Coach K leaves Duke exhibition game in pain

DURHAM, N.C. - Mike Krzyzewski didn&#39;t return to the Duke bench for the second half of Thursday night&#39;s exhibition game because of pain in his right leg. <br> <br> The 55-year-old Hall of Fame coach had his right hip replaced March 24, his second hip replacement operation. He was limping badly as he made his way to the locker room at halftime, with sixth-ranked Duke leading the EA Sports All-Stars 55-34. <br> <br> The Blue Devils won the game 102-74 with top assistant Johnny Dawkins taking over for Krzyzewski, who has a record of 637-227 in 27 years. <br> <br> ``I know coach and he&#39;s in terrific shape,&#39;&#39; Dawkins said. ``I think he&#39;s going to be great, but that&#39;s just my instinct. I do know him and he&#39;s a heck of a fighter and if there is any chance he&#39;ll be out there he will.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Duke opens its regular season Nov. 23 against Army. <br> <br> Mike Cragg, an assistant athletic director, said Krzyzewski was taken to Duke medical Center for X-rays. Cragg said Krzyzewski had a checkup on his hip last week, and doctors said he was doing fine. <br> <br> His hip appeared to lock up as he moved off the bench when point guard Chris Duhon was fouled hard and tumbled to the floor with 8:05 left in the half. Duhon sprained his left wrist on the play and missed most of the second half. <br> <br> ``We jumped up and you could see coach wince like something could have happened,&#39;&#39; Dawkins said. ``He said, `Something is wrong with my leg and I&#39;m not quite sure what.&#39; He wanted to be safe so he didn&#39;t come out.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> The players said Krzyzewski talked to the team at halftime, but didn&#39;t tell them he wasn&#39;t returning to the bench. <br> <br> ``This helped us grow as a team, not having our leader there,&#39;&#39; said Duhon, Duke&#39;s captain. ``Guys came together and we were still able to execute and play pretty good basketball. That was big for us.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Senior Casey Sanders said it was hard to concentrate on basketball without coach K on the sideline. <br> <br> ``Our thoughts are with coach and how he&#39;s doing,&#39;&#39; Sanders said. ``We tried to block it out somewhat coming into the second half and take care of business. But there was no doubt in warmups and after that game that was one of the first things I thought about, when is coach going to get back.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> It&#39;s unclear if Krzyzewski would be admitted to the hospital, a school spokesman said. <br> <br> Krzyzewski missed Duke&#39;s final 19 games of the 1994-95 season after undergoing his first hip replacement operation.