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Coach K wins fourth title |
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By Eric Gold - When Gordon Hayward's desperation shot hit off the backboard and rim, Mike Krzyzewski exhaled knowing his Duke Blue Devils escaped Butler and were back on top as national champions.
A Hall of Famer with first-class credentials, Krzyzewski captured his fourth national title, passing Bobby Knight and tying Adolph Rupp for second place in terms of championships won. John Wooden leads with 10.
"I've been fortunate enough to be in eight national championship games, and this was a classic. This was the toughest and the best one," Krzyzewski said of his team's 61-59 victory at Lucas Oil Stadium.
On Monday, he played his cards just right, maximizing his regulars. Duke's starting five of Kyle Singler, Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek, Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer accounted for all of the team's points.
"We called timeouts at different times that you wouldn't normally call timeouts because of being tired," Krzyzewski said. "We left guys in. This was a game where things were not, like, by the book necessarily. You had to do things instinctive because guys were fighting so hard."
Scheyer, Zoubek and Thomas came through with clutch shots and great defense at critical times. Zoubek altered Hayward's right baseline shot that could have given the Bulldogs the lead in the final seconds. Zoubek grabbed the rebound and made the first foul shot with 3.6 seconds left. He then intentionally missed the second.
Hayward grabbed the rebound and dribbled to midcourt, received a crushing screen from teammate Matt Howard, but his desperation shot hit off the backboard and rim.
"When I got screened, I kind of twisted the right way to see the ball," Singler said. "So I saw the ball bounce off the backboard and hit the rim. You know, it looked good. It was just one of those things where you're wishing, hoping that it won't go in. When I saw it bounce off the rim, the team came together, it was just a special moment."
It was a long road to a championship for Zoubek, a 7-foot-1 native of Haddonfield, NJ. In the summer of 2007 he broke his the fifth metatarsal in left foot in a pickup game. Zoubek was on crutches, and in January 2008 he broke his foot again, this time in practice. Although he averaged under six points a game in his senior season, his presence in the middle was a big factor in the final moments of Monday night's game.
"It's really hard to imagine being in this position when you spend two summers on crutches," Zoubek said. "I mean, people around me just kept telling me, keep going at it, just keep fighting. It's hard to believe 'em sometimes, that good things are actually going to happen. It's an unbelievable feeling that you can see the product of the hard work I put in and the hard work this team put in. I mean, it's just a good story."
The same can be said for Coach K, who holds the NCAA Tournament record for winning percentage (77-22 77.8 percent) and ranks first in NCAA history in tournament wins (77) and games coached (99).
Eric Gold is a College Basketball Analyst
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