Coach K: We're Starting to See Separation on Duke's Team

Coach Mike Krzyzewski frequently called last season’s Blue Devils team “old-fashioned” after a series of teams built around one-and-done players. This year’s team seems similar.

“I don’t what old-fashioned means anymore,” Coach K said, “but these kids are really together, and we’re athletic. We’re young. We don’t have as much separation, one-to-11, but we’re getting more, the more we practice. We’re making each other better. There’s competition. When you’re going five-on-five, you’re going against five other good players. They love one another. They work hard. They’re in the gym all the time. We are seeing some separation. Matthew Hurt has been great. He’s been terrific. He’s 20 pounds heavier, more confident. He doesn’t look like he should be as quick as he is, but he is.”

Krzyzewski has also been impressed with a few other returning players, as well as members of the freshman class.

“Wendell (Moore Jr.) has taken another huge step forward,” he said. “(Jordan) Goldwire has been outstanding. He was outstanding last year. A kid that has really come on is Jeremy Roach. All of them have: DJ (Steward), Joey Baker, they’ve been good. We have a lot of pieces, and we’re going to play a very up-tempo game, fast-paced. Mark Williams is somebody that we’ve never really had. He’s young, and he’s always had some tendonitis, knee problems. He’s 7-foot-1 with a 7-foot-5 wing span. We have a lot of good pieces. We’ll be playing more people than we normally play, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be equal play. When you get separation, the guys that separate some need to play more, and they will.”