NCAA MEN'S FINAL FOUR

March 26, 1999

Mike Krzyzewski

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: We just got through with our practice, and the main thing is we're in good health; everyone's in top shape and we're ready to go. And we know we're going to play an outstanding basketball team, Michigan State. And we're ready. They're tough and they've won a lot of games, and they've won a lot of close games where their not just physical toughness, but their mental toughness has shown off. So we're ready to go.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I don't rank conferences.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Well, I think timing is the biggest thing. Timing not only of when we've had players that completely left, but also timing of what collective bargaining agreement would be at that time in the NBA. I think those two things are paramount in that. We usually get kids who have really valued the opportunity of getting a great education at Duke. That may change in the future. If it does, we'll try to make sure that those kids continue their education. And my role in that is just to be truthful and to be honest and to be on the side of the young man and his family in helping him make what would be the best decision for him.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: It's pretty nice, isn't it? It's a lot less wet than it was last year. I fixed up all the leaks. I think that's why they had me do that. Last year when we were in here, it was pretty wet, although the water was a lot worse, too. No, they fixed this place up nice; I'm glad they used my model in doing those repairs. It was nice of them to do that.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I think Michigan State's a lot different. I think we are, too. They know each other even better. Peterson is not a surprise to anyone. Not that he was a big surprise then, but he's one of the better players in the country and scoring-wise especially. They seem to be very healthy and have a deep rotation with eight or nine guys. So I think they use their people better now than they did earlier, and so do we. And Cleaves is much better; there's no question about that.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: They were better. I thought they played a lot harder than we did in the first half. I thought we may have played a little bit harder than them in the second half, but you don't beat good teams with half efforts. And so, to me, that's the story with Cincinnati. Cincinnati, Bobby's team did a hell of a job against us and our players. The teams here can outplay us, we just have to make sure we outplay them.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I think I answered that already. Didn't you ask that question? They're in better shape and they have a deep rotation and they've gone through 30-something games and won most of them, so they also have the experience of winning together. And they're a little bit older than we are, too, in playing together. Because they've done it for the last couple years.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Well, the part I'm concerned about is they win. They know how to win. If you know how to win, that means you usually try to do something better than the team -- you have to do something better than the team you're playing against. It's obvious that they're a great offensive rebounding team, and it's also obvious that they can really move the ball up the court quickly to get early offense. I think that those two areas are areas that we have to be good in. If we're not good, then we'll lose. And we certainly don't feel like we're invincible. I don't think any of our players or coaching staff have ever portrayed that mood, that opinion. We understand we're a fairly young team. It would be interesting if you looked at all the ages of the kids playing in this tournament, where our team would rank. And of our top eight players, five are sophomores and one's a freshman. So with that level of experience, I think we can lose to anybody. We just have played so hard this year and so passionately that we haven't lost except that one time. And that's been a strength of our team.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: We've been fortunate over the years to have good players. Obviously, with Elton receiving some of the National Player of the Year Awards, you don't get to this level without good players. I mean really good players. And I'm fortunate that I'm at a school and in a conference that attracts high-level talent. And our staff's worked really hard, Quin, Snyder, Johnny, and Henderson to bring that balance. So we're fortunate.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Well, you know, one is we played a hell of a schedule. So just the level of schedule that we played and those situations that I placed my team in forces you to either get better or you lose. And the kids have gotten better. We haven't had any real serious injuries. We had a little bit of sickness. In Alaska Battier was sick for a period of about a week or two in late November, early December, that kind of hurt our team a little bit. But Battier was out one game, I think our last regular season game against North Carolina. Trajan was out for three games during the ACC Tournament and first NCAA game. It's not huge adversity, but it changes you a little bit. Some other guy has to step up. I think the St. Johns game where we had a bunch of guys fouled out and so did they, Chris Carrawell really stepped up for us, and he showed a leadership quality there that we've used during the remainder of the year.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I thank him all the time. It's not thankless within our group. You want to thank him for me publically, then that would be terrific. I think Shane Battier is just such an easy kid to play with. Defensively, he probably understands our defense better than any kid that's played for me. Maybe with the exception of -- along with Billy King, who was a National Defensive Player of the Year in the late '80s. What Shane's done also though is improved his offensive game in the last month and a half. That has changed our team because he's become a threat offensively, and that's kind of put five guys out on the court who can score and score from different positions, which has been good.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I think I've enjoyed this whole year as much as I've enjoyed any year. Probably, hopefully we get more mature; we hope we do. I think in going through a few things, that's helped me appreciate even more the journey that we go on with these kids. And I feel as good as I've ever felt about coaching, and I think I have the right perspective, and, hopefully, I'll keep that for as long as I coach.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I can talk a lot about his personality. I think open looks. People were playing off of him. And, finally, I don't know if it was Carrawell that told him this or maybe it was after he had this 27-point outing against Maryland in early February, somebody asked him what do you think about Shane Battier doing that. He said, well, he wasn't the Smith Player of the Year because he took charges; he must have shot the ball somewhere along the line. At times he was figuring out your role in college, especially because we've won a lot of games these two years here. He may have been even more team-oriented and confused that with I shouldn't take shots. That leads to his personality. He's a sensational kid who wants -- he wants to get an A plus in everything. And as he's at Duke, we have to show him that because you're exposed to so much competition and so many good things that at times you may have to make a decision on where you get your A plus. And I think he's going through that and not to feel guilty when he doesn't get an A for everything. You know, I mean we've even talked about it in the last couple weeks so that he would be fresher for this moment. And then come back to some other moments. He's so conscientious. Sometimes a person's best quality sometimes is also a weakness.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: Not now. (Laughter) After the Final Four, I'll have --

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I'm not talking about any of that stuff. (Laughter) I've never had an advantage of good looks or high level of intelligence. So if I have an advantage of experience right now, why, you know, I probably would tell them something that didn't work anyway. But I'm not going to say anything about that.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: You should be careful, even you would have to. Because people are not necessarily saying even I wouldn't do that. So don't assume that I would feel that way. We've had a buildup, big buildup all year. We've enjoyed it. Like the fact that some other people have come on with the buildup as the season has gone along or the importance of a game has -- like these are important games. I don't see any reason why we should be any different. Because we've kind of lived that the whole year. And if we don't make it, believe me, we will be very disappointed, but we will have had a great experience. And that's where I think I've been a better coach. Because, you know, when you talk to our kids today or you have talked to them, I would hope that you never thought that they were under any pressure; rather, that they've enjoyed what they do. And you have to give them time to have fun. You know, we were out there doing our workout, you give them a little bit of time to have some fun. Because bottom line wise, if you're not having fun doing it, I don't think you're going to win it. So that's what we've tried to do all year long.

One.

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: One of those two-part questions? Are you from the ACC? There's a guy in our area who's famous for two-part questions. Are you related?

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: How do you know? You don't even know the guy. He might be the best guy in the world. Will you guys from our area check and see?

COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI: I think they have a huge advantage for that and many other areas. We've been in tough games. I expect it to be a close game. You know, they're too good. I think we're good. And so I would hope that when our kids are in that position that we'll respond.