Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is willingly taking the blame for his team's recent swoon of three losses in four games.
After the Blue Devils held on to knock off ACC rival Virginia 69-65 and avoid the team's worst conference start in 18 seasons Monday night, Krzyzewski told CBSSports.com "I've had to get more observant with my team. I take responsibility, full responsibility, for those first three games."
If Krzyzewski has indeed been distracted of late it would totally understandable. His brother, William, died on Dec. 26, and since then the coach has struggled to keep his emotions in check.
In that span, Jabari Parker and company have gone 4-2, often times looking far inferior to the team that raced out to a 9-2 start and was drawing heavy consideration as a potential Final Four contender.
"I got knocked back right after Christmas," Krzyzewski told CBS. "And I've been knocked back for a few weeks. It's on me, not on my team. ... We were collectively together tonight for the first time in a couple of weeks. It was my responsibility that we weren't."
Krzyzewski later added "what we have been doing, to me, doesn't make a damn bit of difference. What we will be doing, that will be on all of us. .... The head coach is going to do a better job. We did a better job tonight. I can do better. I can do better for my team."
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