Tudor's take: Krzyzewski advocates for coaches

INDIANAPOLIS -- Back when, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski often used the Final Four platform to advance theories on how the NCAA might improve college basketball.

Of late, that’s not been the case. Throughout the ACC and NCAA tournaments this March and April, Krzyzewski has been asked questions about the rules, national policies and game organization.

He’s rarely made strong statements on any of those topics - an indication that he wants to be as focused on winning a championship as his players seem to be.But Friday, Krzyzewski did steer into philosophy while talking about how the 2010 Final Four teams are more team oriented than some of the past few fields.

“It can take time to become a real team,” Krzyzewski said. “That’s one thing we don’t pay enough attention to. Why is it that the rules don’t allow coaches to have time to work with players and teach them from April to September? To me, that makes no sense.

“Suppose my daughter’s a piano player who wants to get as good at it as she can. Would I go to her and say, ‘You’re doing fine, but from April until September, you can’t have a piano teacher.’ But in some other country, the kids would be allowed to practice with their teachers year-round.”

- Caulton Tudor, Staff columnist