Duke Makes Wolfpack Feel "Lowe"

Sidney Lowe got his first taste of the Duke/NC State rivalry and now him and Herb Sendek have something else in common, they both got their asses handed to them in their debut against the Blue Devils. Duke led from start to finish and the Wolfpack didn't give any inclination of ever coming back against Duke. Jon Sheyer paced Duke with 20 points on an afternoon where the Blue Devils had 5 players score in double figures.

Again, however, the play of the resurgent Greg Paulus stole the headlines, especially early on when he looked and was clearly the best player on the floor whether it was hitting the open jumper, driving the lane, or making a brilliant pass. This, along with maybe the Air Force game back in November, was the best effort of the year for the Blue Devils. They defended as usual but they coupled that with offensive continuity, something that has been scarcer than attractive people from England this year for Duke.

I thought Josh played great defense all day long. I do, however, scratch my head when McRoberts picks up his 2nd foul with 6 minutes to go in the 1st Half and he stays in the remainder of the half while Brian Zoubek continues to suck his thumb at the end of the bench. Give this guy a legitimate chance. If you do, I really feel like you can expect great things from him. BUT, Coach K has won 760 games in his career and I've won 0 so I guess I should shut up. PS, David McClure is becoming my new man crush, by doing all of the little things (I'll say it - you were right Jackie, FOR ONCE).

Over half way into the college basketball season, I think it's fair to say who's hot and who's not in the NCAA's. To me, there are a few elite teams: Florida, UNC, and UCLA. Then, you have that 2nd tier of teams like Ohio State, Kansas, Wisconsin who can definitely win the whole thing but are a notch below the polished teams. Then, there are the 3rd tier teams like Oregon, Arizona, Duke, Oklahoma State who probably can't win it all but could make a deep tournament run if everything broke their way. If Duke continues to improve, they can be one of the top teams in this tier of college basketball teams and that ain't half bad considering the youth on this team.

This week coming up is an important stretch for the Blue Devils, they get Clemson and BC at home and they at least have to take one, if not both. I believe they will take both because I'm still not sold on Clemson as an elite team who can win at a place like Cameron and BC took a huge blow to their chances when they dismissed Sean Williams from their team for violating team rules. Clemson is probably their steepest ACC challenge so far but I like the Blue Devils to get over the hump with their defense and the crowd behind them.

Prediction: Duke 75 Clemson 69