Dino wasn't the best coach in the world, but this no excuse stuff is nonsense. The 2012 Duke team had 5 NBA players on it (players who have played multiple seasons: Miles Plumlee, Mason Plumlee, Austin Rivers, Seth Curry, and Ryan Kelly), finished the season as the 19th best team in the country per Kenpom (vs 24th for 2009 Wake) and lost in the first round to 79th ranked Lehigh (vs 66th ranked Cleveland State). Is K abjectly incompetent? Upsets happen every year. It was obviously hugely disappointing and not a positive sign as far as Dino's coaching ability, but also wasn't the outright disaster some Wake fans make it out to be.
It would be interesting to compare the talent on the 2009-10 and 2016-17 rosters. Feels pretty similar actually, and the results were also relatively similar.