The Missing Piece?

Although Duke plays tonight, their greatest victory came earlier in the day when 6'11'' Mason Plumlee committed to Duke and became the first recruit for Duke in the Class of 2009. There has been a great deal of pub about Kenny Boynton and Leslie McDonald but this kid, from everything you read, will provide something that Duke does not have this year and won't have next year, an inside presence...

Welcome to Duke, Mason

MP ARTICLE

Duke #2 in the East (Bracketology)

Although Shawn Seigel still has Duke as a #1 because of their gaudy RPI, Joe Lunardi has dropped them to a #2 seed. However, he has them as the #2 seed in the East (Charlotte) bracket, which would be a huge break for Duke.

I would much rather a #2 in the East then a #1 in the Midwest or West...

BRACKET

Oh Boy!

It was clear to me last night watching the Cal/Stanford game that Duke could really use Jamal Boykin. Who? He was one of the guys who didn't play much at Duke and transferred because of a series of family problems coupled with a lack of playing time.

Since joining the Golden Bears mid-season, Boykin has had some really good games and more importantly, is an active body off the bench in the nation's toughest conference. In just 16 games this season, Boykin is the 5th leading scorer on a Cal team that has some studs, mainly Ryan Anderson, Patrick Christopher, and Devon Hardin. Not to mention, he's went for double figure points off the bench in 7 of those 16 games, which is something Duke has severely lacked at their 5-position. Boykin stands the same height as Lance Thomas and with David McClure clearly feeling the effects of his multiple knee injuries, Duke could really use a guy like Boykin to eat up some minutes and even provide an offensive spark, something that Lance Thomas rarely gives you.

The transfers on Jamal Boykin and Eric Boateng were relative footnotes for Duke and its fan base when they happened but with McRoberts bailing for the NBA (or NBDL), Patrick Patterson going to Lexington, and Duke missing out on the Greg Monroe sweepstakes, those transfers seem to a hurt a lot more...

Duke Drops in Rankings

The mid-week loss to Miami (FL) dropped Duke two spots in both polls, ESPN #6 & AP #7. Tennessee assumes its first #1 ranking in school history and it could be short lived, with a trip to Vanderbilt on the horizon.

Despite huge wins over Duke and Maryland, Miami didn't crack the Top 25 in either poll, still leaving Duke and UNC as the only two representatives of the ACC.

POLL

Weathering The Storm

When you have a cold, you go to the Benadryl. When you get cut, you go to the bandaid. When you're on a two-game losing streak, you play St. John's. My graduate school alma mater is hardly a big-time program anymore and Duke couldn't have planned the Johnnies trip to Cameron at a better time. Coming off two straight ACC road losses, Duke came home searching for their identity and early on, it looked as if they would struggle through this one as well, falling behind 7-0 to the young Johnnies.

However, Duke's ability to defend coupled with their ability to hit the three pointer, allowed them to coast to a much needed, easy victory. I'll tell you, it was like the bizarro world out there today with Brian Zoubek (yes, this is NOT a typo) taking over and getting a double-double. What were the Vegas odds on Brian Zoubek getting a double-double? Probably the same as David Tyree catching a TD pass as well as the biggest catch in sports history in the Super Bowl. If they get similar efforts from Zoubek, Duke has a good shot to go to the Final 4. Let me see Zou do it against better competition, specifically Georgia Tech later this week.

Greg Paulus had a pretty rough game on a negative note even though he bounced back to hit some threes in the 2nd Half but I must say, I love Nolan Smith at the point right now. Kyle Singler, what else can I say about him? Anyone who reads this blog knows the man love I have for him. Gerald Henderson looked much better with that wrist injury and really sparked the run that pulled Duke away from the Johnnies with 3 consecutive jumpers. Oh, and I would be wrong if I didn't make a public apology to Jon Sheyer. After calling him out after the Wake game, he has really responded. I'm not saying that my blog was bulletin board material but I will take credit for his resurgence anyways just because I can and I want to.

Next up for the Dukies is Georgia Tech at Cameron Indoor on Wednesday night. If Duke can pressure Causey into turnovers, Duke should prevail at home and look towards the big one in Raleigh over the weekend against State. I will provide a prediction later in the week but I certainly like Duke in this one after regaining their stroke against the Red Storm.

