Dick Vitale Must Double as Coach K's Publicist

By Have Jumpshot Will Travel (a.k.a. Trashtalk Superstar)

After watching an early edition of ESPN's Sports Center Friday night (the first time I've seen SC all year-basketball games are the only TV that I watch), I think I can probably make the following declaration: I may have finally "seen it all."

When asked about Duke's first round NCAA Tournament upset loss to Virginia Commonwealth, Dick Vitale said that the loss wasn't actually disappointing for Duke. He said that, given the dearth of talent on this Duke team, it was simply amazing that they were able to get to the NCAA Tournament in the first place. He said that Mike Krzyzewski turned in the best coaching job of his career this season. In his ridiculous attempt at spin, Vitale argued that with the cupboard bare, Coach K somehow managed- against all odds - to corral this motley assortment of scrubs into into a competitive unit. With the wind at their backs and the gods looking after them, those poor, underdog Blue Devils were able to scrape by- pulling out just enough miracle wins over far superior teams to will their way into the Tournament.

There are so many problems with this picture that I simply don't have time to delve into them all. However, I just can't let Vitale make such a statement without calling him out.

Dick Vitale picked Duke to reach the Sweet Sixteen in his Tournament bracket. He reiterated that prediction two days ago. Just this Wednesday, Vitale went on Jim Rome's nationally syndicated radio show and said that Duke was a good team and that they would make a run in the Tournament. He couldn't "go against Coach K, baby!" In two days, Vitale has gone from telling people not to underestimate Duke, to proclaiming the Devils to be an inferior team that overachieved more than any other team ever has, in all of recorded history.

Sound familiar? It should. College basketball fans may recall that last season, after Duke's disappointing showing in the NCAA Tournament, Vitale opined that Krzyzewski had done the best coaching job of his career by taking a team so devoid of talent as far as he did. That was simply preposterous. Duke had eight McDonald's All Americans on its roster. Two Duke players were selected in the first round of the NBA draft (Shelden Williams and J.J. Redick, who Vitale insisted was the best shooter in college basketball last year, and maybe ever).

Man! Poor lil' Coach K is doing it with smoke and mirrors these days.

Not to worry, Dukies. Vitale jubilantly pointed to Duke's outstanding recruiting class for 2007. He told the Sports Center audience that the Devils will get right back to kickin' ass and takin' names in '08. Help is on the way! Duke has some serious studs coming in! The Dukies will be back at the top next year, baby!

Sound familiar? It should. Again, Vitale said exactly the same thing last year. Hey, how could Mike Krzyzewski be expected win Tournament games with overachievers like Williams and Redick? Once Duke replaced that dead weight with incoming super freshmen such as Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer, Vitale pleaded, they would be right back on top of college basketball in '07. Baby!

M'kay.

Vitale would have college basketball fans believe that some scrawny white boy named Kyle Singler is going to step on campus next year, and -as a skinny, goofy looking freshman- lead Duke back to the promised land. Naw, Dickie V, you're not putting undue pressure on a kid who"s still in high school. Kyle Singler already has enough to stress about: graduation, whom to take to Prom, what to do after Prom, etc. Now he's got to figure out how to single-handedly lead Duke back to the Final Four next year.

Just as Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson were going to lead Duke back to the Final Four - as skinny freshmen- this year.

Just as Greg Paulus was supposed to do -as a skinny freshman- last year.

Look, I respect Dick Vitale. Since he joined ESPN over twenty five years ago, nobody has done more to promote the game of college basketball. Vitale's energy and enthusiasm are contagious. He brings life to any broadcast that he does. However, Dick Vitale has little, if any, credibility on this one.

College basketball teams typically succeed when experienced upper class men are the core of the team. Freshmen can be great, but even the best freshmen need to have good upper class men around them to succeed at the highest level. True, some freshmen have led their teams to Final Fours (Carmello Anthony led Syracuse to the National Championship in 2003, the Fab Five took Michigan to the Final Four in 1992), but, more often than not, experienced talent is what wins in college hoops. Carmello Anthony and the Fab Five were the exception, rather than the rule. It takes time for kids to mature into a great college basketball players. It's just not realistic to expect a freshman to step onto campus and turn a basketball program around by himself.

Dick Vitale should know this. He was a successful college and NBA coach. He knows the game inside and out. But, for as much as Vitale has done to promote college basketball, he has done more (over the last ten years) to promote Duke. He is a personal friend of Mike Krzyzewski's. His daughters are Duke alumni. Duke is very close to Dick Vitale's heart. Vitale is simply not credible when discussing Duke basketball.

That's okay. College basketball fans know that Dick Vitale has unconditional love for Duke basketball. Heck, his nickname is Dukie V. But Vitale was really, really, really reaching when he said that this was the best coaching of Mike Krzyzewski' s career.