GREENVILLE, S.C. — Mike Krzyzewski expressed few complaints about his team’s performance following Duke’s 78-61 victory against Cal State Fullerton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament here on Friday. He had some things to say, though, about the conditions of the court and the pregame environment at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
For one thing, he didn’t like the sight of an empty arena while the Blue Devils and Titans warmed up about 30 minutes before tip-off. The building had been cleared after Miami’s victory against USC so that workers could clean it and prepare it for the night session, but spectators were not allowed back inside until well after 6 p.m.
It made for a sterile environment during warm-ups, without fans or bands, and didn’t allow the teams a chance to establish familiarity with the sort of scene in which they’d be playing. Eventually the crowd reached capacity in the first half of the Blue Devils’ victory.
“There was no crowd when guys were warming up,” Krzyzewski said, unprompted, near the start of his postgame press conference. “... If there’s some way in the future they can change that because these kids from both teams need to go out on the court and have band, crowd and whatever.
“They shouldn’t have empty seats, and that’s for both teams.”
For Krzyzewski, though, the more pressing problem was the court itself. Players from both teams had difficulty gaining traction at times, and during play stoppages Duke’s managers often ran onto the floor, towels in hand, to clear away slick spots.
The conditions drew the ire of Krzyzewski, who was especially concerned to see Wendell Moore, Jr. fall multiple times.
“That damn floor was slippery,” Krzyzewski said. “I mean, on both ends. So I don’t know what that was. I know it wasn’t the shoes. Nike called me and wanted me to make sure I didn’t say it was the shoes.”
Later, he asked if the court slickness had been a feature of the earlier games here. Told that it had been, Krzyzewski said, “Well then somebody should look at it. That’s not good. ... I’m concerned that hopefully nothing serious is with Wendell. Your season’s over because of a slippery floor, that’s not very good.
“Actually, Paolo (Banchero) said he slipped running out for warmups where our bench was, when most of the slipperiness was on the other side. But he said it was on this side also.”
