Pitt/Duke lovefest ends when the game starts
Coach K
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski professed great love for Pitt coach Jeff Capel after his team’s 79-64 victory Tuesday night at Petersen Events Center.
Not surprising since Capel started for Krzyzewski for four years at Duke and was his trusted assistant coach for the past seven.
But there are limits to his affection.
“Jeff is part of our family and I’m part of his,” Krzyzewski said, getting ready to launch into a lesson on love for the assembled media. “I love him and (Capel’s wife) Kanika and their kids.
“It was tough (competing against Capel) before (the game), and now it’s tough after because one of us lost.
“Still, I’d rather have him lose. I love him, but I love us a little bit more. I know that’s the selfish kind of love, I guess.
“Unless, you love yourself you can’t love anyone else. Let me put it that way. I love the hell out of him.”
After the laughter from the audience faded, Krzyzewski said the love for his former pupil gets extinguished when the game starts.
“For me once, the game starts I don’t look at the other bench,” he said. “My responsibility is to my guys. There is no emotion in any way except the emotion of winning. I’m good with that. I’m really good with that.
“You think he’s thinking of me during the game? Or, taking out his wallet, or in his inside pocket he has a picture of me or something like that? He’s not doing that.
“Look, we’re both competitors. Our job is our team. Not to have emotion of playing against one another. That comes before and after.”
Capel said he was happy to see his mentor, but during the game, his eyes were stuck on what was happening on the court.
Capel said, however, that walking onto the court before the game was “surreal,” knowing he was going to a bench not labeled Duke.
“It was different. It was my alma mater,” he said. “It’s a place that I love. It’s people I love on that bench. It’s a coach that means the world to me, a man who means the world to me. “I miss him. I miss the daily interactions, the talks, the constant communications about basketball and life and leadership and all those different things.”
Capel and Krzyzewski shared a moment in the handshake line after the game, but Capel said their words will remain private.
Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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