News & Observer | newsobserver.com | Krzyzewski calls flap over quote 'stupid'

Published: Mar 04, 2008 12:30 AM
Modified: Mar 04, 2008 06:01 AM

Krzyzewski calls flap over quote 'stupid'

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Hear UNC coach Roy Williams respond to a question at his press conference about injury comments by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.


Hear Williams comment again at the end of his press conference.
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Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday his comments about injury reports, which fueled a minor controversy with North Carolina coach Roy Williams, had been misquoted.

Speaking during an ACC coaches teleconference, Krzyzewski said that he did not say "unlike other schools, we don't release our injuries," in a postgame radio interview with Duke broadcaster Bob Harris on Feb. 17 after Duke's loss at Wake Forest.

After the teleconference, The N&O asked for and received a copy of the audio file of Krzyzewski's post-game comments from the Duke athletics department.

The audio clip, which verified what Krzyzewski said Monday, included the following passage:

"Yeah, well that was a silver lining. You know, I mean, uh, he [Nolan Smith] has not been playing well the last couple of weeks. Again, he hyperextended his knee. You know, we don't put out all our injuries, you know, but we're injured, too, you know. I mean everyone's injured. Uh, and he's been playing and he hurt it again a little bit tonight but he played his heart out, and we need that. So that's a good thing."

The flap between Hall of Fame coaches gained life when UNC broadcaster Woody Durham, among others, relayed the gist of Krzyzewski's postgame comments to Williams before Williams' weekly radio show on Feb. 18.

During that show, Williams responded that others should coach their teams and he would coach his.

The day after Williams' show, the Web site of WRBZ, which is an affiliate of the Duke Radio Network, published the following attributed quote to Krzyzewski:

"Nolan hyperextended his knee at Maryland and has been dealing with that since -- and unlike other schools, we don't release our injuries -- so I thought he played a strong game tonight."

Multiple sources, including the Feb. 20 print edition of The N&O, reprinted the attributed quote.

Adam Gold, the AM sports talk station's morning drive host and program manager, said he did not hear Krzyzewski's interview but published the quote based on an e-mail sent to him by a "Duke University source."

The exact wording doesn't change the nature of the tiff, a UNC spokesman said. Steve Kirschner, UNC's director of athletic communication, said Monday, regardless of whether Krzyzewski said "unlike other schools" or not, Williams interpreted the comment as a shot at UNC's practice of releasing detailed injury reports.

"The intent of the statement seemed to comment on our injury situation," Kirschner said. "Which is fine. It's not a big deal."

Kirschner said Williams would not be available Monday for further comment on the situation.

Krzyzewski called the whole incident "stupid" on Monday's teleconference and said that if he wanted to zing anyone, he would have chosen a different venue than a postgame radio interview with Harris.

"If I want to tweak somebody, I'll do it in front of all you guys," Krzyzewski said Monday. "I'm not saying I've never done that, but all of that is so stupid. It's so stupid. That's about all I have to say is that it was stupid."

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