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Duke basketball: Coach K clapping back at the haters should motivate Blue Devils too

By Patrick Schmidt

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 02: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski huddles with Wendell Moore Jr. #0and Cassius Stanley #2 of the Duke Blue Devils during the second half of their game against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 02, 2020 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 88-69. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 02: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski huddles with Wendell Moore Jr. #0and Cassius Stanley #2 of the Duke Blue Devils during the second half of their game against the North Carolina State Wolfpack at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 02, 2020 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 88-69. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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Coach K delivered a clear and stern message for the haters of Duke basketball after the Blue Devils beat NC State and it should be a wake-up call for his team.

Coach K is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore.

It’s been a frustrating season at times for Duke basketball who look like a Final Four contender one night and an NIT team the next. Duke basketball has a field of haters who make it their life’s work to make sure everyone knows the Blue Devils, Mike Krzyzewski and everyone associated with the city of Durham, North Carolina is less than.

There were even some critics who thought the game had perhaps passed Coach K by and he lost his magic touch and it was time for him to walk away. I mean, there are a lot of crazy things said on the internet about sports, but this is one of the craziest.

Coach K is a guy who walks away when he wants. No one is going to tell Coach K to take a hike. So after Duke beat NC State by 19 on Monday night, Coach K had reached his boiling point and delivered a not-so-subtle message to all his haters.

“I mean, you can question my coaching and what the hell—and then when you do question it … just come into Cameron and look up in the ceiling, and then find out if you should question that,” Krzyzewski told the Blue Devils’ postgame radio show, according to 247Sports.

The winningest coach in D1 history comes off like a man who is mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore. I don’t blame him. Just imagine how mad he would sound if he had a season like rival North Carolina who is in the basement in the ACC standings and will finish the season with a losing record.

Critics and the naysayers will take Coach K’s comments and spin them to fit their agenda. They’ll say things like he’s got rabbit ears for hearing and listening to criticism from radio, TV, print and online. He can’t win.

But he can win by winning.

It’s such a novel concept, I know, but Duke finishing the regular season on a high can go a long way in making March a memorable one for Blue Devils fans.

Duke’s run out 13 different starting lineups so far this year but the only constants have been Vernon Carey, Jr., Tre Jones and Cassius Stanley. It’s a nice trio to be sure, but the lack of consistent shooting and a fourth option to effectively serve as a wing-man to the aforementioned Big 3 has been confounding for Duke.

It’s shocking that Duke hasn’t won the ACC regular-season title since 2010 and they may not this year as they’re a game back of Florida State. That said, another ACC Tournament title can give Duke the momentum into the NCAA Tournament they sorely need.

An ACC Tournament title should lock Duke into a No. 2 seed and give them a favorable draw as they look to do what last year’s roster led by Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish couldn’t do: make the Final Four.

If they do, you can bet Coach K will have another message for the Duke haters out there to look up at the ceiling in Cameroon Indoor Arena and start counting the banners.

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