20 minutes by himself -- 22-21. Several minutes into the second half, Dunleavy was still beating the host Wolfpack by himself. The final was 76-57, and it just wasn't that close.
Maybe it was enough for Duke to get back its accoutrements of winning. The team recently re-did its locker room with rich wood lockers bearing shiny brass nameplates and shelf-space galore. After they returned from Tallahassee, though, the shelves had been cleaned out, the nameplates removed, the chairs hidden. The Blue Devils stood as they conducted interviews after the Georgia Tech game. Whether the Blue Devils will have back their nameplates or chairs or anything else remains to be seen until the media is allowed back into the room after Duke's next home game -- against Maryland.
What is known is this. The Duke team that went to Florida State was a bit satisfied, perhaps a bit complacent. The Duke team that returned home was angry. Georgia Tech and N.C. State paid the price, losing by a combined 43 points. With Maryland up next, the Blue Devils say they are merely following the lead of their coach.
"We're re-energized, ready to go, focused," Duhon said. "If we ever have any doubt, we can look on our bench."
There sits Krzyzewski, who has been able to dictate his team's emotions. Last year after Boozer went down late in the season with a broken foot, he wanted his team to relax, have fun, not worry. The Blue Devils relaxed, they had fun, they didn't worry. They won the national championship, too.
After the loss to Florida State, Krzyzewski wants his team focused, intense, merciless. They have been focused, intense, merciless.
Like a master puppeteer, Krzyzewski is guiding his players this way and that, urging them onward against Maryland, and beyond. In the right hands, those puppets can do the most amazing things.
The danger is, sometimes the strings break.
Gregg Doyel covers college basketball for The Charlotte Observer and is a regular contributor for ESPN.com. He can be reached at gdoyel@charlotteobserver.com.
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