Freshman Orientation: The Maturation of Austin Rivers

Aside from Andre Dawkins and his 7 first half three pointers, Thursday night’s Duke/Wake Forest game could not have been any less eventful.  Long story short, Duke ratcheted up the defensive intensity when necessary, and the Blue Devil offense got whatever it wanted whenever it wanted for long stretches of the game.  Any chance of a Wake Forest upset was incinerated in the first segment of the 2^nd half as Jeff Bzdelik’s Demon Deacons decided to employ an unusual defensive strategy to shut down Duke’s three-point shooting by allowing the Blue Devils to drive to the basket without any resistance. But maybe it wasn’t the game itself that was so boring.  Perhaps it was the anticipation of the post-game that made the basketball so cumbersome to watch.

Shortly before tipoff, news started to spread regarding Coach K’s decision to leave Austin Rivers out of the starting lineup against Wake Forest.  Based on reports that started to trickle out during the game, the decision was made earlier in the week coming off of an invisible performance against Clemson, and it became clear that Austin Rivers reacts as well to being benched as the torpedo room on the Red October reacts to bullets.  “I haven’t slept,” said Rivers is one interview post-game.  Other writers used the term “meltdown” to describe Rivers’ response to the news, and Rivers himself said it went as far as having to apologize to his teammates on Wednesday night for his actions.

Now, it should be noted that Austin Rivers did lead the team in minutes played while chipping in 20 points, so it’s not exactly like Coach K relegated him to Michael Gbinije status.  But the decision to send a message to Rivers and his subsequent reaction to that decision is certainly an intriguing story, and the path Coach K and Austin Rivers choose to follow from here may be one of the most fascinating storylines to follow for the rest of the season.

Austin Rivers certainly played the part in the locker room after the game, holding court with reporters about how it was a lesson learned and how he’s ready to move forward.  But is that really the case for Rivers?  Was it just a polished, rehearsed response by a player who’s extremely experienced in the art of dealing with the media?  Was he being genuine?  Or was there a hint of sarcasm; some passive aggressive bitterness in his statements as well?  It’s difficult to get a read on the situation because Rivers is so image-savvy, so eager to learn and improve, ultra-competitive, arrogant, polished, and immature all at the same time.  Mix in the tendency of those close to the Duke program to scoff at any hint of potential turmoil or infighting within the basketball family, and it likely means we’ll all just have to wait and observe to see how it plays out.

Coach K may be the best button-pusher in the history of college basketball, and Austin Rivers has certainly shown his vulnerability in having his buttons pushed.  Rivers constantly talks about proving wrong the “haters”, mostly stemming from perceived slights in his own mind, and now he’s facing actual public criticism from his coach.  It’s easy to say that this is the reason Doc Rivers “sent his kid to boarding school” under Coach K, and it’s certainly why Austin Rivers throws words around like “genius” when talking about his coach.  But getting the message and receiving the message are two entirely different animals.  Getting Austin Rivers “pissed off”, as he called it during his post-game interview, was the easy part, but certainly wasn’t the end game.  Getting him to respond in the way Coach K feels best?  You can’t help but feel like this is step #1, an orientation to a master class in getting the most out of a truly special talent.