The Paper's reporter Hu Jie intern Luo Kaiyi
Coach K is a monument to generations of basketball people.
When Krzyzewski's name first appeared in newspapers, the editor was kind enough to attach a pronunciation guide. At that time, no one expected that this Polish surname would become a monument to American basketball in the future.
It's just that the awkward name is still a headache, so everyone will call him Coach K.
On April 3, Beijing time, with Kiers arc top three points missed, Duke University lost to North Carolina 77-81, two old rivals who had never met in "Crazy March", and after the 258th meeting, bid farewell to Mike Shashevsky, the coach who had coached Duke for 42 years.
When coach K took over the Duke coach in 1980, college basketball had not yet set an offensive time limit; when he first led Duke to the NCAA Final Four in 1986, college basketball had not yet introduced three-pointers.
In 42 years of coaching, Coach K has witnessed many changes in campus basketball and has become the history of American basketball.
Coach K, 75, ended his last coaching game.
Old K, it's going to be the finale
Duke's appearance ceremony has never changed, first Duke university players appeared, then assistant coaches, and finally the mc on the spot called out the name of the head coach.
The players have changed stubble after stubble, and the assistant coach has also been promoted and high, except for the name of head coach Mike Shashevsky, which has not changed for 42 years.
There have been some changes this season though, with coach K a bit limping on his right foot when he came out of the dressing room. This is not difficult to understand, after all, he is 75 years old.
As early as last June, Coach K had already announced that this season would be his last season in charge. So for months, Duke seemed to be preparing a farewell ceremony. The school hung two banners with the words "Tribute, The Only Old K Coach," one hanging on the front of the home Cameron Indoor Stadium and the other on Science Avenue's parking lot.
Finally, the six-month farewell ceremony came to an end after the april 3 competition. Duke and North Carolina, two schools just 10 kilometers apart, met for the first time at the NCAA Championship, and the old K coach's final dance was like a reincarnation of fate, but more like a ceremony for his 42 years of perseverance.
During his 42 years at the NCAA, he had the most wins in college basketball history, 1202; the most NCAA championship wins, 101; the NCAA Championship Final Four, 13; the second-highest NCAA championship, 5...
In 42 years, Coach K has successfully built Duke University into a basketball school. The NBA debut show from Duke University was 42 people, including Grant Hill, Carey Irving, Tatum, Zion Williamson, Ingram and other stars.
Every year during basketball season, tents are set up outside Duke University's Cameron Stadium, the only way Duke people can get into the arena to watch the ball. From the initial days of queuing up, to the weeks that followed... The longest record is that someone camped 48 days in advance just to catch a glimpse of the game.
And old K will also habitually come here, buying pizza for the "residents" outside the stadium from time to time.
"It's a really remarkable thing to see it get to where it is today." Wendy Burr, the school's director of security, lamented that his parents were Duke alumni and that he had grown up watching Duke's games.
For 42 years, Old K has been standing on the sidelines.
You don't deserve to wear a Duke jersey
Imagine what is the concept of working in the same position for 42 years?
Times are changing, basketball is changing, but in his 42-year coaching career, K is the first head coach in history to lead the team to the NCAA Final Four in 5 years.
According to him, "I never saw myself as a basketball coach, I always saw myself as a leader, and it just so happened that I was coaching basketball." ”
Coach K has a typical military style, after all, he was born in West Point, so he is more tough.
He has three dogs, all of whom have names related to Duke, one of whom is called "Defense" and the other two are called "Cameron" and "Blue".
ESPN once wrote down the details of the 2017 coach K missed some mid-season games due to back injury surgery, one of which the team lost to North Carolina, so all the players received the news that the old K came to his home to assemble.
At that time, the team's first-year player Tatum was also among them, and old K directly scolded: "You only want to go to the NBA, you get out of here." ”
When the team members left Old K's home, they received another text message asking them to come to the locker room at 6 a.m. the next day. When they got to the locker room, they found that everyone had two garbage bags in front of the cabinet, and coach K had them packed up and thrown out, and when the team members put their things back in the car, the code for the locker room door was changed.
When players want to train on the court, they can't even wear Duke's gear, only white shirts and basket shorts... Old K's move is to inspire the players to be competitive, ashamed and courageous.
Mike Klagg, former senior director of the Duke men's basketball team, also sighed: "No matter where you go, Old K will always take a notebook and take notes at will." Then the next day at work, he would give the notes he had taken the night before to the teaching assistant, every day. ”
Coach K and his wife hugged.
