Krzyzewski hugged his players and shone with joy as the young, talented Blue Devils completed their Elite Eight 78-69 victory over Arkansas to extend his farewell tour for another week. Defeating the fourth Razorbacks, Krzyzewski surpassed John Wooden for more appearances in the Final Four than any college coach. The UCLA Wizard of Westwood went to the national semifinals 12 times from 1962 to 1975. The Waiting Duke in New Orleans will be either the NCAA tournament favorites or the Blue Devils’ biggest rival. North Carolina only need to beat Saint Peter’s 15th seed on Sunday to host the first NCAA tournament clash between Tobacco Road rivals. Just four times before this season, Duke and North Carolina entered the Elite Eight that year. Only in 1991 did they both reach the Final Four. While Duke boasts a loaded roster with half a dozen prospects in the NBA, the Blue Devils’ youth for most of the season was as evident as their talent. They were sometimes late in early March, when their time seemed too long, when they seemed to bend under the pressure to send Krzyzewski out with a perfect last tail. After North Carolina ruined Krzyzewski’s last game at the Cameron Indoor Stadium with a 94-81 upset, the legendary coach grabbed a microphone and apologized to dozens of his former players present and to a shocked, speechless crowd. “Let me just say – that was unacceptable,” he said. “Today was unacceptable, but the season was very acceptable. And I’ll tell you, the season is not over, okay? “ This shocking speech sparked some productive conversations that helped open the Duke’s path to New Orleans. Krzyzewski hinted on Friday that he regretted how he had handled the agony of that loss and that he had spoken to his players about it. The story goes on “I felt very bad for them,” Krzyzewski said. “When I said unacceptable, it was not that they were unacceptable. It was the result that was unacceptable and I wanted to make sure that it was not misinterpreted by them “. Another subtle but important change that Krzyzewski made is to use the 20-minute long halves of the NCAA tournament differently. Instead of immediately starting a conversation about what went right and what went wrong, Krzyzewski spent more time listening to comments from his players. “When I come to the locker room, I just take out a chair and sit with them for about five minutes,” Krzyzewski said. “Okay, here we are and just talk to them.” If the first two weeks of the NCAA tournament are a sign, Duke seems to be responding well to this lenient approach. The young Blue Devils seem to be growing up and handling the pressure to send Krzyzewski to retire with another ring. They rallied for a second-round victory over the State of Michigan even though they were five to five minutes behind to play. Then they looked shocked early on by Texas Tech’s famous defense at Sweet 16, only to shoot 71 percent off the court in the second half and not miss a single shot in the last eight minutes or more. There was no need for late returns against Arkansas, thanks in part to Duke’s 8-0 change of game at the end of the first half. The Razorbacks fell at halftime by 12 points despite being within 4-6 points for most of the half. The mistake that really hurt Arkansas was Chris Lykes’s decision to take a three-pointer with just over 10 seconds left in the half. By not lowering further, Lakes gave Trevor Kills time to punish the Resorbaks with a three-pointer to the buzzer.
