clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Coach K - What I Took Away From Beijing

Coach K took some lessons away from the Olympics, and they may not be exactly what you expected. Here's the best part:

"Sometimes being here at Duke, ... over the years, whether it be our own people here at Duke, our opponents or people in the media, they expect you to be perfect," Krzyzewski said. "It's, 'What, we haven't gone to the Final Four?' or 'What, we didn't win the national championship?'

"It's very spoiled, and it ruins it a little -- really a lot. Part of that becomes that when you win, you're just relieved to win. I'm not saying that happens all the time, but it happens.

"For the rest of my career, I'm not going into that relief thing. We're going to go after it, we're going to do it and if somebody doesn't go to the Final Four during their four years at Duke, then that's just too damn bad. Our team is going to be fun, and they're going to have an opportunity to grow, just like our Olympic team did."

Good for him.  People who get mad because Duke doesn't win enough to suit them, that's a little bit sick.