We’ve said it before: if you have a chance to listen to Mike Krzyzewski speak, you should take it. He’s an amazingly effective speaker.
In this case, he came in to speak to this year’s Duke team and he summed up an awful lot in 13:30 minutes.
He breaks his comments down in three main thematic categories:
- Preparation
- Next play
- Defense
He probably could have made it four and made talking the last thing. Coach K said years ago that Duke teaches three systems: offense, defense and talking.
Let’s look at those three.
Preparation is self-motivation but he also emphasizes treating people the right way, and not just teammates. Managers, trainers – everybody. He also talks about Duke having the bullseye every game and fans rushing the floor when they upset the Devils. He said sometimes he called timeouts just to let his players soak in the feeling of winning on the road.
When it comes to to Next Play, he pointed out that in football and baseball you have time between plays, but in basketball it changes immediately and you have to roll with it. There is no choice. And the best way to do that, he says, is to talk, and to talk constantly.
When it came to defense, he pointed out what we’ve all noticed: this a tall, deep and athletic team. It should be really good defensively.
After complimenting their talk, he said this, which was an interesting comment: “ You know what you’re not yet? Not wide. If you’re not talking you’re not wide.“
His point was hands go down if you don’t talk.
He closed out with three wishes: first, that Duke be the best defensive team in the country. Second, that Duke is the best talking team in the country. And third, that they are the most prepared team in the country.
We weren’t in the room, but our guess is the guys who were left feeling pretty damn amped.
