GREENSBORO -- While lots of folks are complaining about how ordinary the ACC tournament has become since league expansion, Mike Krzyzewski is going the masses one better this weekend.
The Duke coach is staging one throw-back pressure party after another in the Greensboro Coliseum.
Watching him would lead you to think it's 1974 all over again and only the tournament winner would get a bid to the NCAA tournament. He's driving his team like a rental car, and he's doing against teams Duke probably could beat without having to feel the whip once.
But when Krzyzewski is really locked and loaded, the rest of the world can take a flying leap. It's mid-March and Krzyzewski wants to feel the heat of hunt.
"I think he wants to win this tournament probably more than us, and we really want to win it a lot," Duke senior Brian Zoubek said Saturday. "He's completely focused on that one thing."
During Saturday's 77-74 semifinal win over Miami, Krzyzewski put his mouth, mannerisms and his suit coat where his heart is, too. In the first half, after a 30-18 Duke lead had been narrowed to 32-28, the coach's ongoing debate with the officials reached a flashpoint when ref Roger Ayers hit the bench (meaning Coach K) with a technical foul that eventually helped the Hurricanes take a 35-32 lead at halftime.
Krzyzewski retaliated with his version of trash talk and sent his suit jacket to the bench for the duration. For one of the few times all weekend, there was a proper ACC tournament buzz in the place.
"When Coach got that technical, that sent a strong message to the team," Zoubek said. "It definitely made a difference in the way we played in the second half."
It was similar to the hard ball Krzyzewski wanted to play in Friday's win over Virginia, when he used a timeout early to verbally blister his players.
"We were acting like we thought Virginia was just going to give us the game," star Jon Scheyer said. "That's the biggest mistake a team can make, and he made sure he got his point across. We had a different attitude after that."
Although the No. 1 seed here and likely the same for a regional next week in the NCAA, the Blue Devils (28-5) still put a great deal of emphasis on winning the tournament originally made famous by ACC teams in the 1950s and carrying through most of the 1990s.
The clear example of Krzyzewski's priority on winning the ACC is right there in the record book. Since 1998, when other teams seemed to start losing interest, Duke is 31-4 in ACC tournament games. Next best, but miles back, is North Carolina at 17-10, followed by N.C. State (15-14). Not a one of the remaining nine teams has a record above .500.
"Every year, we talk about the ACC tournament even before practice starts," Zoubek said. "It's something no one on the team forgets about. It's there in the back of your mind all season. Then, when it starts, it's time to go to work. It matters at Duke. It really matters this year because he had that co-championship in regular season [with Maryland], and now we want to get this tournament for ourselves alone. No sharing."
That's the no-frills message Krzyzewski hard-wired into his team this week.
It's also why the Blue Devils likely will take home another league championship trophy this afternoon - and why the coach will improve his career record to 862-279. Barring something unexpected, Krzyzewski will motor pass Dean Smith (879-254) fairly early next season.
It's an interesting contrast in the never-ending circle of Duke and North Carolina basketball relations. Smith's teams were prolific winners at the ACC tournament - before and after the NCAA field began to include at-large teams - but he never much cared for the ordeal of having to prepare for one tough tournament, followed immediately by another.
Krzyzewski has taken the opposite path. He's preached the importance of winning league championships. One way or another, his players respond favorably to the sermon.
