SAN FRANCISCO — Forty-two years in, finally a first in Mike Krzyzewski’s year of lasts. Everything he had done, all of the trophies polished and banners hung and awards moldering away on shelves in his office, and there was still new territory to be explored. To be, finally, conquered.
And it took not only everything Duke had to do it, but everything Krzyzewski probably didn’t know he had, too — going against everything that built Duke into the program it is now by going zone in the second half, then turning agency over to his players when they said they wanted to go back to man-to-man in the late stages.
Krzyzewski’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win in the Pacific time zone was really not all that surprising a first, given the lack of opportunity. But Duke players talking Krzyzewski out of playing zone? An absolutely shocking first.
