Coach K: I Subbed So Much So They Wouldn't Get Tired

Tough academic schedule had team worn out, even after break

Coach Mike Krzyzewski was pleased with his team’s performance coming off of a long break on Thursday night, when Duke beat Wofford, 86-57.

“Our kids did play really well tonight,” he said. “They had outstanding defense. They shared the ball. They had the least amount of turnovers we’ve had. We played a lot of guys. We beat a really good team. … They’re a championship level program. They’re very deep in talent. We did a good job defensively, but they’re a tough team to defend. The kid [Storm] Murphy is a heck of a competitor. J. Gold [Jordan Goldwire] fought him well. Not saying he outplayed him, but he fought him well. He didn’t outplay J. Gold either. That was good match up. Murphy was not able to make his teammates better like he usually does, because of what J. Gold did. Really good.”

Before five minutes had been played, Duke had already had nine players in the game.

“We subbed a lot,” Krzyzewski said. “This has been a very unusual couple weeks for us, with all the tests. We didn’t practice for six straight days during exams. We had three days of individual work, and for these kids to come back and play like they have has been really something. During the month of November and the first week of December, when we started our season, there were 17 academic days, from the day before the Champions Classic to the day of our Virginia Tech game. We missed seven days of school because of being on the road, and two other days, we came back at 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning. So the academic aspect of this takes on even a deeper level, because you’re behind. That’s one of the reasons I subbed so much – I never wanted them to get tired. Because I thought going through that, once they got tired, they were going to be tired. They’re not going to get refreshed.”