Wow, It Sounds Like Duke Were Real Sore Losers About Losing So Bad Last Night
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Well, Duke got waxed last night by 14 points in its Sweet 16 game against Oregon. And wouldn't you know it—this season's Blue Devils team, whose coach complained in February that it wasn't fair that his most infamous player got lightly "reprimanded" for intentionally tripping opponents, ended its year with said coach and player acting like drips.
First, the player—Grayson Allen—walked away from Oregon's Dillon Brooks as Brooks went in for a postgame handshake/hug.
Rude. When someone whomps you by 14 points, the right thing to do is shake their hand and say, "Good game. Duke was not the better team today, despite the many institutional advantages that its basketball program holds over Oregon's, which, all considered, makes this quite a humiliating loss."
Then Coach K apparently complained to Brooks about the Oregon player's supposed showboating. From ESPN:
Oregon's Dillon Brooks said Krzyzewski told him that he's "too good of a player to be showing off at the end," after the sophomore hit a 3-pointer near halfcourt when the Ducks had an 11-point lead with 10 seconds to play. Brooks said he told Duke's coach that he was right.
Coach K denies that he made such a statement.
"I didn't say that," Krzyzewski said after the game. "You can say whatever you want. Dillon Brooks is a hell of a player. I said, 'You're a terrific player.' And you can take whatever he said and then go with it, all right?"
But look at the video of the handshake line. It appears to show Brooks saying "my bad" and adopting contrite/apologetic body language after speaking with Krzyzewski for several seconds, which tends to support Brooks' version of events rather than Coach K's.
Regardless, Brooks shouldn't have had to apologize for anything: He took the three-pointer because the shot clock was running out. If you think this is showboating, we have different definitions of "showboating":
Under the circumstances, that's pretty restrained, no?
Either way, one thing is for certain: Duke lost.