FINALS NOTEBOOK
ST. PETERSBURG -The coach you see constantly standing and yelling during the game to the Duke players this tournament is not Mike Krzyzewski but top assistant Quinn Snyder. With Krzyzewski ailing from a hip problem, Smyder has taken over most of the “demonstrative” duties. He was even interviewed at halftime of the Michigan State game by CBS.
“He’s a bright, young mind,” Krzyzewski said of Snyder. “He has all the qualities of a good coach. In fact, he could be a very good coach right now. I would love to keep him, but I know I won’t be able to.”
Quinn, 32, who played at Duke from 1986-89 and ranks third among the school’s all-time assist leaders, was an assistant for the Clippers before coming back to Duke in ’96.
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In the real world, Duke is known for academics moreso than for basketball. This explains the smarts on the court – and on the scorer’s table, where sports information director Mike Cragg sits to score the game for the Devils. When Michigan State players checked into the game Saturday night during timeouts, Cragg would immediately go to the Duke huddle and inform assistant coaches who would be coming in for the opponent. Thus, they would always be prepared.
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Connecticut guard Ricky Moore isn’t bothered that his hometown of Augusta, Ga. is known more as the home of The Masters than as a basketball town.
In fact, his father, Otis, is a caddy for Kelly Gibson, who did not qualify for this year’s tournament. And for many summers, Ricky worked as a waiter at Augusta National.
What does bother Moore is that he finally took up the game of golf.
“I just started last summer and I shouldn’t have,” he joked.
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The Big East is 2-5 in national championship games. Here’s the break down: 1996: Kentucky 76, Syracuse 67; 1989: Michigan 80, Seton Hall 79 (OT); 1987: Indiana 74, Syracuse 73; 1985: Villanova 66, Georgetown 64; 1984: Georgetown 84, Houston 75; 1982: North Carolina 63, Georgetown 62.
Connecticut is the seventh Big East team to make it to the Final Four joining Providence, Georgetown, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Syracuse and Villanova.