Elliot Williams on McDonald's All-American Roster

Big surprise, the Dukies landed a McDonald's All-American in Elliot Williams and look like they will lock up his friend Leslie McDonald next year, another All-American possibility.

A bigger surprise, however, is that Duke only landed one and he's 6'4''. The last time I checked, I could've sworn that Duke is in dire need of guys taller than 6'8'' and that issue was not addressed with this recruiting class.

McD's Count

UNC (3)
Ohio State (2)
UCLA (2)
Alabama (1)
Virginia (1)
Rutgers (1)
Louisville (1)
Florida State (1)
UCONN (1)
Duke (1)
Nevada (1) Huh?
USC (1)
Oregon (1)
Wake Forest (1)
Arizona (1)
G'Town (1)
G'Tech (1)
Oklahoma (1)

Unofficial Roster

Hurri-ble Defeat

Heading into Sunday night's game against Wake Forest, Duke had only sustained one freakin loss. Four days later, they have three. Miami jumped out to an uncharacteristic 20 point lead early in the 2nd Half and barely held off the Blue Devils on Wednesday night 96-95.

I only saw one segment of this game (thank god) because I was blocked out of this game because I don't belong to an ACC market. So, I will not pull a Christopher "Maddog" Russo and comment on a game that I didn't see but I will say this: two straight losses don't bother me as much as letting up 96 points and giving up 58% shooting from the field. Duke's defense seems to have abandoned them in the last two games and they better find it fast.

On Saturday, Duke finally returns home and steps out of conference to face my pathetic alma mater, St. John's. If the Dukies lose this game, cancel the season. The Johnnies are as dreadful as they come and although Justin Burrell could hurt them down low, their guard play is much too weak to beat the Devils in Cameron, that's a guarantee.

Prediction: Duke 76 St. John's 61

I don't know what's wrong with this team the last two games but they still have time to get it together, win this conference, and secure that coveted #1 seed. The mission is simple to understand but not so simple in accomplishing: beat GT at home, beat NC State in Raleigh, beat Virginia in Charlottesville, and then knock off the Lawson-led Tar Heels on DeMarcus' Senior Day. That sounds easy enough (notice the sarcasm).

UNHAPPY RECAP

Duke #4 in ESPN Poll

Duke drops to #4 in the latest ESPN Poll after their loss to Wake Forest. Memphis remains #1 after narrowly escaping an upset at the hands of Mike Davis and his UAB squad. Tennessee moves up to #2, which sets up a battle of #1 & #2 on Saturday night. If Memphis pulls it out, they should enter the tournament 34-0.

POLL

Fa-Teague'd

The 12 game winning streak is gone. The lofty #2 ranking should be in their rear view mirror. More importantly, for the first time this season, Duke was outplayed, outhustled, and outexecuted by their opponent.

Congratulations to Wake Forest on a terrific victory and to Dino Gaudio for developing a tremendous gameplan to beat the Devils. You know those kids wanted this one badly for Skip Prosser. The Deacons used their quickness to make it a North-South game and not an East-West game. Duke had previously run out to a 22-1 record because they exposed teams that tried to beat them East-West, which usually winds up failing against their tremendous ball pressure. However, on Sunday Night, the Deacs used their speed in the backcourt to constantly penetrate and hit layups or penetrate to open shooters.

All the talk has been how good Kyle Singler has been as a freshman and that he was probably the choice for ACC ROY. However, he was outplayed by two of Wake's freshmen last night, James Johnson and Jeff Teague. Teague penetrated at will and got any shot he wanted and when James Johnson realized that he should live down low and not on the perimeter, he also dominated the undersized Dukies. The two magnificent diaper dandies accounted for 50 of Wake's 86 points in victory.

Getting back to the North-South gameplan. Can you remember one play, just one play, where Wake tried a cross court pass? I really can't. So, the gameplan or blueprint is out there to effectively beat Duke so how will they adjust to this bump in the road? Everyone knows that they have a disadvantage down low but they have done a marvellous job at exploiting that same mismatch on the offensive end with Kyle Singler on the perimeter. However, if you couple the size advantage with quick and athletic guards that continually penetrate, you will beat the Blue Devils or at the very lest, be there at the end of the game.

