You define a season by what's happened throughout the whole season. You don't define a season with one game or one minute of a game. When the sting of tonight eventually eases up a little bit, do you think your lasting memory of this final tournament will be what your kids gave you in those final five minutes against Michigan State?ĬOACH KRZYZEWSKI: Or throughout the tournament, I think. They weren't good, they were really good. But my relationships with them will always be there. And we'll be able to move on as a program. And obviously, we're concerned about all their futures and making sure that we give them good guidance and advice and support in how we move forward.Īnd they know that I'll always be with them. Is there another message or certain message that you would give the players, with your exit, and the fact what happened tonight?ĬOACH KRZYZEWSKI: At some time. Coach, you always talk about the next play, on to the next play. But tonight we still made some plays but not enough - but not enough. And in the last three ball games before this one, these guys made unbelievable plays right after one another to put us in this position. And I'm sure at some time I'll deal with this in my own way.īut for right now we need to deal with our family. What is your perspective on all that, and how do you keep your emotions in check right now?ĬOACH KRZYZEWSKI: I think when you have three daughters, 10 grandchildren and you've been through quite a bit, you're used to taking care of the emotions of the people you love and that you're responsible for. You have your perspective obviously that they don't have. You talked about the tears for them, but you're obviously dry-eyed right now. And they turned it around in March where they've been beautiful young men to coach. So every day - we had a few bumps in the road, but they won 32 games. And I got a group, they're young, but I think they've got a chance.Īnd I was right about that. We made our announcement it would be our last year - I told my wife, Mickie, look, we're going for it. Could you talk about what it's meant to you to make this magical run with these guys?ĬOACH KRZYZEWSKI: For these guys, they've been a joy. They put a lot of pressure on you offensively.ĬOACH KRZYZEWSKI: I'm not thinking about my career right now. You have a one-point lead, if you can get a stop. It was disjointed, which games like that can be, but I think it met up to that level.Īnd I'm proud of my guys. I mean, the crowd was standing most of the game, I think. Those kids from both teams played their hearts out. Can you put this game into perspective since it had never been played until tonight?ĬOACH KRZYZEWSKI: I think it reached a level that you would expect. You've been on the tournament stage, 100 tournament games. You might be one of the few people who might have seen or remember Houston-UCLA in '68. RECAP: North Carolina defeats Duke, hands Coach K loss in last game at Final Four And we've won 32 games and two championships together. But it's a sight that I really respect and makes me understand just how good this group was.Īnd that's what I'm concerned - I don't want any of these guys to leave and say, I should have made that one free throw I should have made that one - we win and we lose together. And I mean that's the only thing you can think about.Īnd then going into the locker room, I've said my entire career - or when I knew what the hell I was doing - that I wanted my seasons to end where my team was either crying tears of joy or tears of sorrow because then you knew that they gave everything.Īnd I had a locker room filled with guys who were crying. I mean, they're already crying on the court. As a coach, I'm just concerned about these guys. What were your emotions when you were walking off the court for the last time?ĬOACH KRZYZEWSKI: It's not about me, especially right now. And they've been just a joy for me to coach. And they made a couple more plays than we did. And they've been an amazing group for me. We would have liked to have been on the other side of it, but I'm proud of what my guys have done. I mean, it was a game that the winner was going to be joyous and the loser was going to be in agony. Hubert and his staff and those kids have done a heck of a job. COACH KRZYZEWSKI: First of all, congratulations to North Carolina.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |