Gregg Doyel, the Mr. Blackwell of college basketball who has really come out of the closet as a media figure who dislikes Duke, was at it again during Monday's teleconference. While discussing the suspension of Gerald Henderson after the rough foul on Tyler Hansbrough, he asked Coach K why he didn't suspend Christian Laettner in 1992 after his "stomp" of Kentucky's Aminu Timberlake. If you'll recall, Laettner walked over Timberlake and basically tapped his foot on the guy's stomach, which earned him a technical. Timberlake was so injured he laughed and clapped his hand. His team benefited and he knew it and was pretty happy about it.It wasn't much of stomp, which Krzyzewski suggested. He also had some comments for Doyel and what he was after: "First of all, would you call that a stomp? Well, then my judgment and yours differ. I'm not going to get in (discussion) with you because you would always want something controversial. Believe me, there's nobody who likes the truth more than me...After the season, we'll talk about 1992. I'd rather talk about 2007 right now." You can hear the audio here. It's pretty striking. Doyel offers Coach K his glasses (in reference to Timberlake) and says "I'd just like the truth once in awhile."   Krzyzewski showed, we thought, considerable restraint in the face of what amounts to baiting.
When Doyel did his unauthorized Kryzewski book, he was reportedly angry that Coach K wouldn't cooperate and that he urged former coaches and players not to cooperate either. We didn't understand it at the time, but in retrospect, he must have had a pretty good idea about Doyel's character. Listen to the audio and ask yourself how this sort of questioning would go over in a bar.
By the way, it's generally forgotten, but earlier in the Kentucky game, when the officials and everyone else had headed downcourt, a Kentucky player - Feldhaus? - grabbed Laettner and tossed him to the ground. No foul, no technical. Needless to say, Doyel doesn't ask about that mugging, either.
Much like the coldcocking of Luol Deng a couple of years ago, it's been forgotten. For all the talk about Duke getting breaks, there are a number of occasions when things didn't work quite that way.
Incidentally, Billy Packer still thinks Henderson got a raw deal.