Semi--Finals Media Conference
THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: We just had our workout, and our guys are excited. We're all healthy. And such a beautiful setting. And I think when our guys walked out, I wanted them to know -- before they walked out, I said just take a few minutes to let it all sink in and understand there are only four teams in the United States, four men's teams who are going to experience this. So make the most of the experience.
Q. Now that you're here, could you discuss some of the emotions of flying in, seeing the Superdome for the first time, but also how you balance some of the feelings that you and your players will obviously have, with the idea that you have a difficult task ahead of you on Saturday, how do you balance that?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: No, I don't think there's much of a balance. I think that's part of the experience. These guys are competitors. They've won over 30 games and regular season champion. To think about all four teams here, all four teams are championship teams. They've won their region.
And now you have a chance, to me it's an opportunity, an earned opportunity. And if you feel that it's pressure, you probably won't do well in it. But if you approach it where you've earned this opportunity to go for something even bigger, then you've got a chance to play well. So that's kind of how we look at it.
Q. I've spoken with a number of your former assistants. I wanted to ask you about a process you've gone through over the decades here. Talked with Wojo and Collins, a guy named Bilas, I don't know if you remember who that is, but every single game you inherited it from Bob Knight --
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: There wasn't tape at that time.
Q. Reel to reel.
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: You had to get that done. You didn't get it back until the next day.
Q. Brey said when you used to do it with Knight, you either called it the bunker or cave, something, a windowless room. If you could confirm what that was. And, two, what is it about this process that you've done after every single game over more than four decades that you stayed true to it, why has it been this way and you've never kind of shifted off that work ethic and that routine?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: It's not kidding around. In order to do it after the game you had to have videotape. And so it changed when we were able to get that. And I've always looked at a game wasn't over until you analyzed it and were able to put a tape together of feedback for your team the next day. And once that was given than that game was put on a shelf and you move forward.
It's just the routine, the routine of what a game is and then how do you prepare for the next one. And you get into that. And then that's why memory of games that you've played is not as good with me because you have always put it behind, no matter what.
Q. Your ability to spend kind of the summer recruiting when you normally would be out with this team -- I'm not trying to discredit your relationship with previous teams -- but did that make a unique emotional attachment with this group, especially with one that's so young? Did it help?
COACH KRZYZEWSKI: When you had older teams, you could be on the road recruiting all the time because you'd have time. You already had relationships and you were going to renew them or whatever. And I felt the COVID year for us last year, the two things that, in analyzing, I knew they were important but they proved to be amazingly important, were relationships and preparation.
COVID robbed me of the ability to have those. And so with the succession plan we had in place, I was able to see my guys every day. And we brought our freshmen in earlier, about three and a half weeks earlier. And they took a course and kind of were indoctrinated to Duke.
They lifted on Duke's campus longer than our freshmen of last year. So again, it's not just your program, but part of -- whatever school you go to, you've got to know the school. Like our guys a year ago, if you were a freshman, you didn't know the school. You knew your laptop or you Zoom, whatever.