As for Duke, they played a very sub par game and for the most part, you can give Wake the credit for that but you can't give them credit for Dukes lack of hustle. The one positive out of this game is Nolan Smith and his ability to penetrate at will. His performance last night should not only earn him minutes but he should steal some minutes from Jon Sheyer, who was absolutely dreadful last night. You couldn't have gotten a worse performance from Sheyer: 27 minutes, 0-8 from the field for 0 points and 3 turnovers. It appears for the second consecutive year that Sheyer is starting to hit a wall in February and if he's not shooting well or taking care of the ball, the consistent backcourt has to be Paulus and Smith, with Smith playing the point most of the time.

Gerald Henderson is not the same player he was during the season since he sustained that wrist injury against Carolina. If Duke has any shot of playing deep into March, they need Henderson to be 100%. Another huge problem for Duke is free throw shooting and this will inevitably hurt them down the stretch here. The problem is that the only two guys who have the ability to slash and get fouled are very bad free throw shooters, Nelson and Henderson. I will give Henderson a break because of his wrist but Nelson, for as good as he's been, is absolutely dreadful from the line.

BOX

Overall, it was a disappointing peformance for the Dukies but they have been dodging bullets all year and finally, a bad first half wound up costing them in the long run. Next up for Duke is Miami at Miami on Wednesday night, which should be another tough game. Given Duke's track record and Coach K's ability to motivate after a loss, I like Duke's chances to come out firing on all cyclinders. A-Rod may be in attendance as usual and you know Miami will be rocking when Duke comes to town but I love Duke's chances on Wednesday to bounce back.

Prediction: Duke 85 Miami 78

Spear The Turtle

Excuse the pun but I have to "sing" the praises of Kyle Singler yet again. I can't remember a freshman, in Duke's history, that has been the go-to guy. I mean everytime that Maryland made a run and Duke needed a basket, this kid steps up with a big play. Singler finished with 26 points but his importance to this team is unquanitfiable.

As for the game, an excellent win for the Dukies, as per usual. I was very pessimistic going into this game but let's face it, I shouldn't have been. This team is a winning basketball team and they have the chops and determination to make a deep run come March. I think if they can lock up the #1 seed in the East, they have a very good chance to make it to the Final 4. After that, all they need to do is hit their shots and they can beat anybody, I repeat, anybody.

Going into the game, I said that if Vasquez went crazy, Duke would lose. I was wrong. I thought that James Gist would have his usual game but Duke did a tremendous job on him. They held Gist and Osby to a combined 22 points.

Oh and to Cliff Tucker who said that he went to Maryland because he wanted to beat Duke and that if Duke offered him a scholarship, he would turn it down and go to a Division II school, how is this stat line? 6 points, 8 rebounds (that's in two games). Don't open your mouth unless you can back it up Cliff.

BOX SCORE

Duke is now 22-1 (10-0 in the ACC) and they seem to rolling toward an ACC Championship. Amazingly, they have only lost one game this year (by 1 point on a fade away 3 in OT on a neutral court) and the best or worst part depending on how you look at it, is that I was in attendance for their only loss. I will make this vow, if Duke goes through the rest of this season undefeated, including cutting down the nets in early April, I will NEVER attend another Duke game as long as I live, I promise.

Next up is Wake Forest, which is having a pretty decent season despite the dark cloud that continually flies over their program since the untimely death of Skip Prosser. Wake is clearly an NCAA Tournament team next year since they are building a nice foundation and are bringing in two big, big-time recruits. Although they are playing decent basketball and usually play well at home, I think Duke's ball denial and pressure should be too much for their inexperienced backccourt. One thing though, watch out for freshman James Johnson, who is having a spectacular year very much under the radar.

Prediction: Duke 91 Wake Forest 79

Fearing The Turtle

For the first time this season, I am very pessimistic about Duke's chances to beat Maryland later on tonight. Duke is due to lose a game, Maryland is never phased by Cameron, and they have good enough guards that they can capitalize on Duke's defense focusing on Maryland's interior. Gist and Osby will get theres but if Vasquez goes off, Duke is coming away with a loss.

Not feeling good about this game at all...Prove me wrong Dukies, prove me wrong!

Hoosier Daddy Now?

