Coach K not panicking as Duke continues to struggle
The panic button in Durham is growing, but Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski isn't ready to press it after yet another defeat.
"Our kids played their hearts out tonight," Krzyzewski told Duke radio Monday after the Blue Devils suffered their fourth loss in five games - this one coming at the hands of Miami.
Heart wasn't enough against the 15th-ranked team in the country. The Hurricanes reigned over Duke 80-69, and the Blue Devils looked, at times, clueless.
On offense, they shot just 41.7 percent from the field and posted an ugly 6-for-20 mark behind the arc.
On defense, Duke allowed the Canes to shoot a blistering 50.8 percent from the field. At one point, Krzyzewski resorted to his seldom-used zone scheme, but the results were, approximately, disastrous.
Someone asked K how he put in a zone without any players. "It works great against our walk-ons," he said
— Laura Keeley (@laurakeeley) January 26, 2016
"We just have to stay the course and ... good things will happen," said Coach K after the game.
But Duke's struggles are as matter-of-fact as Krzyzewski's unchanged matter-of-fact demeanor. A team that once looked poised to make a run at repeating as NCAA champions now looks closer to playing its way out of the March Madness tournament.
Duke is headed to the NIT. But if I was Coach K, I'd decline the offer. Don't let Plumlee, Jones & Jefferson follow a title w/a NIT loss.
— Carron J. Phillips (@carronJphillips) January 26, 2016
Without starting senior forward Amile Jefferson, who doesn't appear close to returning from a foot injury, Duke seems lost at both ends of the floor, especially the defensive one.
Still, Krzyzewski isn't overreacting to his team's recent skid.
"They're one of the best teams," he said Monday night in his praise of Miami. "That was the most physical game we've been involved in by far. You can't practice that."
Right now, the Blue Devils look like a team that has a lot to practice if it plans to make any sort of run this year.