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Alabama coach Nate Oats has questions for Coach K and his concern with playing the college basketball season
Duke's Coach K has doubts over if the college basketball season should continue, but Oats wonders about his motives
Kyle Boone
By Kyle Boone
Earlier this week, the most influential coach in college basketball, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, raised the question of whether the season should even be continuing amid the worsening pandemic. His concerns, made a few days before Duke canceled its remaining nonconference schedule, were well-rooted and well-reasoned: The U.S. on Wednesday experienced more than 3,000 deaths in a 24-hour period, and disruptions in the sports calendar have been a mainstay, especially in college basketball since the season began two weeks ago.
But Alabama coach Nate Oats on Thursday questioned Krzyzewski's sincerity of those concerns in a press conference, saying, "We should 100% be playing basketball," while adding that Duke's slow start to the season may have had something to do with the Hall of Famer expressing his concerns.
"Do you think if Coach K hadn't lost the two nonconference games at home he'd still be saying that?" Oats asked reporters. "I think we'd have a whole lot more problems if we weren't playing games."
Duke is 2-2 on the season after taking losses at home to Michigan State and Illinois in December, its worst start to a season in more than two decades. But Krzyzewski's concerns of pushing forward are related not just to the overall health of players and staffers, as he said earlier this week, but also the planning of the season and how it may unfold.
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"We're just plowing through this," Krzyzewski said via ESPN.com. "People are saying 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. By the end of the month, 20 million vaccine shots will be given. By the end of January or in February, another 100 million. Should we not reassess that? See just what would be best?"
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As for Oats, who has contracted and already recovered from COVID-19, he feels it should be full-steam ahead.
"Like, what are these guys gonna do? I've got three daughters, they need to be in school," Oats said. "Humans aren't made to sit alone in isolation for weeks and weeks on end. We gotta be careful on how we do life, but you still gotta do life. A huge part of life for these guys that I'm coaching is being in the gym playing basketball."
Alabama coach Nate Oats has questions for Coach K and his concern with playing the college basketball season
Duke's Coach K has doubts over if the college basketball season should continue, but Oats wonders about his motives
Kyle Boone
By Kyle Boone
Earlier this week, the most influential coach in college basketball, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, raised the question of whether the season should even be continuing amid the worsening pandemic. His concerns, made a few days before Duke canceled its remaining nonconference schedule, were well-rooted and well-reasoned: The U.S. on Wednesday experienced more than 3,000 deaths in a 24-hour period, and disruptions in the sports calendar have been a mainstay, especially in college basketball since the season began two weeks ago.
But Alabama coach Nate Oats on Thursday questioned Krzyzewski's sincerity of those concerns in a press conference, saying, "We should 100% be playing basketball," while adding that Duke's slow start to the season may have had something to do with the Hall of Famer expressing his concerns.
"Do you think if Coach K hadn't lost the two nonconference games at home he'd still be saying that?" Oats asked reporters. "I think we'd have a whole lot more problems if we weren't playing games."
Duke is 2-2 on the season after taking losses at home to Michigan State and Illinois in December, its worst start to a season in more than two decades. But Krzyzewski's concerns of pushing forward are related not just to the overall health of players and staffers, as he said earlier this week, but also the planning of the season and how it may unfold.
Get up to $450 off the Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro.
Switch your business to Verizon with qualified trade-in and number transfer. Click for offer details. Limited time offer.
Paid content by Verizon
See More
"We're just plowing through this," Krzyzewski said via ESPN.com. "People are saying 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. By the end of the month, 20 million vaccine shots will be given. By the end of January or in February, another 100 million. Should we not reassess that? See just what would be best?"
Itching for more college hoops analysis? Listen below and subscribe to the Eye on College Basketball podcast where we take you beyond the hardwood with insider information and instant reactions.
As for Oats, who has contracted and already recovered from COVID-19, he feels it should be full-steam ahead.
"Like, what are these guys gonna do? I've got three daughters, they need to be in school," Oats said. "Humans aren't made to sit alone in isolation for weeks and weeks on end. We gotta be careful on how we do life, but you still gotta do life. A huge part of life for these guys that I'm coaching is being in the gym playing basketball."
"Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean.
'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.”
Josey Wales
'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.”
Josey Wales
