Coach K was probably disappointed that Kyrie Irving only got to play seven games at Duke.
That might be an understatement.
He said after the 2011 season that that Duke team could have gone undefeated. And why not?
Irving and Nolan Smith were a tremendous backcourt. Duke also had Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly, not to mention Kyle Singler. It was a smooth, powerful machine.
Didn't work out of course after Irving's injury but it's fun to think about.
And think about this: Duke barely missed titles in 1986, 1989 (after Robert Brickey's Final Four injury), 1999 and 2004.
The '89 and '04 teams didn't make the title games but probably would have beaten Michigan and Georgia Tech (Duke did well against UConn until both Shavlik Randolph and Shelden Williams got into deep foul trouble. We think they both fouled out in the end but can't find a box score. At any rate, Duke lost by just one, 79-78).
If we remember correctly, Duke was up by 18 over Seton Hall when Brickey got hurt and lost by about 18 after he left the game.
It's way off point, but look how many titles Duke might have won. And don't get us started on Bob Verga's 1966 illness.
Anyway, Coach K gets Irving again for the 2016 Olympics. The two of them sat down on Coach K's SiriusXM show to talk about the upcoming games and Kyrie's star turn in this year's NBA Finals.