In the End Coach K Will Always Be Coach K

I figured I was done talking about Duke after I stated that they would win the title no matter what. I am glad to say that I am wrong. I have to eat a lot of crow on this site, but this time it doesn't taste as bad as it usually does. I loathe Duke. I love to hate them and hate on them. I have never ever liked that school, the majority of their star players and, obviously, their head coach.

Which leads me to my point today. I was so, so, so happy that UNC beat Duke Saturday night. It ruled. I was so happy that I was wrong. I was stoked to see UNC not only beat Coach K in his last game in Cameron, but even more happy to see them beat Duke in the tourney, and end Coach K's career without another title. It was akin, I kid you not, for me, when Michigan beat the university of Ohio State in football this year after Ryan Day said he was going to hang 100 points on them. I was almost as excited by what UNC did.

Yet that still did not stop Coach K from revealing the slimy asshole he has always been and will be until the day he passes. He, during a presser on his last game as a head coach in college basketball, managed to throw an 18 year old under the bus. He still found the time to blame someone else for a loss. He may have said some nonsense about how "other factors led to us being beat tonight", but that does not change the fact that he did not take any blame for his much, much better team getting beat in a game where they had the refs, most of the media and a good amount of fans on their side. A player on his team, a freshman, who has had a really good year by the way, missed two late free throws. That stinks. I did feel bad for the kid afterward. That is not something anyone that has ever played basketball wants it to go down. You dream of being the hero, not the goat. But, even at the lowest level of basketball, you never expect your coach, on live TV with millions upon millions of people watching, to openly blame you for the loss. That is just unspeakable petty. I would have lost my goddamn mind if I was that kid. That kid came to play for Coach K when he could have gone anywhere. He did everything that was asked of him. He probably put in as much extra effort as anyone else on the team. I'm sure he gave it his all. And what thanks does he get from the "might Coach K"? He gets completely and utterly run over by a bus followed by a mack truck ending with a semi rolled over him.

Again, how petty does Coach K have to truly be? I mean deep down, what is this soulless person really like behind closed doors? But it just shows who he really is to people who do not know him. I have never liked the guy, and this only reaffirmed my dislike. It is about as classless as one can be. He even said some garbage about how "this was all for the team" and he "really loves and cares about these kids". Well, he may love and care about a few of them, but not the kid who tried really hard to make some free throws and came up a bit short unfortunately.

I do now get it now why he wouldn't have been able to hack it in the NBA. I understand why he stayed at Duke and never gave it a real try with the pros. You can tell me he coached Team USA, but he was a figurehead coaching a bunch of super duper stars, just like he had done at Duke. If he had tried, like really tried for an NBA job, it would have been similar to Rick Pitino and John Calipari. Hell, he may have been closer to John Beilien. But, truly, he is a less successful Nick Saban. Saban could not hack it in the NFL and cowardly left Miami without telling any of his players for Alabama. And he has turned into the greatest college football coach of all time. But a vast majority of people despise Saban. That is Coach K, minus the trying at the highest level. And he is not nearly as dominant in basketball as Saban is in football.

Coach K is a bum. I'm so happy he is retired. I am so happy UNC beat him again. I'm so glad that, even with all the extra help, he still could not get it done. And I am incredibly disappointed, but not at all surprised that he would blame an 18 year old for the defeat. That is the man that he really is. Inside and out.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Duke is Going to Win and That Makes Me Sick

I'd really like to do a deep dive into the men's final four today. I would love to break down each team, give reasons as to why I think each could win, what it would take for some upsets, how we got to where we are today and why I think Kansas should be the odds on favorite. I wish that were the case. I wish it were that easy. It is not that easy.

After another weekend of watching games and listening to talking heads and seeing how everything is being called, I think we all know what the outcome is going to be. I mean, CBS, the NCAA, the powers that be in men's college basketball, and a big chunk of the viewing audience wants to see Coach K and Duke win it all. It is his last season. He has been doing a season-long curtain call. The moment he announced he was retiring at the end of this season, I think we all could have foreseen what was going to come. Add on the fact that Duke has yet another great group of five star players on the team, it seems to be a foregone conclusion that they are going to win it all this year.

Also they have the refs completely in their pocket. It is more clear this tournament than in any previous tournament. I watched the Duke-Texas Tech game. I saw Tech jump out to a big double digit lead, only to see it fall off after Duke got every call they could ever want. When that game ended Duke had shot 18 free throws to Tech's 8. So do not tell me that the refs are not doing what they can to make sure Coach K gets this chip. And just doing a bit of a dive on the free throw disparity for Duke, they shot 18 to Arkansas' 11. Against Michigan State, Duke had 21 free throw attempts to MSU's 12. Round 1 was the only close one, Duke had 9 to Cal State Fullerton's 8, but that game was done long before the refs needed to get involved. For those of you doing some quick math, Duke has shot 66 free throws. Their opponents have shot 29. They have double the attempts. I do not care what anyone says, that helps Duke way, way more than their opponents. We also have video evidence of Coach K yukking it up with officials on the sideline and the refs are right there laughing with him. They could not be more overt with their showing of love towards him.

