Oregon easily handled Duke in the Sweet 16 on Thursday, but the next day the Internet is mostly talking about what Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said to the Ducks’ Dillon Brooks after the game. So what happened?
Coach K denied lecturing Oregon’s Dillon Brooks in the postgame handshake line, but he totally did
It all started when Brooks pulled up from *deep* with an 11-point lead and 10 seconds left on the clock.
Not to be outdone, Oregon's Dillon Brooks also puts the final touch on his team's win #MarchMadness https://t.co/6cWGpStwcf
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 25, 2016
The shot clock was going to expire, but the basket still appeared to ruffle some feathers! Grayson Allen walked away from a hug from Brooks as he left the court. Not really a big deal! Whatever.
Then Coach K had some words for Brooks after the game in the handshake line. But what did he say?
This is what Brooks said Coach K told him:
Dillon Brooks said Coach K told him in handshake line, "I'm too good of a player to be showing off at the end." Brooks: "He's right."
— Pete Thamel (@SIPeteThamel) March 25, 2016
More Brooks: "I have to respect Duke and got to respect them. I have to learn from those things."
— Pete Thamel (@SIPeteThamel) March 25, 2016
Brooks final quote on Coach K: "At the same time, that's my fire, that's my passion. I'm going to take in what he said and keep doing me."
— Pete Thamel (@SIPeteThamel) March 25, 2016
But Coach K denied he said those things!
Coach K, on what he said to Brooks: "I just congratulated him."
— Austin Meek (@austinmeekRG) March 25, 2016
Someone pressed K specifically on whether he said something to Brooks about celebrating. "I didn't say that."
— Austin Meek (@austinmeekRG) March 25, 2016
UPDATE: CBS released the audio of what Coach K said, and it revealed he was not being truthful:
The best day of every NCAA tournament is the day Duke gets knocked out
— Michael Katz (@KatzM) March 25, 2016
UPDATE 2: Coach K released an apologetic statement:
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski apologizes for Dillon Brooks postgame handshake line chat. pic.twitter.com/WUQ4FJfhfF
— Brian Hamilton (@BrianHamiltonSI) March 26, 2016
The statement:
“Today, I spoke with Oregon head coach Dana Altman and apologized to him for my remarks to Dillon Brooks following our game. It is not my place to talk to another team’s player and doing so took the focus away from the terrific game that Dillon played. In the postgame press conference, I reacted incorrectly to a reporter’s question about my comment to Dillon. Clearly, the story that night was about Oregon advancing to the Elite Eight, and the outstanding game they played. I sincerely hope I did not create a distraction for Coach Altman and his team at this critical time of year. Certainly, I have the utmost respect for the Oregon program and their tremendous accomplishments.”
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March Madness 2016: Does 6-seed Notre Dame qualify as a Cinderella story?
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