Friday, December 19, 2008

There's never a thing you do where a message is not intended

Saw where Coach Krzyzewski went with an entirely new lineup for Wednesday night's game against UNC-Asheville (a 43-point win for the Blue Devils).

Wednesday's game was the first since Duke lost by eight at Michigan (#14 in the CBSSports.com RPI). After that loss, Coach K said Michigan "played harder than we did. There wasn't that type of energy in our group."

When asked after Wednesday's game whether the new lineup was a meant to send a message to his starters, he replied:

"There's never a thing you do where a message is not intended. It doesn't mean that something wrong happened; it was to show confidence in the kids we need. We have confidence in our bench."

One usual starter said he understood the message:

"Spots aren't really given around here. You have to earn them."