It has been a wild start to the 2020 college basketball season. A number of teams have had to pause basketball related activities due to COVID-19 but about 85% of programs are still pushing ahead. One of those teams still pushing forward, although I don't think their players know that, are the Duke Blue Devils. The 10th ranked Blue Devils (thanks to the press not wanting to upset Coach K) are off to a miserable 2-2 start with their 2 wins coming against Coppin State and Bellarmine (Yes those are apparently division-1 basketball programs).
Going into last nights big game against Illinois, Coach K was all about the NCAA Tournament and said that the NCAA needs to play the tournament due to the money that the tournament generates. THEN, after his team gets stomped out by the Fighting illini (my favorite to win it all), Coach K changes his tune and says that it is not right that they are playing basketball during this time.
Can't have it both ways big guy! Do you need to play the tournament or do you need to shut it down due to the pandemic? Pick a side. Listen, if I was the coach of this below average Duke team, I would want to call it quits too. Way too much work to coach guys like this at his age. Way easier to just take the year off and get back at it next year.
I get it, this season is really odd. No fans at Cameron Indoor. No courts being stormed. No pan to the sad Villanova fan in the stands as the team loses to Virginia Tech, I get it. But lets be real, they are still able to play the game of basketball and surprisingly the competition level has been very good early on.
I think Coach K, like when you procrastinate for a big project, had this season sneak up on him. Its like "oh shit its Thanksgiving already?!" And just like that big project that you waited too long to start, Coach K tried to put together an off-season worth of preparation into a short period of time which is why his team is so brutal to start the year. Its the only explanation. I mean how does one of the best programs in the country only beat Coppin State by 10 points? Riddle me that.
Coach K, although he is legendary, is notorious for making excuses when his team struggles. From giving life lessons to opposing players for their antics on the court after beating Duke, to not feeling well during, before or after a big game that doesn't go Duke's way, the guy has done it all. But this call to cancel the entire season is his Mona Lisa of excuses. "Our team stinks but lets really look at the big picture here." Brilliant!
I am not sure what is going to happen with the rest of the college basketball season but my guess is that it will be completed one way or another. Maybe that's in March, April or even May, we will be able to have a completed NCAA Basketball season.
If I am Coach K's PR guy, I would just back out of the tournament now so that I can keep my streak of 24 straight season of making the tournament alive while also looking like the most caring coach in the country. May go a long way with recruits. That and the bags of cash they give them that are never reported on, but I digress. Morale of the story: Duke is a bunch of frauds this year and Coach K hates accountability.
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