Duke basketball: Coach K knows better than to mix in delicates

As Duke basketball seasons progress, those Blue Devils who prove to be grown-men fighters see far more action than the rest.

Watching from the bench on Friday night as their teammates fought off an unranked yet underrated and brash Georgetown squad, 81-73, two Blue Devils surely received one message loud and clear: Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski only trusts his toughest players during the toughest battles.

When in the midst of down-and-dirty affairs, the West Point grad has never had the patience to deal with his most delicate pieces. Therefore, after his Blue Devils trailed, 22-12, with nine minutes remaining in the first half, Krzyzewski never again threw either freshman forward Matthew Hurt or junior guard Alex O’Connell into the load.

Maybe Coach K was too hard on them both. Maybe he should have given Hurt and O’Connell a chance to correct their combined 0-for-6 shooting and seemingly soft overall play. After all, the duo only combined to play all of nine minutes.

Maybe, though, Coach K’s decision to keep the pair off the court was the key to victory. And maybe the all-time wins leader’s decision was not so much meant as a message to Hurt and O’Connell but a way to stand behind his message to his team at the half.

According to the account from Cassius Stanley — who scored a team-high 21 points and joined fellow freshmen Wendell Moore and Vernon Carey Jr. in addition to co-captains Tre Jones and Jack White in the group Coach K counted on to both start and finish the second half — with the Blue Devils in the locker room facing a 33-33 score, the 72-year-old provided some simple instructions:

"“Coach got on us and said it’s not about X’s and O’s, and it’s not even about playing hard — it’s about fight. We took the fight mentality.“They came out throwing blows, and we came out throwing blows. It was very physical and tough out there, but we played together and got the win.”"

https://twitter.com/DukeMBB/status/1198310384123465729?s=20

But playing together absent the offense of Hurt and O’Connell — the two silkiest shooters on the team — might not be quite enough to win come the second half of March.

That being said, if the two gawky toothpicks don’t find a way to bring out their inner nasty — as Moore did for the first time in a Duke basketball jersey by talking smack, in a beneficial way, on his way to six boards and a career-high 17 points — then there’s little doubt Coach K would do what’s best for his bunch by effectively relegating Hurt and O’Connell to full-time cheerleaders.

"“We’re going to continue to try to find out about ourselves,” Coach K told the media after the win, “and you find out when you play games like this.”"

So far, we’ve all yet to find out if Hurt, who came to Duke from Minnesota with a five-star rating and one-and-done hype but the inability to bench a measly 135 pounds, has what it takes to consistently do damage against grown men in the paint. Right now, he’s averaging 8.7 points as a Blue Devil, roughly 30 points less than his average as a high school senior.

However, on Tuesday at 9 p.m. against Stephen F. Austin from the friendly confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium — assuming Hurt finds his way out of Coach K’s doghouse in time — we should find out how well the 6-foot-9, 215-pound 19-year-old bounces back from what was likely the first time he has ever sat on the bench for an entire half while perfectly healthy.

"“He was down emotionally in the postgame locker room,” the News & Observer’s Stephen Wiseman wrote about Hurt in a tweet after the Georgetown game. “Jack White spent several minutes talking to him 1-on-1, doing the captain thing.“Pivotal time for Hurt.”"

Look, Hurt is not going to suddenly gain 30 pounds of muscle. But he doesn’t have to. What he might want to do, though, is search YouTube for some clips of Larry Bird, a relatively weak and unathletic dude about his same size — with similar moves, albeit far more refined — whose wizardly talents would have been all for naught had it not been for his tough-as-nails friend-to-nobody demeanor.

As for O’Connell, who may also be having a long talk with the man in the mirror at the moment, he’s been on a rollercoaster ever since arriving in Durham, flashing athletic moves and a sweet stroke one game and then boneheaded plays and Olé! defense the next. Now, as a veteran averaging only 5.8 points through Duke’s 6-0 start, it’s about time to find out if consistency will ever be in the 6-foot-6, 190-pound Georgia native’s vocabulary.

Granted, maybe this article is a little harsh. Maybe if Hurt and O’Connell come across it — or the abundance of criticism toward them floating around on Duke basketball message boards — they would get their feelings hurt.

Maybe, though, hurt feelings are exactly what Coach K is looking for right now with Hurt and O’Connell. Maybe the wise legend knows hurt is how they both need to feel for the time being in order to come out the other side as hardened grown men ready to fight in the same manner Jones, White, Carey Jr., Moore, and Stanley did on Friday night.

ALSO READ: Predicted scores for every Duke game this season

After all, as all Duke basketball fans know, even when the Blue Devils aren’t No. 1 in the polls, their opponents have circled the game on their calendars and then go for their jugulars from the tip. And in so many of these games, it’s Duke’s fight that proves more important than its talent.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham for more updates, analyses, opinions, and predictions regarding all things Duke basketball.