LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Fight it out was sputtering, Louisville’s cause was increasing, the KFC Yum! Middle was roaring and, more than 400 kilometers away, Scott Krzyzewski was viewing.
Which delivers us to the guy in nowhere tie End of the week, status out in the game after contacting timeout, staring up at the scoreboard as he tried to think up some solutions. Mark Capel recognized this would be an issue. And there was the look of a man residing it.
Duke’s 78-69 reduction to Louisville was the Red Devils’ 4th of the year, third in the ACC and second in Five times. It came with Krzyzewski’s chair kept symbolically vacant on the regular and mature adhesive guy Amile Jefferson in his civvies with a navicular bone bruise in his feet. It came with 18 Red Demon turnovers and the Cardinals – rated next to last in the ACC in capturing getting into the activity – reaching 58.6 % the second 50 %. It remaining Fight it out 0-3 on the street in the meeting by around 13 factors a activity and designed for one fun mid-day for the Louisville audience.
“We have to modify this. Interval,” Capel said after the activity, his third as performing trainer while Krzyzewski recuperates from returning surgery treatment. “We have to restore it. That has to be our mind-set going in. Being near is inadequate. Just merely battling is inadequate.”
Once rated No. 1, Fight it out is now 14-4 and will be no greater than fifth in the ACC when the weekend is over. Capel has got an issue, all right. Consider the previous 11 days:
Wednesday, Jan, 4
Krzyzewski coaches his last pre-surgery game, a 110-57 pounding of Georgia Tech. It’s his 983rd win at Duke. When he won his first, Capel was five years old.
“I won’t be in a hurry to come back until I’m ready, because I made that mistake in my younger days. I’m too old to renew that mistake,” Krzyzewski said of his impending operation. “I’m ready to have this taken care of.”
Jeff Capel, you’re on.
Thursday, Jan. 5
Capel has his first media teleconference as acting coach.
“We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity already this year,” he said. “Throughout the season, guys have stepped up, and that’s what we have to do right now.”
About any heat he might be feeling, as a basketball vice-president temporarily replacing the commander-in-chief: “I don’t think of it as pressure. I think of everything as opportunity. It’s a different opportunity now for everyone. It’s not as difficult because of Coach. He has told me repeatedly to be myself, trust my instincts, go with what I see and what I feel. Certainly, I am going to elicit his input. Talk to him, go over things with him… It’s not like he’s going to be incoherent. He’s going to be watching the games, communicating. I’m definitely going to lean on him. But Coach gave me a lot of freedom the past two or three years. We have a special relationship. I think he trusts me.”
Capel is 41, having already been a head coach at VCU and Oklahoma. Some will portray this as an audition for the future. Krzyzewski will retire one day. Presumably.
“I haven’t thought about it because I can’t imagine it,” Capel said. “Since I started watching basketball, he’s the only coach I’ve known at Duke, so I haven’t thought about anything like that.”
Friday, Jan. 6
The word from the doctors is that Krzyzewski’s surgery went well. It’s exactly 22 years to the day he was admitted to the hospital in 1995. Assistant Pete Gaudet took over then, and the season imploded to a 13-18 record, which was the last time the Blue Devils didn’t make the NCAA Tournament and still the school record for most defeats in a season. Capel was a sophomore guard on that team.
“I don’t think it’s close to back in ’95,” Capel said. “I think there was a lot of uncertainty back then. I’m not sure there was a plan. It certainly didn’t seem that way as a player that there was a plan. I also think he’s learned so much from ’95. Back in ’95 when that happened, everything fell apart, and I think maybe a big reason for that is he did everything. Everything kind of ran through him. I think Coach has delegated more since then. I think he learned a lot about himself.”
Saturday, Jan. 7
There’s a teleconference for Duke’s players before the Boston College game. Krzyzewski is on the line. “Coach is a strong guy,” freshman Jayson Tatum said later. “We knew he was going to have something to say.”
At tipoff, there is a vacancy on the Duke bench. Krzyzewski’s seat is kept empty and will remain that way.
“That’s his seat, he’s still here,” Capel said. “It’s not like he’s not coming back.”
