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"I was amazed with his family -- his mom and dad are just terrific people -- and how un-city-like Sean is," said Krzyzewski, who grew up on Chicago's north side. "You think of a kid from the inner city, well Sean is probably the sweetest kid in the whole world.
--Coach K
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Carrawell battling his way back
Depressed and disillusioned, the ex-Duke star tries to recover with the Asheville Altitude
February 22, 2002
By Brian Holloway
Staff writer
Nothing the NBA does surprises Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
It's too bad one of his former students didn't have the same insight before NBA draft night 2000.
On Saturday night, Chris Carrawell and his Asheville Altitude teammates visit the Crown Coliseum for the final time this season as they take on the Fayetteville Patriots at 7.
Like many players in the National Basketball Development League, Carrawell thought at this point in his life he would traveling to bigger cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston.
But to his surprise he went in the second round to the San Antonio Spurs. Before the 2000-2001 season began the Spurs released him. After going through some depression and anger he, like everyone else in the NBDL, is fighting to reach the NBA.
'It's tough when you play in a league like this,' Carrawell said. 'It's a different lifestyle. We had charted flights at Duke, it was an NBA atmosphere there. Guys down here don't care that you went to Duke.
'Everybody is out here for the same thing. Everybody is trying to prove something so you've got to share the minutes.'
Not since N.C. State's Rodney Monroe went No. 30 to the Atlanta Hawks in 1991 has an ACC Player of the Year been drafted in the second round. Monroe and Carrawell are the only two it has happened to in the last 25 years.
In 2000, Carrawell led the Blue Devils to the Sweet 16 even though the previous year Duke lost Elton Brand, Will Avery, Corey Maggette and Trajan Langdon to the NBA lottery.
So, considering those accomplishments, Carrawell thought he would be a first-round pick. Besides, some of the players he played with and against in school who were also named conference player of the year -- Brand, Tim Duncan and Antawn Jamison -- were lottery picks. 'I'm not saying I'm on their level,' Carrawell said. 'But I had the best senior year you could have -- I was an All-American. There was stuff I needed to work on, but still, I was player of the year in the ACC. So I couldn't have been that bad.' Carrawell got worried when the NBA decided to give his invitation to the 2000 draft to another player. After the Charlotte Hornets, who had the 19th pick , called him back to Charlotte for another workout, the worry left.
So he organized a draft party in St. Louis. The first 13 picks -- commonly known as the lottery -- went by without Stern announcing Carrawell's name. No problem, the Hornets have pick 19.
Instead of Carrawell's name, however, the Hornets crashed Carrawell's party by selecting Kentucky's 6-foot-9 power forward Jamaal Magloire. Twenty-two picks later, Carrawell heard his name. But it's first rounders who get guaranteed contracts, not second rounders.
'I felt the whole system let me down,' Carrawell said. 'Whether it was NBA scouts, my agent, NBA (general managers), Coach K not lobbying enough for me -- never in history had an ACC Player of the Year gone so low.'
Carrawell said his summer camp didn't go so well because he was depressed .
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich informed Carrawell that he exceeded expectations in training camp, but Carrawell didn't know how to take that because he didn't have a good summer camp.
Carrawell became even more discouraged when during a Duke game on ESPN he heard Dick Vitale say he heard that Carrawell dropped out of school following the Blue Devils' loss to Florida in the NCAA tournament because he thought he would be a draft choice. Carrawell went overseas to get over his hurt.
'It was tough hearing that,' Carrawell said. 'Why would I drop out when I only need three classes to graduate? It didn't make sense. It was not true and it had to be an inside rumor. It came from Duke, so I look at it like they didn't protect me.'
Carrawell said he left school to be with his sick grandmother. Shortly after returning to school, his grandmother died, he added. He said by that time things had become hectic as he prepared for the NBA. He said he hopes to get his degree this summer.
'Everything is cool with Duke,' Carrawell said. 'That's still my school, and I still want those guys to win every game and every national championship.
'When I make it, it won't be because of Coach K or the Duke system, it will be because I'm a good player and I worked my butt off to get to the next level.'
Spurs scout Mark Freidinger said Carrawell needs to work on his perimeter game because he's not consistent with his outside shot. There is also a question on where you play a 6-7 player like Carrawell.
'Does he play small forward?' Freidinger said. Most coaches would say he's not big enough. And he doesn't have the outside shot to play the off guard.
'He's probably a two-guard, but this is the place where Chris can find all that out. Because this league will give him a chance to work on that perimeter shot. That's key.'
'I'm sure Chris will get other opportunities in camps,' Krzyzewski said. 'He has to be able to surpass all others that are there, and continue show NBA people steady improvement. He's not guaranteed a whole lot right now, but he has to give a lot to show he belongs. That's the path Chris has to take if he wants to get there.'
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Coach K and the Fist -
This ranks up with angelic eyes as K's sappiest crap. What kind of person takes this phoniness seriously?
Anyway I do not want to submit myself to the pain of having to read one of K's books, but I found this on an Amazon review:
Leading With the Heart suggests that many of these qualities are essential to being successful. Coach K states that "communication, trust, collective responsibility, caring, and pride" are five values that "make every team great." These represent what Coach K calls the "fist"-where the fingers also represent the members of the team. The characteristics and members form the team's identity and "any one fist can break any one finger" so all of the fingers or team players must work together.
I also like Bandwagon Boy's explanation of the fist in this Q&A session:
"Dear Bandwagon Boy you are a expert in College Basketball so maybe you could tell me why Duke fans always hold up they fist and yell FIST! Is it some sort of secret code? What does it mean?"
"Well Dufe I am the biggest and loyalist DUKE fan of them all so you aks the right man! Many people wonder this and it is because they are all just jealous because my team is awesome and they favorite teams all stink! The answer is that the FIST is the Duke symbol of how the players needed the Duke fans to lead them to victory last year! Coach Kay had a big meeting with the most importent Duke fans like me and told us that the players equal one finger and Coach Kay equals one finger and another finger is something else, I don't know, the refs or something, and then the rest of the hand equals us Duke fans and when we work together like a fist we can smack all our enemies in the mouth and there is nothing they can do about it! That was from the meeting with Coach Kay last year that was private to us best Duke fans because he knows that we are the secret wepon of Duke and we are the real reason why the Duke players play so good because of the Power of the Duke fans which is reprazent by the FIST!! When we all come together as a FIST there is nowhere we can't go! So when we use our FIST together it is our secret Code that we are all Duke fans together working together as One to lead the players and Duke College to the championship! Which we did! Did you lead you team to the title no so you are JEALOUS! FIST!!!!!!
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