Regardless of what you hear all the time, Coach K is not some kind of pillar of college sports. I have said many times he is a more successful John Calipari. He is just as smarmy and gross. He is a salesman. He is doing things under the table. He chides other teams players when Duke gets beat. He constantly gripes. He, for sure, gave Zion Williamson a good chunk of money to go to Duke. He griped about "one and done", and they became the master of "one and done". I loathe Coach K. And I know that I am not alone. Duke is a great college basketball team, but they are also so easy to root against. They are the Yankees and Patriots of men's college basketball. No one takes anyone that lives outside of North Carolina seriously if they say they are a Duke fan. I know a TON of people who claim to be Duke fans, but only one, a former neighbor of mine, is a true Duke fan. The rest are bandwagon fans. My son is the definition of a Duke fan. He did not care one bit about basketball a year ago. Now he is fully in, and he loves Duke. That is because every time he watches a game all the talking heads talk about what a "great program" they have and how "Coach K is a molder of young men". It drives me nuts. And you better believe I have let my son know how much I despise Duke.

With all this being said, and me going full vitriol and anger this morning, this is my men's final four preview. Duke will win. They will win with ease. If they are ever down in crunch time, the refs and the NCAA will find a way to make it look like they are making a "miraculous" comeback. The tournament is a TV show. Don't forget that. And if this TV show can get Duke to win it all in Coach K's final year, you better damn well believe they will pull out all the stops to make sure that is what will happen. So good job to Villanova, Kansas and UNC for getting this far. But Duke is going to win. I just feel it in my bones.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Thoughts on The Celtics and Coach K

Two big thinks happened in the world of basketball today, and I’m here with my opinion on both. First we will tackle the whole Boston Celtics.

This is an absolute mess in my opinion. When I read the headlines this morning I had to look at it multiple times before I believed it. For those who may not know, Danny Ainge stepped down and Brad Stevens took his place. Stevens did step down as head coach as well. So what we have is Stevens taking over in player personnel and team decisions, and Ainge waking away before being let go.

That is insane on its own. For years and years all us NBA fans heard was how great of a negotiator and mastermind Ainge was for the Celtics. He acquired picks, he took chances on middling stars, he took the right players in the draft and he was always “one move away from making the Celtics a perennial title contender”. It was becoming too much. Also, he never did much at the trade deadline. He did make good moves and picks. I’ll give him that. He got Kyrie when he wanted out of Cleveland. He drafted Tatum when he could’ve traded up for Markelle Fultz. He took a chance on Isaiah Thomas as a scoring machine. He picked Marcus Smart for his defense. And he gave Jaylen Brown a much deserved Max contract. But he also had his share of crappy decisions. He’s drafted players like Romeo Langford and Robert Williams in the lottery. They’re fine players, but not title contending contributors. He traded for Evan Fournier this season. He should’ve done that three years ago. He gave Tristan Thompson a two year guaranteed deal. He gave Gordon Hayward a super max. He cold blooded traded Thomas after his best season. He has as many mistakes as good decisions. But just biggest whiff was never trading for a legit superstar. Kyrie wanted out in two years. Gordon Hayward is off injured and overrated. He could’ve gotten a player like Victor Oladipo. Anthony Davis was a possibility. When KD left OKC, Boston was up there. But none of those guys wanted to play there, or they couldn’t wait to get out. That Nets trade, the one with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and all the picks, that was so long ago that no one, except NBA nerds like me, truly remember how big a deal it was. That’s because Ainge essentially wasted it.

Now Ainge is out and Brad Stevens is in. This move is like the two Spidermen pointing at one another. They’re essentially the same person. At least Ainge had experience. Stevens is going in cold with a talented young roster. And I think he’s going to waste that talent. He’s going to go after players he coached at Butler, or players he coached against that fit his idea of a good team. That stinks for guys like Tatum, Smart and Brown. Their prime is being wasted. They’re playing with a scrap heap players. Kemba is old and creaky, Thompson is a dinosaur, Payton Pritchard is a late first round “hustle” guy and Romeo Langford doesn’t seem to have the goods. The only other player worth a damn right now looks to be Aaron Nesmith, and he’s a young rookie. Stevens will also be heavily involved in the new head coach decision. I don’t like that at all. I think he will make an unpopular choice, and probably pass on a better candidate because he’s too close to the situation. He won’t be able to flip the switch as quickly as the Celtics will want, and that will hinder this team. This whole situation is messed up, and I think it will only get worse before he gets better. If I were Tatum and Brown, I’d be making plans to find a new team.

