Coach K: Don’t dis Michigan St.

Steve Carp

Monday, March 29, 1999 | 9:57 a.m.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- He has been here eight times, so you would think Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski would be prepared for anything at the Final Four by now.

But despite the myriad visits to the NCAA's premier event, he probably still wonders where some of the questions reporters ask him come from.

In the wake of the Blue Devils' 68-62 win over Michigan State in the national semifinals at Tropicana Field, Coach K was a bit testy in the postgame press conference when someone asked him if the Dookies' win over the feisty Spartans was a mere bump in the road on the way to the national championship.

Actually, the question was for Trajan Langdon, Duke's fine senior guard. But Krzyzewski stepped in and took the charge for his star before Langdon could open his mouth.

"Hold on one second," Coach K said. "Let me just say that Michigan State was the No. 2 team in the country. They are not a bump in the road. They are a great basketball team. We beat a great basketball team today (Saturday) in a great basketball game.

"You know, both teams played their hearts out on the defensive ends of the court. It was tough to get shots because each kid invested all they had. Now for us to win a game like that, we are ultimately proud, ultimately proud.

"I just don't want this game to be ... it would be disrespectful to the two teams that played it to say that."

* SIMMONS GETS A LOOK: UNLV's Kevin Simmons was a last-minute replacement in Friday's National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Star game. And while Simmons went scoreless in 20 minutes (0-for-4 from the field), he grabbed seven rebounds and had three assists as a member of the victorious West team, which beat the East 93-86 at the University of South Florida's Sun Dome.

"I had fun," Simmons said. "I'm glad I got the chance to go. I met a lot of good guys and it was good exposure."

Simmons, who will head to Portsmouth, Va., Wednesday for the annual NBA pre-draft camp, said he wasn't worried about not denting the score sheet.

"I need to show guys that I can play defense and rebound," he said. "That's what I concentrated on.

* MISSING JERSEY: When Scoonie Penn left Columbus for the Final Four, his red No. 12 jersey was safely packed away in his equipment bag. But sometime between the time he left Ohio Wednesday and arrived at Tropicana Field Saturday, his jersey disappeared.

Penn was forced to wear No. 35. Nobody at Ohio State knows exactly what happened. Either Penn left it in his hotel room, he misplaced it somewhere along the way or it was stolen.

Was there a correlation between the missing shirt and Penn's missing jump shot? He was 3-of-13 from the field.

"I don't think it had anything to do with it," he said.

* DID JAKE WALK?: When UConn's Richard Hamilton hit a 10-foot lean-in with 1:40 to go that beat the shot-clock buzzer, it was one of the plays that broke Ohio State's back. But should Connecticut have had possession?

The Buckeyes are arguing that center Jake Voskuhl traveled when he caught his own pass that had been intended for Khalid El-Amin just seconds before.

At the time, it was a four-point game, 59-55. If Ohio State gets the call and converts on the possession, the deficit is down to two or possibly one and the Buckeyes save 35 seconds on the game clock. The complexion of the game would have changed dramatically.

* CALHOUN STILL KING: O'Brien had to be glad to be in the Final Four. But he couldn't have been happy knowing he had to beat Jim Calhoun to get to tonight's championship game.

Calhoun pretty much owns O.B. Saturday's win was Calhoun's 19th straight over an O'Brien-coached team.

When asked why he's able to dominate the matchup, Calhoun said, "When he's had good teams, we've had great teams."

* CROWDS SHOW UP: It took a few days, but it finally felt like the Final Four. An enthusiastic sellout crowd of 41,340 watched Saturday's semifinals, though some fans probably didn't see much from way down the left-field line in the upper deck at Tropicana Field.

And it had to be a shock for the 250 Duke students who won the ticket lottery on campus, only to find themselves way up in the nosebleed seats in Section 307. Remember, these are the same Cameron Crazies who get the prime seats at home and sit courtside for every Duke game.

* PARTY TIME: The social scene is in full gear as well. Friday night's CBS bash at The Ritz drew the likes of actor Kevin Costner, Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Mike Alstott and a lot of coaches, including UNLV's Bill Bayno, Utah's Rick Majerus, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim and Massachusetts' Bruiser Flint. Alstott owns a pizza place adjoining the club.

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