Understanding defeat

43-point loss helped fuel Krzyzewski's winning tradition

RON GREEN JR.

rgreenjr@charlotteobserver.com

OBSERVER FILE PHOTO

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, pictured above preparing for the 1983 ACC tournament in Atlanta, says the tournament loss to Virginia was a defining moment for his program. “It was one of the most important nights of my time here at Duke,” Krzyzewski said.

It was a rainy night in Georgia, well past midnight, and Mike Krzyzewski's third season as Duke basketball coach had ended a few hours earlier with a humiliating 109-66 loss to second-ranked Virginia in the first round of the 1983 ACC tournament in Atlanta.

A team that included Johnny Dawkins, Jay Bilas and Mark Alarie had lost at home to Wagner and finished 11-17. There were whispers about whether Duke had hired the right man when it pulled the unknown Krzyzewski from Army.

The team's hotel was nowhere for Krzyzewski to be that evening.

"I remember walking out and people were looking at you like you were a leper, whispering and all that," Krzyzewski says a Hall of Fame career later.

"I was angry."

Friends John Feinstein and Keith Drum took Krzyzewski to a Denny's where they met Tom Mickle and Johnny Moore of the Duke sports information department.

When they sat down, Moore jokingly pulled the knives off the table.

"It's not that serious," Krzyzewski said.

When the waitress set water glasses on the table, Mickle lifted his to make a toast and said, "Here's to forgetting tonight."

Then Krzyzewski lifted his glass.

"As only he could say it, Mike said, `Here's to never forgetting tonight,' " Feinstein said.

And Krzyzewski never has.

"It was one of the most important nights of my time here at Duke," Krzyzewski said.

He believed he was on the verge of making Duke successful again. He was frustrated by the won-lost record but resolute in his conviction that he had the program on the proper path.

Krzyzewski had the support of Duke President Terry Sanford and athletics director Tom Butters. The others, particularly some Iron Dukes (major supporters), he couldn't be sure about.

"I was in my 30s and might have been naive, but I believed in Tom Butters and President Sanford," Krzyzewski said. "They never ever led me to believe I was in any trouble. However, it helped me define my relationship with people, fair-weather people.

"It made me angry that people weren't supportive. It made me want to surround our program with only solid people.

"I had this young group of kids who ... I knew would be good and set the foundation. A lot of times people don't understand when foundations are being built. They think it only comes when somebody wins. Most of the time it's through hard work and persistence that good foundations are developed."

When practice began the following season, the Cameron Indoor Stadium scoreboard read, 109-66.

"You have to understand defeat. Why. How it felt ... all those things in order to keep winning," Krzyzewski said. "If you don't understand, you'll keep revisiting it."

Six years later during an NCAA tournament news conference, a reporter asked Krzyzewski a question about his relationship with his players.

"The guy started it by saying, `At the risk of embarrassing you ...' " Feinstein said. "Mike cut him off and said, `I once lost a game 109-66. I doubt if anything can embarrass me more than that."

Twenty-five years later, the memory of that rainy night in Georgia remains with Krzyzewski.

"Defining moments are not necessarily wins," he said. "Defining moments are when you make a commitment or renew that commitment. That night I was more deeply committed to being successful and I said that. We're never going to forget that."