Duke's Mike Krzyzewski faces criticism from Alabama coach over comments about reassessing season
Coach K: 'In our country today, you have 2,000 deaths a day'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}University of Alabama head basketball coach Nate Oats fired shots at long-time Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski after he made comments saying that the NCAA should revisit its plan about playing the college basketball season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Oats thinks Krzyzewski made the comments because No. 10 Duke suffered consecutive losses to nonconference opponents at home. The Blue Devils lost 83-68 to No. 6 Illinois on Tuesday -- their second home loss -- and they lost to Michigan State University earlier this season.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Do you think if Coach K hadn't lost his two non-conference games at home that he would still be saying that?” Oats said at a news conference on Thursday. “We 100% should be playing basketball.”
Krzyzewski asked college basketball officials to “reassess” the college basketball season following the Blue Devils’ loss to Illinois. It was Duke’s largest non-conference home loss under the legendary head coach.
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"I would just like for the safety, the mental health and the physical health of our players and staff to assess where we're at," Krzyzewski said on Tuesday, according to ESPN. "In our country today, you have 2,000 deaths a day. You have 200,000 cases, a million and a half last week. You have people saying that the next six weeks are going to be the worst. To me, it's already pretty bad.
"On the other side of it, there are these vaccines that are coming out. People are saying that by the end of the month 20 million vaccine shots will be given. In February, another 100 million. Well, should we not reassess that and see what would be best?"