K RATIONS

Mike Krzyzewski is not ashamed to say it.

He wishes that Elton Brand, William Avery, Corey Maggette and Chris Burgess were here in Southern California, part of the Duke basketball team that will play USC this afternoon at the Pond in the second game of the Wooden Classic.

What Krzyzewski misses most isn’t Brand’s big hands and sweet jump shot or Avery’s quick feet and court sense; not Maggette’s rocket moves to the basket or Burgess’ rebounding help off the bench. What Krzyzewski misses most is the free coaching help.

“We’ve got six freshmen in our top 10,” Krzyzewski says, “so we’ve got lots more to teach and fewer teachers. In my 20 years of coaching, I’ve found that the best teachers are the juniors and seniors. They know your system, they understand what has to be done and they pass that down to the underclassmen.

“So what I’m missing now are my best teachers.”

Duke arrives at the Pond with a 2-2 record and a large learning curve ahead.

Brand, after spending two seasons at Duke, left for the NBA and became the No. 1 draft pick. He now plays for the positively awful Chicago Bulls. And that was OK. Krzyzewski fully expected Brand to be the first Blue Devil player ever to leave the program early. He did not expect sophomore point guard Avery and freshman forward Maggette (who didn’t even start most of the time for the 1999 NCAA runners-up), to jump so quickly to the NBA. And Burgess, a center from Irvine, decided to transfer to Utah.

Krzyzewski is being a man about this. He does not expect sympathy, even if he wouldn’t mind a little.

Friday at the Wooden Classic news conference, as Krzyzewski was speaking about his rebuilding project, the man whose name is attached to the classic said he had attended a spring all-star game where four of Duke’s incoming freshmen were playing. “They were four of the best,” John Wooden said. He was smiling. End of commiseration with the plight of Duke.

Krzyzewski’s job this year is similar to a kindergarten teacher’s. Teach how to pass. Teach how to space yourself on the court. Teach when to shoot and when not to shoot. Teach, teach, teach.

The point guard, Jason Williams, is one of those freshmen. And, no, Williams says, he is not like the Jason Williams of the Sacramento Kings, the one with the fearless no-look passes that sometimes turn into no-look turnovers. Williams scored 20 points and had six assists in the McDonald’s All-America game, the game Wooden saw.

But a Duke point guard has a lot to learn. Avery was supposed to be teaching Williams this year. “That’s what I expected,” Williams says, “but it didn’t turn out that way.” Williams, who is from Plainfield, N.J., is 6 feet 2 and is averaging 13.8 points and 5.0 assists.

“Jason’s going to keep getting better,” Krzyzewski says, “and Jason’s already very good. He’s potentially an outstanding point guard. But he didn’t even play point guard his whole time in high school. He didn’t have to think the game for a whole team.

“And that’s what our point guard needs to do, think the game for everybody.”

When the Blue Devils opened at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at Madison Square Garden by losing twice, it was possible to feel sorry for them. Williams seemed overwhelmed by the occasion. Now he’s growing up. “Fast,” Williams says.

Carlos Boozer, a 6-9 forward from Juneau, Alaska, and who, therefore, did not face the toughest competition in high school, is the starting center. Another freshman. The first three players off the bench--6-7 Mike Dunleavy (son of the NBA coach), 6-10 Nick Horvath and 6-11 Casey Sanders--are all freshmen.

Which leaves it up to senior forward Chris Carrawell and junior forward Shane Battier to help Krzyzewski with his teaching. Carrawell, Krzyzewski says, might have been his consistently best all-around player over the last year. Battier is the best defender. But how could you not be nostalgic for what might have been?

“You can’t think that way,” Battier says. “You look at what we have. We’ll be a good team. We just have to get used to each other.”

While Krzyzewski acknowledges what Wooden saw, that he has some very good freshmen, “There’s something about being 21 years old and playing against an 18-year-old,” Krzyzewski says. Something good for the 21-year-olds, something bad for the 18-year-olds. It means, Krzyzewski says, that we will see more and more teams like Gonzaga last year, teams that don’t have McDonald’s All-Americans but have good players who stick around to become juniors and seniors, who make it to the NCAA Sweet 16 or Elite Eight or maybe even the Final Four.

So welcome to the real world, Duke.

Grant Hill and Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner stayed for four years at Duke when other basketball powers were losing stars after one or two seasons. Now it’s happening at Duke too. No matter how wonderful it is to play under and learn from Krzyzewski, it is too difficult for 18- and 19- and 20-year-olds to say “no” to millions of dollars and “yes” to college.

That’s what happens when you recruit the best high school players in the country. They might go away quickly. So you start over every two years instead of every four years. So you don’t get so attached emotionally to the teenagers you bring to Durham.

And you know what? Four of the last five years, the national champion has appeared in the Wooden Classic. If this were to happen again and if it were to be Duke, you can see that one man wouldn’t be surprised.

That would be Wooden.

*

Diane Pucin can be reached at her e-mail address: diane.pucin@latimes.

WOODEN CLASSIC

Today, Arrowhead Pond:

Stanford vs. Auburn

Noon, Ch. 9

USC vs. Duke

2:30 p.m., Ch. 9

Trojans are in heady company. Page 10