THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502120191
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
DATELINE: DURHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
This is how fortunes have changed at Duke: A visiting reporter is told not to worry when somebody forgets to reserve him a place at press row for an ACC basketball game.
``Sit wherever you like; there are plenty of open seats,'' Duke sports information director Mike Cragg informed a Virginia typist Saturday.
For the last decade, the media has scrambled for the privilege of squeezing into Cameron Indoor Stadium and stewing in their own juices. Monitoring Duke was an obligation and a pleasure, not necessarily in that order.
For Saturday's game against Wake Forest, a full house of fans, if not media, was on hand. Though some may have come out of habit, and others out of morbid curiosity, surely many in the crowd of 9,312 deeply believed Duke was the best 1-9 team in ACC history.
Now the Blue Devils may be the best 1-10 team. If you're Duke, you take your compliments where you find them.
``This stinks,'' Chris Collins, the Duke guard/cheerleader, said after the Blue Devils were beaten, 62-61, on a Randolph Childress jump shot with six seconds left.
``We play so hard,'' Collins said. ``We're right there. We make the plays to win, but then we don't win. It's been one long struggle.''
It's been the most intriguing development of the ACC season. Duke's unexpected losses, starting with coach Mike Krzyzewski to a bad back, have been more interesting than anything that's happened in an otherwise fairly predictable intramural campaign.
With Krzyzewski far from the madding crowd, having turned over his responsibilities to the overmatched Pete Gaudet, it's hardly surprising that Duke has lost a few it could have won.
What is Krzyzewski worth on the sidelines each night? Two points? Five? Ten?
``We're passed the point now where we think about Coach K,'' freshman guard Trajan Langdon said.
Maybe. Maybe not.
``I consider him the best coach in the country,'' freshman Ricky Price said. ``We'd have the ultimate advantage with him on the bench.''
How high Krzyzewski could have lifted this team is anybody's guess. Higher than the ACC basement, one presumes.
But Duke still lacks an effective point guard; three different players take turns at the position. The Blue Devils are an unbalanced team, too, with two centers and a cluster of guards, but no real forwards. This causes matchup problems on defense.
While senior Eric Meek believes that the younger players miss Krzyzewski's ``passion,'' Duke's problem against Wake Forest wasn't lack of enthusiasm, but 35 percent shooting in the second half.
This was Wake Forest's third consecutive victory over Duke at Cameron, no mean feat for Dave Odom's team.
``This,'' he said of the game, ``is what we've come to expect in February in the Atlantic Coast Conference.''
What we never expected was Duke at 1-10, or 11-12 overall. But neither does anybody anticipate the Blue Devils going quietly. There is still enough of Krzyzewski left in this team to frighten a lot of people.
``We've lost so many close games, it's frustrating,'' Meek said. ``But it makes you want to go out there and play again, because you know you're going to get one.''
In ACC play, Duke's already got one. There is no guarantee it will get another. by CNB