Human nature, old K's way of doing things
Sternness is the label of old K, who will be extremely harsh on every detail in the game. But his grasp of human nature was perhaps the most important step toward greatness.
He has a proven motivational strategy of bombarding new students and players with obvious weaknesses in training, and then sending a senior player to his room to explain why he's so angry.
"It's a regular operation of Duke basketball," former Duke player Melchione told Sports Illustrated, "you always get the absolute truth from him, maybe go back to the dorm and cry, but the next day when you go back to the court, you get better because of the crying." ”
Ryan Kadbeck, who played for the Duke men's basketball team, also said in an interview with The Athletic: "The night before the 2001 NCAA Finals, the old K gathered the players into the room and let us imagine the scene after the championship, and the staff also played a short video of the championship, and we got goosebumps. ”
And similar chicken blood routine, the old K coach played a pure fire. ESPN wrote that on the eve of a game in 2005, he showed the team the movie "Braveheart", and when the team returned to the locker room after the warm-up on the day of the game, the assistant coach played a clip of William Wallace cutting off the head of the enemy and sticking his sword into the ground.
At the moment when William Wallace inserted his sword, Coach K brandished his old saber, plunged it into a large flowerpot prepared in advance, and shouted, "Punch me!" XX's! ”
Coach K and Bryant.
Lead the Dream Team snow shame
The same trick works for college students, but not necessarily for stars.
In the 2008 Dream Team, the old K wanted to move the disciplined Duke style into the United States, so when Howard did not seriously defend in a warm-up game, he scolded mercilessly: "You must xx really care about this!" ”
But when Howard was still going his own way in the following rounds, Old K understood that the original set could not scare this group of celestial pride, so he chose to listen to the voices of the team.
When the Dream Team was formed, Coach K went to the locker room for the first time and said, "You are not a college player, I don't have any rules to say, you set the rules." ”
Old K directs Durant and Irving.
Kidd said to "start with defense", old K wrote "start from defense" on the whiteboard, James said "don't make excuses", and old K wrote "don't make excuses" on the whiteboard.
The coach, known as the "tyrant" during his college years, gave the initiative back to the stars — when rules were written on a whiteboard, the 2008 Beijing Olympics became a place of shame for the dream team.
In the 12 years since 2005, Coach K has led the American team to win 3 Olympic championships and 2 World Championships, leading the American team to a record of 88 wins and 1 loss.
Syracuse University coach Jim Bowham, who is older than Coach K, said: "He's the best player controller, he always gets players to buy in, he has the best coaching psychology skills. ”
Coach K led Curry to the Men's Basketball World Cup.
Turning away, there was glory behind him
Coach K's understanding and coaching ability in basketball has had six NBA teams hand out contracts in the hope that he will become the head coach, including the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004.
The top brass at the time wanted someone to replace Phil Jackson as Kobe's manager at his peak.
But in the face of a series of huge contracts, old K was not moved, "Helping Duke University's basketball become better is enough for me!" ”
Duke University's Basketball Hall of Fame, all three showcases belong to Old K. 12 replicas of the Final Four and Finals logos, a dazzling array of trophies, 10 retired jerseys hanging on the walls, 6 of which can be traced back to the old K.
"He doesn't have much time to do anything other than become a basketball coach Shashevsky." His wife, Mickey, told ESPN reporters.
But now, Coach K is ready to say goodbye, "We work as coaching, no matter what the project, we have to give up a lot of life time for what we have, but now I'm selfish and won't give up anything." 」 ”
On March 5, the home farewell game of K's coaching career was attended by a total of 96 former Duke players, including Grant Hill, Sean Battier, Redick and others. The venue was packed, and the highest ticket price even reached $79,988.
Also came NBA President Adam Xiaohua, a 1984 graduate of Duke University, who witnessed Duke's initial struggles to become famous all over the world.
The farewell crowd lined up in two rows, and coach K slowly walked through the middle, stepping on the home floor with the name of old K, which was his glory and glory for 42 years.
As a first-generation Polish immigrant, K's father was worried that Shaszewski's awkward pronunciation would affect the family's integration into American society, so he changed his surname "Shaszewski" to "Klaus".
Many years later, when the elder K left a strong mark in the field of college basketball, he changed the name on his father's old tombstone, the new tombstone, and "Klaus" became "Shashevsky".
Editor-in-Charge: Ascendas
Proofreader: Shi Gong