Mike Krzyzewski
Mike Krzyzewski
Michael William Krzyzewskiis an American college basketball coach and former player. Since 1980, he has served as the head men's basketball coach at Duke University. At Duke, Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to five NCAA Championships, 12 Final Fours, 12 ACC regular season titles, and 13 ACC Tournament championships. Krzyzewski is also the coach of the United States men's national basketball team, whom he led to two gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics. He...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth13 February 1947
CityChicago, IL
CountryUnited States of America
Sometimes in a defeat, you can set the stage for future victory. I wanted them to feel good about what they had accomplished. Not to like losing, but to like the success that they had.
Therefore, as a player, as a coach, even though we might have lost in a season or not won a championship, it was like a self-fulfilling prophecy that I'm going to win some time. I've never felt myself a loser.
During the season, your team should be led with exuberance and excitement. You should live the journey. You should live it right. You should live it together. You should live it shared. You should try to make one another better. You should get on one another if somebody's not doing their part. You should hug one another when they are. You should be disappointed in a loss and exhilarated in a win. It's all about the journey.
Only the mediocre are always at their best. If your standards are low, it is easy to meet those standards every single day, every single year. But if your standard is to be the best, there will be days when you fall short of that goal. It is okay to not win every game. The only problem would be if you allow a loss or a failure to change your standards. Keep your standards intact, keep the bar set high, and continue to try your very best every day to meet those standards. If you do that, you can always be proud of the work that you do.
We weren't ever a dominant team. We knew that. So things had to go right for us to win.
I've always said that you want to end the season where you're cutting down the nets or you're crying in your locker room. And our kids were all crying in our locker room.
We were never a dominant team. We knew that, and things would have to go right for us to win.
Usually when you play bad, somebody makes you look bad and we didn't respond very well.
I don't feel like crying, I feel happy. Not that we lost, but I feel happy that I've had them. I mean how lucky. We have been really fortunate with this group, these seniors, to have four years like that.
Lee was aggressive, not just with his shot, but that's the best defense he's played for a while. He was there.
I love Collins; he's unflappable. For them to win, I think they needed Collins to be who Collins is and one of those other two guys have a good night. Just Collins had that night, and that's one of the reasons that we won.
We will put together a team that will represent our country on and off the court and the way the game should be played, ... It's our game and it's time to reclaim it.
We weren't as good of a team last year. That team did remarkable things - they were a remarkable team to accomplish what they did.
That's the best team we've played. They know what they're doing and they do it well. It's a big win for us.