The glory of the Final Four was on the line.
They know the bridges in this city well. The most famous of these stands out – the “international orange” is its official color – just seven miles from the Chase Center, which dominates the Presidio and connects one part of San Francisco with the other. In this metropolis of active slopes, where the roads fall like ski slopes, and where the slopes and plateaus of the streets offer incredible views around this beautiful plate of soil and water, everything was instead steady, flat, in balance for the second- Blue Devils seeds on Saturday night. As big as this Elite Eight fight was against No. 2 Duke and No. 4 in Arkansas, we did not have any drama. Duke was the best here in the 78-69 victory over Arkansas. The Blue Devils grew up again, proving that their talent was as unbridled as this very storytelling. Krzyzewski can’t go to the Final Four last season, right? Is this really the case? Is. The passage has definitely won. “They were a close team before the NCAA, but during those last four games they were amazing,” Krzyzewski said. “I’m so proud of you guys and happy for you. You crossed the bridge, man, and we won a great team.” Return to these timeouts. With a press line perched behind Duke’s bench for this game, CBS Sports was able to eavesdrop on each tangle for two hours. The Blue Devils retreated for a while 9-6 early, but otherwise kept this game under control. Krzyzewski had a fire in his abdomen and a classic coach scratch on his neck as he shouted over the PA system and the pep bands. “You have to leave! Let’s go too late!” he told his team in the under-16 time-out of the first half. He looked inflamed. The game had just begun. Krzyzewski did not allow himself to be relieved, not even when Duke was in command late and most of the building realized what was happening here. Really: a deep three-pointer by Trevor Keels in the first half buzzer gave Duke a 45-33 lead after the break. Moments later, a support staff member silently threw four gold scissors at Duke’s side of the scoreboard. The regional champion trophy, and the box in which it was stuffed, was also not so discreetly hidden near Duke’s bench. “Dukas was amazing,” said Razorbacks coach Eric Muselman. “It would be a surprise if they did not play to win a national championship.” With less than 30 seconds left, Krzyzewski said a “YES !!!” before returning to business-as-usual before the game hits the triple zeros. The Blue Devils are still in this thing. This story will not stop. The old man did it for the last time, he broke his tie with John Wooden for the Final Fours, he is now in 13th place ahead of Wooden’s 12. Once he’s done, Duke’s season and Krzyzewski’s career will end at Big Easy. There was only one point in the second half where things got tangled. Arkansas managed to reduce Duke’s lead to 53-48 with 13:13 for the end. It was the only time all night Krzyzewski waited a minute to speak to his team. Duke’s starting five – Wendell Moore Jr., Paolo Banchero, Mark Williams, Jeremy Roach and Keels – all sorted things out before K picked up a chair again and headed to the board, with the marker in hand. Coming out of this timeout, Bansero and Griffin played consecutive games to reduce Duke to a 57-48 lead. Soon it was a 16-6 streak and Duke had a 69-54 lead. “We were preparing to get knocked out, and they have not been knocked out in the last 12 minutes,” Krzyzewski said. “They played beautiful basketball.” It was basically over. However, with 3:58 on the clock, Krzyzewski was still facing the game as Arkansas needed a three-pointer to regain the lead. The score is now 72-57. “Listen! LISTEN !!” ordered to his team. “No factions!” He has been training his 75-year-old ass for the last two weeks in this tournament. The man has said over and over that he is ready to retire, but to see him running certainly does not appear. Almost every second of the time given is methodical. Duke never gave up. Because of this, the program goes to the 17th Final Four. The Blue Devils scored 46 points against Arkansas, continuing a trend that has defined Duke’s teamwork instincts. The Blue Devils have surpassed 52% of their points through four color games, according to an ESPN survey. They are one of the most dominant teams close to the limit in tournament games ever. They will take you from deep though. Just 10 3-point attempts for the Blue Devils against Arkansas, but four of them feel real. Fly in seven steals and 12 points from Arkansas turnovers. A score of deep threats combined with the relentless interior, which turned this team into an attack with points per possession No. 1 in the sport.
“We knew we were capable of it and we have been working on it since June,” Banchero said. “So being able to finally get to New Orleans and have the opportunity to play for a national league is a blessing. I’m proud of the way we came together.” Krzyzewski wants to do that for the players, and we have to. There they are. This is theirs. So much of this season and the pressure around them has fallen on them. That’s what Krzyzewski did, of course, but he said it was the only way he felt he could do it and be ethical about recruiting. He wanted another year, but he did not want to know personally that the end was coming. With that, a kind of burden was placed on Duke players. They handled it perfectly, especially since they did not win the home game final against North Carolina, and then were knocked out of the ACC tournament by a Virginia Tech team that rallied to win the ACC Championship before going all the way to the Big Dance. The continuous response to reach the national semifinals is equivalent to one of the most impressive performances of March ever presented by a team of Krzyzewski. Williams must stand out. He was great again: 12 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks, and he was the most valuable player for each team. “He’s a damn defensive player,” Roots said. “I love having him on the pitch. It makes it a lot easier for the guards to really try to push the ball. So you really don’t have to worry if someone passes you, you know that big friend is always next to you. It’s a huge part of that. “We would not be here without him.” It’s great how Duke saw every player raise his game – even AJ Griffin had a calm 18-point team record against Arkansas. Again, Krzyzewski did not have much in the post-match press conference about what this means for him. His passion and gratitude was for the players. Winning the program. Players win. He is right. You can roll your eyes at Krzyzewski whatever you want about what is coming this season and how the announcement of his departure more than nine months earlier makes history, but this Saturday night, the story is the determination and the incredible development of Duke’s team. They have claimed to be the most talented in the sport all season. Now that talent meets potential, Duke has become the top team and favorite to win the set. “They did it for us, and enough to do it for the old man here,” Krzyzewski said. “We are not going to do it if we do not all possess it, and we all possess it. We all possess it at the moment. That is why we are playing.” This is not the same team, not many meters, that North Carolina had completed at the Cameron Indoor Stadium 21 nights ago. “But you really learn about character in these situations,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s not luck. It’s them. I’m trying to tell you, it’s up to them because it’s them. Whatever you do as a coach, they have to show that level of character and in this tournament they were really excited. They were beautiful. They were “They were impressive. And they were very good. I loved them before, but now I respect them so much, how much they have done.” Krzyzewski is entering his 13th Final Four in a fifth decade: three in the 1980s, five in the 1990s, two in the 2000s, two in the 2010s, and now that’s the end of an unparalleled career. A victory in North Carolina on Sunday would put the biggest rivalry in the sport on the biggest stage of college basketball. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels have played 257 times in their history, but never in the NCAA Tournament. Something amazing awaits in Louisiana: either Duke will face his blood feud in a game of revenge, with Krzyzewski’s departure being in line after the UNC embarrassment at Duke’s home in K’s last home game ever or … . Good … of St. Peter. Duke against St. Peter. It would be the greatest symbolic representation of David vs. Goliath in the history of the sport. This is the other result. One of the two is incredible. Duke’s course was incredible. The mere fact that he is going to play North Carolina or the No. 1 in a Final Four is so outrageous that it borders on fiction. We will find out what our reality is soon enough. Duke’s reality moves to New Orleans in the same way. Mecca is waiting. These players are two wins away from achieving what would be one of the greatest league stories in American sports history.