HOUSTON - Although Mike Krzyzewski long ago abandoned the practice of comparing teams, his mannerisms and body language leave little double that he sees this Final Four trip as rewarding and important as any.
No one is more competitive than the Duke coach and although he’s been quick to salute the achievements of North Carolina under Roy Williams the past few years, he detested the perception that his program had fallen visibly behind the Tar Heels or any other team.
Then, the Duke camp took a hard indirect hit in the recruiting period when top prospect Harrison Barnes opted for Carolina after having given the Blue Devils reason to hope he might pack up for Durham to start the 2010-11 season.
During a time-out in Sunday’s 78-71 South Regional win over Baylor in Reliant Stadium, Krzyzewski spent a couple of minutes urging his players to remember “who they were” and “what they could do.”
If Duke has seasonal mottos, the coaches and players don’t openly talk about it.
But the theme for ’09-’10 has been obvious for most of the season. It was all about re-establishing the program as a national frontrunner even though it is a far cry from rating among Krzyzewski’s most talented groups.
This team was willing to work hard, and Krzyzewski worked it plenty hard - harder than in most of his seasons at the school.
Everyone got their reward Sunday, when another Final Four berth was secured after Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, UCLA and Carolina had to settle for something less.
