Final Four: Krzyzewski silences critics

INDIANAPOLIS — On one bench, there's Bob Huggins, a coach who has dealt with an NCAA investigation, suffered a heart attack, been arrested for DUI, endured the stain of a zero-percent graduation rate and the tumult of two contentious job changes.

On the other, there's Mike Krzyzewski, a coach making his 11th Final Four appearance who has more or less defined modern-day stability — and solid citizenship — in college sports.

So why is it Coach K who's been taking all the heat lately?

Well, such is life when you're the coach at Duke and your program — the program you built and recruited all the talent to — doesn't make the Final Four for five straight seasons.

"People expect us to always be at this stage," Blue Devils forward Lance Thomas said Friday, the last day of practice before the games begin.

Duke's return to the Final Four, where the Blue Devils (33-5) will play West Virginia in Saturday's second semifinal, has quieted a growing cadre of skeptics.

Since 2004, when the Blue Devils lost to Connecticut in the national semifinals, Krzyzewski has kept the talent coming in and won four ACC tournament and two regular-season titles. But during that span, Duke hadn't advanced past the NCAA regional semifinals until this year.

That, combined with the two national championships North Carolina has won in the same span, has certainly made it easier to criticize a program that already has its share of haters.

Naturally, job security is of no concern to Coach K, in his 30th year at Duke. He insists he's listened to very little of the critiquing outside of what the people in his own circles tell him, and the only time he, or anyone, should feel pressure is when they're in over their head.

"I think pressure is when you're asked to do something you're not capable of doing," Krzyzewski said. "So you should train and be in a position where you're capable of doing what people ask of you. And if you're continually feeling pressure, you should probably try to do something you can do."

Duke has done it this year with a very un-Duke-like combination — one that includes lots of height, starting with 7-foot-1 Brian Zoubek, plenty of rebounding and defense and nary a superstar.

The program that gave us Grant Hill, Shane Battier, Christian Laettner, Jason Williams and dozens more NBA players has produced a 2010 team with pro talent, but no lottery picks.