LBS- According to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Goodman and Dana O’Neil, Coach K called a meeting at his house Tuesday night — the day after Duke’s 84-82 home loss to NC State — and informed his players that they have been temporarily banned from using the school’s locker room.
They have also been forbidden from wearing any Blue Devils apparel around campus.“He wasn’t happy,” a source told ESPN. “Especially after the loss to NC State.” Sources told Goodman and O’Neil that Krzyzewski has instituted similar bans in the past to send a message to his players and that they will not be lifted “until they start living up to the standards of the Duke program.” The players reportedly held a players-only meeting after Coach K dismissed them from his home, and one person believes dramatic motivational tactics are not going to solve the problems of a team that has lost three of its last four games. So - in essence - some old, crippled guy who is regulated to his own couch called players over to his house only to chastise them and inconvenience their lives when they got there? With all due respect to the elderly, that sounds a lot like what my grandmother does when she guilts my dad into coming over only to make him mow the lawn, touch up the shrubs, and tell him he doesn't do enough to help upon arrival. Now granted, Grandma's coaching resume looks like the college transcript of a Duke one-and-done next to that of Coach K's, but that doesn't mean his broke-back bitching seems any less disingenuous when it's done from the La-Z-Boy he hasn't left in weeks. There's no doubt that Mike Krzyzewski is one of - if not thee - best college basketball coach to ever stand on the sidelines. Is he good enough to be making outrageous demands from the sanctity of his living room while failing to fulfill the promise he made to recruits that could have gone literally anywhere else in the country? I can't say I know for sure, but I do know that anyone that has been pushed around by an authority figure that is currently providing them no compensation - financial, intellectual, or otherwise - in return would argue "fuck no". You have a bunch of high profile prospects that chose to go play basketball in CaucasianVille, North Carolina under the pretense that they would benefit from the tutelage of a 'Hall Of Fame' coach, access to surreal facilities, and a bunch of free shit that would make them more likely to have meritless recreational sex. Instead they got some rat-faced curmudgeon ranting and raving, instituting a goddamn lock-out, and establishing a dress code all while doing absolutely nothing of note to help his struggling team. Christ, there are college football coaches setting fire to 'Letters Of Intent' hours before National Signing Day and even they are questioning Coach K's professional conduct. I'm all for using symbolic gestures to inspire a team, but how about trying a more tangible gesture first...like wheeling your ass down to Cameron Indoor and doing the job you get paid handsomely to do. Either that, or butt the fuck out until you can. P.S. And spare me with the holier than thou "standards" of the Duke program. Grayson Allen is out there grabbing, pushing, hitting, kicking, and tripping everyone he encounters like a middle child fighting desperately for his mommy's attention, but this team was only deemed punishable when they started losing? That's not called having "standards", it's called having a superiority complex.
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