The "Countdown to pass Dean for All time wins" thread

cougar man · Dec 30, 2010 at 8:57 AM

It looks like Coach K will pull even with Coach Knight in the ACC tournament championship game. Against NC STATE

VA49er · Dec 30, 2010 at 9:42 PM

Good article on the game last night and the Dean/K rivalry. Seems there were some Heel fans in the crowd.

Mike Krzyzewski Once Again Measured Against Dean, and Vice Versa

Dean Smith was all over the Greensboro Coliseum Wednesday night.

Yes, in memory, legacy and history, on the night that Mike Krzyzewski supplanted him on the all-time college basketball coaching victory list, in the very building where Smith's North Carolina teams fought to maintain the upper hand over Krzyzewski's Duke squads in a rivalry that takes a back seat to no one. Statistically, with the Blue Devils' 108-62 rout of UNC-Greensboro, Krzyzewski did in fact take the upper hand.

But Smith was also there in name and image, if not in person. As No. 1-ranked Duke rolled toward a 53-32 halftime lead over the winless Spartans, a banner was raised in the lower deck of the Coliseum across from the Duke bench, bearing a huge photo of Smith's grinning face, surrounded by Duke logos and headlined: "I Wanna Be Like Mike.'' That drew cheers from the largely pro-Duke crowd playing in what's become it's in-state home away from home an hour and a half west of Durham (as well as Chapel Hill, since it's also served for decades as Carolina's home away from home, too).

Not as many cheers: the sign on the other side of the tunnel and to the left of the Blue Devils bench, also adorned with Smith's likeness -- "You're No Dean Smith.''

It had to be this way, of course: Krzyzewski, in his 31st season at Duke (and 36th total as a collegiate head coach), in a career that evolved in close proximity to Smith's for 17 years, was going to eventually pass Smith on his way to Bob Knight for the most wins in Division I men's basketball history. And it had to happen at Greensboro Coliseum, site of some of the most storied games in a rivalry that predates both men, but was defined for the last few generations and the next several by that pair.

For all the years that college basketball seemed to revolve around the Atlantic Coast Conference in general, Tobacco Road in particular and Duke and Carolina specifically, either Smith, Krzyzewski or both were at dead center of much of it for decades -- and many of those time, often in the ACC tournament, it all took place at Greensboro Coliseum.

Because of all that, Krzyzewski and his players talked about where 880 career wins fit into the so-called big picture, while acknowledging that his leaving Smith -- and Carolina Blue and the Four Corners and just the very Dean-ness of it all -- behind with 879 wins was an even bigger picture.

"I knew they hated each other,'' senior all-American Kyle Singler said afterward, of his understanding of the rivalry upon his arrival from Oregon as a freshman. "To what extent I didn't know. Again, it's actually a cool thing, just because there aren't a lot of programs that share that ...'' He hesitated, then went on, "I don't want to say that hatred, just a strong rivalry that they had.''

Actually, "hatred'' is exactly the right word. Singler laughed. "Passion. A passion to hate, or a passion to whatever.''

The way Krzyzewski described it, it was a blend of familiarity breeding contempt, and imitation being the sincerest form of flattery. Coach K couldn't have spoken more glowingly about Smith and the Carolina program in recent days, and the Carolina family -- including Smith himself, in a statement released Wednesday night -- returned the favor. Of course, long before Singler, his teammates and their counterparts down the road weren't even born yet back when the same vitriol aimed at Krzyzewski and Duke for a mountain of perceived advantages and favors given, was once aimed at Smith and his program. Hard to believe, unless you're old enough, that Krzyzewski was once the pursuer, along with the Lefty Driesells and Bobby Cremins and Terry Hollands of the ACC, and not the pursued.

Yet, even Krzyzewski couldn't deny that, as opposed to the aforementioned banner, he wanted to be like dean, and Duke to be like Carolina.

"What would it take to build a program?'' he recalled asking himself in his early Duke days. "It would take doing things with class, with integrity, with dignity, having great kids, being extremely loyal to your school, about family, and I thought (Smith) did it in a way that served as an example for everybody else. And we tried to do it in many similar ways, and we tried to be our own people too.''

As a result, he added, "To be eight miles apart and to share that level of excellence is just great.''

To be sure, this was nothing like Krzyzewski passing Adolph Rupp on the victories list earlier this month, at least not to those immersed in the history of this state. Rupp, of course, was the man Smith passed in March of 1997, to become, at the time, the all-time leader. That North Carolina team landed in the Final Four, had a ton of talent coming back -- and then Smith abruptly retired before the following season, as secure in his legacy as a coach could possibly be, as well as going out almost on top.

Yet Krzyzewski had already pulled even with him in national championships, at two each. Four years later, he won a third, and to many who eat, sleep and breath the Tobacco Road rivalry, that was more than enough for bragging rights. Now, 10 seasons beyond that championship, Krzyzewski has another (tying Rupp, by the way, now trailing only John Wooden's 10) and is the overwhelming favorite to win a fifth -- in the same season in which he moved ahead of Smith on the wins list.

Next in his sights, of course, 22 wins away, is Knight, his mentor and friend, which is a sure emotional hand grenade for him as well -- but in a completely different way.

As much as he tried to deflect all the suggestions that it was a big night for him (not nearly as big, he kept pointing out, as the championships, from the ACC to the NCAA to the Olympics), Krzyzewski couldn't deny that doing it in that building -- where, he repeated a few times, Duke gear was eclipsed by every other schools' -- meant a lot. He didn't even have to say which school's colors did the most eclipsing.

Again, the way it played out Wednesday night is the only way it could have played out. To the onlookers pro and con, it was history to be sure, but it also was personal.

Otherwise, there was no reason for the North Carolina coach from 14 years ago to be all over Greensboro Coliseum -- including on a sign that read: "There's a New Dean In Town.''
Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

The "Countdown to pass Dean for All time wins" thread

cougar man Full Access Member

VA49er Full Access Member

Share This Page

Log in or Sign up

The "Countdown to pass Dean for All time wins" thread

cougar man Full Access Member

VA49er Full Access Member

Share This Page

Useful Searches