The other big news was Coach K’s decision to retire at the end of the 21-22 NCAA basketball season. I think there is so much more to this than him just being “done”. The dude is a good coach. I cannot stand him. I’ve never, ever liked him. I am a true hater of Duke men’s basketball, and Coach K is the main reason. But his resume is stacked. He has five titles, twelve final four appearances and he’s the winningest men’s college basketball coach. The dude has done it all at the college level. But there’s the news, that gets louder and louder everyday, that maybe Zion and other top rated recruits to come through Duke got some improper benefits. It’s becoming so common that I think it’s pretty much true. In college basketball today you cannot win without some kind of cheating, and I think Coach K and Duke were/are doing just that, and they’re on the precipice of being caught. So with him leaving, I think it will “soften” any restrictions future Duke teams may get. He’s pulling a Pete Carroll when he left USC for the NFL. I also think he was never up to the task of coaching in the NBA. Sure he coached team USA, but that’s a group of twelve super stars with the best assistant coaches in basketball. I don’t think he had the nerve to take over an NBA team with one or no stars. He didn’t want the challenge of building a team. I also think he would’ve been baffled when the best talent wouldn’t come play for him simply because he’s Coach K. That would’ve thrown him off. He had his pick of the litter in college. It’s not like that in the pros, and I don’t think he would’ve liked that. I think he saw what happened to Nick Saban in the NFL, and he didn’t want that. Saban is a great college football coach, but he was a disaster in the NFL. I think Coach K monitored that whole situation and decided he was going to stick in college. It’s kind of sad we never saw him coach basketball at the highest level. So I do not think he is retiring because he’s older and tired or whatever was said in his release to the media. I think that’s part of it, but I also think there’s other factors to his decision.

Long story short, this has been a wild day for basketball. That’s for sure.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Will the Zion Allegations Finally Shine a Light on the Real Coach K?

Well maybe we will finally see Duke get some kind of sanctions handed down to their men's basketball team.

In a report that came out two days ago, it appears that Zion Williamson "received gifts and benefits from people at Duke to attend the university". Now, this type of stuff happens all the time in college sports, especially in basketball. This happened at Michigan with the Fab Five. Louisville got a slap on the wrist for similar stuff. I am almost positive LSU will get into a same type of legal situation. Kansas is going to get absolutely hammered by the NCAA when the FBI investigation is done, at least I think they will. And now we have this Zion situation at Duke.

Look, I have said it on this site, on the pod, to friends and family that will humor me, Coach K is no different than any of the other coaches accused of this, most notably John Calipari, but he has some weird pull over the media. ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, they never, ever say anything bad about him when they are almost too eager to attack other coaches and programs. They all talk about how "clean" of a program he runs. But, when you constantly get the top prospects every year, there is something fishy about that. With the Fab Five, it happened once and Michigan got everything taken away from that era. When Calipari left UMASS and Memphis, they were hit with sanctions. LSU will get crushed soon because why on Earth would Ben Simmons choose to go play his one year of college basketball there, I will never know. If you continue to cheat, one day you will get caught. I am a firm believer in karma, and at some point, if you do some underhanded bull shit, the powers that be will catch you.

Now, I am curious to see how the NCAA handles this. I get the feeling it will be kind of like what they did to Penn State football and now Michigan State. I fear they will try and sweep it under the rug. The NCAA doesn't want a stain on the guy they always promote as "being a molder of young men", a guy that "runs a clean program", a guy they claim to be "more of a teacher than a coach". The NCAA loves Duke, but more importantly, they ADORE Coach K. I feel like they will protect him at all cost. I honestly believe they will throw Zion, and any other top prospect he has recruited, under the bus before they say a bad word about Coach K. To me, that is because the NCAA is corrupt, and they care more about these coaches that makes millions upon millions of dollars for themselves and their schools and their product, than they do about these kids. The thing is, these kids are the ones bringing in all the money. No one, and I mean NO ONE goes to Duke games to watch Mike Krzyewski coach. You really think all those people at the Duke-UNC game two years ago went to see him and Roy Williams game plan?! Get out of here with that nonsense. They were all there to see Zion. I tuned in from my home to watch two teams I could care less about because of Zion.

So that begs the question, do I think Zion took money, or he and his family asked for money, or someone they trust asked for money and other stuff for him to attend Duke? Absolutely I do. Which may lead you to ask me if I think Zion should get in trouble? Not at all. I don't think Zion or Chris Webber or Ben Simmons or Derrick Rose or Marcus Camby or any other kid that has asked for something should be punished. They bring in money to those school hand over foot, which then allows those schools to pay coaches millions of dollars, and make millions more on merchandising kids that don't see a dime off stuff with their likeness on it. And Coach K isn't immune to this. He is just as guilty as any other coach that has gotten their names dragged through the mud for doing the same. The fact that Zion is going to be disposed, and asked to answer questions about this under oath could be a major blow to Coach K's image. Either way Zion is going to reveal some truths we all know and have kind of let go, or he is going to be pressured to lie, under oath, so Coach K won't have his image tarnished. To me, it doesn't matter, Coach K's image was shot when he decided he needed to be part of the "one and done" recruiting, if not before then. Look, I know KU hasn't been charged with anything yet, but believe me when I say that I don't look at Bill Self and see a solid coach. When I see him, I see a guy that will cheat to get top flight players. I see the same thing will John Calipari. Hell, even with Tom Izzo. But at least those guys aren't trying to hide it. They may not out and out say it, but we know they know we know. That's just facts.

All in all, I hope Zion goes in there, tells the truth and Coach K is left to answer. Because if he gets away with this, I will have lost what teeny tiny little sliver of respect I may still have for the NCAA. Coach K has done some underhanded stuff, and I hope he gets his comeuppance.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.