Coach K: “I Don’t Believe in Luck, Just Playing Until the End”

No.1 Duke Blue Devils advanced to the Elite Eight after another tough and dramatic ending. This time they outlasted No.2 Virginia Tech Hokies 75-73.

It is the fourth game in the previous eight Duke played, which was decided in the last possession. Such an emotional roller coaster can affect people, but it seems that the 72-year old Mike Krzyzewski is immune to these situations.

During the interview right after the game was over, one of the reporters had an interesting question for Coach K. After mentioning the fact that Duke often plays tight games, he was kidding with Krzyzewski about his heart condition and wanted to know is everything alright.

“It’s good,” the coach said and smiled.

Just a few believed that the Blue Devils are going to have another tough match after a drama against UCF. The Hokies were considered less of a problem than other opponents, and that was the overall mood among the fans. We could say that they were underestimated, but that would be a bit harsh.

Still, it didn’t turn out that way.

With the result 75-73 in their favor, Duke survived three consecutive shots of the Hokies, who missed twice behind the three-point line, and once for two. The luck was again on their side, especially when Ahmed Hill failed to score from a nearby. Even Zion Williamson saw that one going in.

“When he caught it, I said: `That’s it. We’re going to overtime,” Zion commented after the match.

On the other hand, Coach K stated that luck has nothing to do with their recent wins. For him, it is about giving everything you have until the buzzer marks the end of the game, not about fate or anything else.

“I don’t really believe in that,” Krzyzewski said. “I believe we just play hard until the end.”

One of the best in history stated that he feels pride because his youngsters did exactly that.

Duke was facing the adversities throughout the match, especially in the first half. RJ Barrett was completely out of the game, scoring just three points and missing a ton of shots. Apart from that, his frustration became more and more visible which was something pretty worrying for all the Blue Devils’ fans at Capital One Arena in Washington.

And Barrett’s role in this match was more important than in the previous ones, because of Cam Reddish’s absence who suddenly couldn’t play.

During the warm-up, the prolific shooter felt pain in his knee, and that certainly affected the whole strategy prepared for this game.

“We’ve prepared all week with that lineup,” Krzyzewski said. “And then, boom, right before the start of the game he can’t play.”

Barrett was the one who needed to step up and take most of Reddish’s shots from a distance, and having in mind that the injured freshman posted 13.6 per every game, that was a huge responsibility.

At the halftime, Duke was trailing 38-34, and that mostly happened because of the offensive problems Barrett encountered with.

The guy who stepped up and replaced Reddish was Tre Jones, with 12 points in the first 20 minutes. If it weren’t for him, Duke’s deficit at the halftime would be much higher. Jones ended the game with 22 points, hitting five threes and filling all the blank spots in the backcourt.

“These guys believed in me all year, especially after last game with me struggling from 3,” Jones said.

At the break, Krzyzewski made some changes, and brought in some new plays which he created while watching the first sequence.

The results were immediately visible. Duke created a 60-52 lead, and from that moment on they never trailed again, although having a hard time in the end.

Barrett’s second half was much better, and he concluded this encounter with 18 points, 11 assists, and 4 rebounds. Zion was like always unstoppable, 23 points missing three of his 14 field goal attempts.

Duke will have to do much better in the next game. Their opponents in the Elite Eight are the No.2 seed, Michigan State Spartans who eliminated LSU 80-73.

The history is on their side. So far Blue Devils won 12 of 14 head-to-head games, and four of five during the March Madness.