What do Coach K, freshmen think about Duke's Final Four legacy?

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski brought his starting lineup to the podium as the Blue Devils talked with the media during a news conference on Saturday in Omaha, Neb.

No. 2 seed Duke (29-7) takes on No. 1 seed Kansas (30-7) at 5:05 p.m. Sunday for the Midwest Region title and Final Four berth.

Here are some highlights of what they said:

Q. Grayson, if you guys do win tomorrow, Coach K will go past John Wooden for most Final Fours in a coaching career. Grayson, since you've been around for a while, have you reflected much or have some thoughts maybe just on the guy that you're playing for, what he's meant to college basketball, not just now, but kind of in history?

Grayson Allen: Yeah. I mean, I have just because I've been through obviously a lot of big milestones for Coach -- 1K in Madison Square Garden and 1K at Duke. I understand how long he's been coaching for, how long he's been great for, that he is one of the greatest coaches of all time, that what we're doing is a very small part of his overall legacy.

And so, I mean, that adds to you really just trying to learn everything from him. And I know Coach, he won't mention that to us. He'll never say anything about something like that, just because at the end of the day, Coach just wants one win and he wants to get his first Elite Eight win with this team. And that's all he's focused on, and that's the mindset we're trying to take.

Q. Grayson, I imagine when you came to Duke you didn't think you'd be playing zone your senior year. Can you talk about that sort of transformation? And you've been slapping hands on the floor while playing zone, and how unusual you think it's been that this program has become a zone program for at least some?

Grayson Allen: Well, Coach adjusts. That's one of the things that makes him so great. And we found out that zone was the best defense for this team. And we found it out about halfway through the year. So we went with that. And Coach really fully committed to it and taught us zone and it became our number one and only defense that we really play.

But it's still the intensity and everything of Duke defense is still there. And it's obviously not the man defense that you've seen for 20-plus years. But the intensity is still there, and when we play really well, like we have been over the past couple of weeks, the talk and the activity and the floor slapping, like you said, it all can be there.

Q. Grayson, as your career comes to an end one way or another here, what would getting back to a Final Four mean to you in terms of how you think of what your legacy will be at Duke?

Grayson Allen: Yeah, I mean it kind of would bring everything full circle, starting off with kind of being spoiled as a freshman and not really having to do much, just being a part of the team and being led to the Final Four and led to a national championship win," Allen said. "And now coming around to my senior year where I'm the captain of the team and trying to be a leader of younger guys.

Q. You know you all came to the season with a lot of expectations, number one recruiting class. So can you talk about what this journey has meant like for you all, whoever wants to answer the question?

Trevon Duval: "This journey has been amazing. We've been through a lot of ups and downs as a team, and even individually. But you know the hard work has paid off, and we're still working on trying to accomplish a goal of ours.

Wendell Carter Jr.: I think he really hit the head on everything. We had a lot of expectations coming into the year. We had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of games -- not a lot of games, but games we lost that we thought we should have won. But, yeah, I think we're peaking at the right moment. And that's all from the hard work we've been going through throughout the year.

Q. Marvin, he was talking about the urgency for Kansas. Well, in all likelihood this is your shot to make the Final Four. Do you think about that, the one opportunity, and does that add extra pressure to you?

Marvin Bagley III: I think about that a lot. But I wouldn't say it's pressure. We're all in this thing together. So that's one thing I know going into every game is that I'm not the only one experiencing this. We've got a lot of other guys that are experiencing this as well. So that helps a lot. And I think that's bringing us closer as each game comes.

But we've just got to focus on this game. This is a great team that we're going up against. And if we take care of business, we'll be moving on. But as of right now we've got Kansas and that's all we're worried about.

Thank you. Coach, an opening statement about tomorrow's match-up.

Coach K: Kansas, for me, is one of the premier programs in the history of our sport. And Bill has done a great job of not only continuing that championship tradition but maybe enhancing it.

Q. Can you talk about the difference in this particular game? A lot of times you see the game and at least at the outset the teams seem tight, the prize is so big afterwards. You've been in a bunch of these, but what's the difference between this game and maybe others in the tournament?

Coach K: I think there's more of a difference if during the year you haven't made every game a big game and in the tournament if you have not made every game a big game. And so this is our next big game. Like, we approached the tournament that each game is a championship game. And so this is the fourth championship game that we'll play, and not to let anything else enter into it. Like getting to the Final Four, there was pressure with that in the first game.

And we're in so many games during the year, but we approach each game the same. And so they're accustomed -- they get the habitual stuff of preparation is there. We're not going to change in our preparation for this game.

Q. When was there a moment of realization, if that existed, for you about Bagley's special talent, be it before he got to Durham or during his time?

Coach K: The first time I saw him, the first time I saw him, I don't know if we were in -- we were with the U.S. team. And he's in Arizona and Jerry Colangelo, that's where he's from, he showed me a video on his phone and he said, this kid is an eighth-grader. I said he is? So I knew right then, this kid's going to be really good. And obviously never -- not knowing that we would eventually have him at Duke. But you could tell right away he comes from great parents, great grandparents. Joe Caldwell is his grandfather. And mom and dad are really outstanding athletes. And they're really good people. He's got all the -- he's got all the good qualities to become very special.

Q. Can you talk about KU's guards more in detail?

Coach K: In (Devonte') Graham you have really one of the great leaders, not just players in the country. Look, he's one of the top five players in America and it's not just because he scores, but it's how he leads. When he's on the court everybody is better.

Q. Coaches including Bill Self last year have referred to this as the hardest round and the most painful one at which to exit if you lose. And coaches in all sports have talked about suffering losing more than enjoying winning sometimes. I wonder if that was true of this round for you in the mere two times that you went out or if the massive 12 times that you didn't go out drown out that?

Coach K: I think, just to explain why I think coaches look at it like that, for us in the coaching profession, one of the bridges, the biggest bridge you can cross is the Final Four bridge. No matter how many games you've won, if you haven't gone there, it's an empty feeling. And so when you do get there, there's somewhat of relief, happiness, but also a relief that you get there. So when you get to this point, it's a huge bridge. And, so, for me personally, we are able to cross it right away. And so my feeling was in '86, we got there right away. So I didn't go through the suffering.

And so I'm more in tune with the suffering or the happiness of my players. Like in '98 when we didn't get it, we lost to Kentucky and I can remember that locker room, Steve Wojciechowski was my captain, and it was the toughest locker room I've ever been in as a collegiate coach. And although I've been there before, it was their time. So I think if you've been there before you kind of relate to what the players are feeling at that time.

Q. But it is significant when a coach can pass John Wooden in anything. What would crossing that bridge for the 13th time mean to you?

Coach K: Yeah, just that I'm doing it with this group, and I'll look back at those -- I'm not a rear-view mirror guy," he said. "And I haven't been with USA Basketball and with Duke and -- if you are and if you're doing it, you cannot let those things enter the room. Otherwise you're not going to be hungry.

Because when you start thinking about -- I'm not knocking you or -- when you start thinking about those -- you can rationalize. And rationalization is one of the things that stops people from continued excellence, because they live in the past. And then they stop adapting and they stop getting hungry and they stop having that opportunity to do what we're going to be able -- what we might be able to do.

I don't know. It's almost like just -- don't think about it at all. And I don't. Believe me, I do not at all. But I would love to win with these guys and be a part of their emotion if they're able to do it. That would be cool for a 71-year-old guy.

This story was originally published March 24, 2018 at 8:22 PM with the headline "What do Coach K, freshmen think about Duke's Final Four legacy?."