The Blue Devils end up 93-82 winners, the only downer being Jefferson’s injured foot, seriousness unknown. It is listed as the 415th consecutive sellout at Cameron Indoor Stadium, though there are empty seats with a snowstorm raging outside.
“It was different. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t,” Capel said. “It’s been a long week. It’s been emotional. It’s been all of those things. Coach always talks about energy cycles. We were at the end of an energy cycle. Now we need to move on.”
Any moments feel weird?
“Yeah, all of them.”
Sunday, Jan. 8
On an idle day, a factoid to notice. Capel is one of three former Duke team captains on the staff. Krzyzewski has had three every season since 1996.
Monday, Jan. 9
Duke’s roster merry-go-round never stops. Jefferson is out with a foot bruise and will certainly miss the Florida State trip Wednesday, possibly more. That’s a lot of defense, leadership and rebounding not to take to Tallahassee. And it guarantees the Blue Devils will be using their seventh different starting lineup in 17 games.
“I think this will be the eighth guy from our rotation that we’ve had out at some point this year,” Capel said on the ACC teleconference. “So we just deal with it.”
Yet another unforeseen wrinkle in a season that has had more of them than a rolled up cotton shirt. Hurting players, a hurting head coach. When will it stop?
“There’s no other choice but to do it that way,” Capel said. “We haven’t made an excuse all year, and we’re not going to start right now. We feel like what we have in the locker room is enough.”
Tuesday, Jan. 10
They don’t have enough in Tallahassee. Florida State rolls, 88-72, by dominating the paint, 56-28. The Blue Devils miss Jefferson. A lot. Besides, the Seminoles are one of the hottest teams in the nation with 12 wins in a row. This is not the program that came in 9-35 all-time against Duke.
It is a particularly long night for Allen, who scores only nine points.
“I don’t think what other people say, chant or do wears on him that much,” Capel said. “The kid has been through a lot. He brought a lot of it on himself, but some of the things that have happened are just crazy.”
Wednesday, Jan 11
Up-to-date ACC stats are out, and Duke has only one player leading in anything – Jefferson owns the best field goal percentage and defensive rebound average in the conference. But he’s in a walking boot.
Thursday, Jan. 12
The tents go up outside Cameron for the long student vigil ahead of the North Carolina game on Feb. 9. P.S. It’s still called Krzyzewskiville, not Capelville.
Friday, Jan. 13
As the Blue Devils head for Louisville, history comes to mind. Two years ago when they visited, they were floundering with a two-game losing streak. Krzyzewski sent them out in a zone, and they upset the Cardinals by 11 points. From there, they won 20 of their last 22 games and the national championship.
Saturday, Jan. 14
One way Capel’s life has temporarily changed: When he walks on the court, there’s a police escort with him.
An early seven-point lead melts under the heat of the Louisville defense. The Blue Devils came in averaging only 11.6 turnovers. They pass that total with 13.5 minutes left in the game. That’s one problem. So is rebounding. So are 36 Louisville points in the paint, which gives Duke’s last two opponents 92.
“That has to be better,” Capel said. “That’s on everyone, that’s just not on our bigs.”
In the locker room, the Blue Devils talk of not having Jefferson.
“Missing a guy that has been part of the heart and soul of our team is tough,” Allen said. “We’re having to try to move forward without that.”
They talk of how bumpy and frustrating this ride has been, with all its detours.
“It’s no excuse, but it’s a lot,” Harry Giles. “We just have to learn from it.”
They talk of the future.
“We’re going to get better. I can confidently say that,” Luke Kennard says. “Great teams have to overcome adversity. We’re fighting that right now.”
Allen mentions that the young roster is still learning the ways of the ACC, which requires savvy and smart play – “A lot of stuff that people don’t write down on their strengths and weaknesses in their recruiting profiles.”
That’s just another part of Duke’s narrative now. So is a missing head coach, Jefferson's boot and consecutive defeats. Capel talks of the need for more poise, more rebounding, more physical presence inside. And more practice. The next game is not for a week. Maybe there will be time to progress without further complication, in a season that has seldom offered Duke that chance.
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