Let's hope that IU Coach Kelvin Sampson subscribed to the T-Mobile free long distance, nights and weekends plan or else he has a heck of a phone bill to pay. For the 2nd time, Sampson is under fire with NCAA allegations and this time, it may and should cost him his job at Indiana. This is a proud, traditional institution and ever since he's arrived in Bloomington, he has cast a dark cloud of the Hoosier program.

After allegations came out about Sampson at Oklahoma, Indiana still stood by Sampson and allowed him to hold his job. Now, he does the same thing at Indiana and it shouldn't be accepted anymore. Some people are saying that Indiana should get a postseason ban but why hurt these poor kids or deprive the college basketball fans of an NCAA tournament with Eric Gordon?

The solutions is clear and simple for Indiana University: Kelvin Sampson should be fired immediately...

Some people get on me about not being a real Duke fan because I don't really hate North Carolina. I dislike Carolina, I root against them but how can I not respect them? They have consistently done things the right way, they have produced world class athletes, and most of all, you never hear anything about them regarding NCAA violations.

IU needs to say it loud and say it proud: Fire Kelvin Sampson, Fire Kelvin Sampson, Fire Kelvin Sampson...

BRB Mid-Year ACC Awards

The ACC season is halfway over so let's have a little fun and project the BRB ACC Awards...

ACC Player of the Year: Tyler Hansbrough (UNC) - Even in a loss to Duke, Hansbrough distinguished himself as the best player in the conference. With 24 points, 13 rebounds per game, he leads the ACC in both categories.

1st-Team All-ACC:

G Sean Singletary (UVA): He clearly is the most explosive guard in the conference but he just doesn't have enough help around him to win games. Without JR Reynolds, it's been tough for Singletary but his numbers are still very, very good.

G Tyrese Rice (BC): Duke fans saw it first hand on Saturday that this kid, even though he takes a ton of bad shots, can flat out play. However, much like Singletary, the supporting cast is not good enough for Rice and BC to be a major player in the ACC. They really miss Jared Dudley's leadership and presence on the floor.

G DeMarcus Nelson (Duke): He is enjoying his best season by far in Durham and is showing a great ability to attack the rim, play defense, and most of all, lead a young basketball team to a 21-1 record. He has his deficiencies, mainly free throw shooting, but his scoring, leadership, along with his incredible defense game in and game out against the opponents best perimeter player earns him a spot on this team.

F James Gist (Maryland): Gist is one of the most underrated big men in the country and will make a pro team next year, mark my word. He, along with Osby, provide the Terps with a formidable 1-2 punch down low.

ACC Coach of the Year: Coach K (Duke) - K narrowly beats out Dino Gaudio of Wake Forest and Seth Greenberg because K, for the first time in a long time, has adapted to his personnel and is running a system that suits the undersized, big-hearted Blue Devils. His willingness to go to this bench, play an up tempo and even go to a zone has really helped this talented group of munckins excel this year, especially in the ACC.

ACC Best Player No One Knows Anything About: AD Vassallo (VA Tech) - The Hokies were stripped of practically their whole team this year whether it was to graduation or transfers and yet, they sit in 5th place in the ACC, playing 7 freshmen. Why? Look at the development of Vassallo. Not only can he shoot the ball but he has enough strength to take it to the rack and finish. In ACC play, he is 6th in scoring and the 5 guys ahead of him are on my All-ACC team. He, along with the criminal Deron Washington, have kept the Hokies in it.

ACC Rookie of the Year: Kyle Singler (Duke) - Beats out James Johnson of Wake Forest and JJ Hickson of NC State marginally. Why? Well, for one thing, I am in love with him so that might have created a little selection bias but for another thing, he has carried to this team to a number of key victories early in his career. Plus, Hickson, although he is supremely talented, has really hurt the chemistry of that State team. Brandon Costner has entered the witness protection program since Hickson arrived in Raleigh.

Duke Remains #2 in Both Polls

With wins over UNC and BC, Duke remained #2 in both the ESPN & AP Polls. Obviously, Memphis, behind HUGE wins against SMU and UCF, remained #1. I hope you all picked up on a hint of sarcasm there.

POLL

BC-Ya!

Granted it wasn't easy or vintage but Duke escaped with a much needed W against BC this afternoon. Whether it was a hangover from the UNC game or the fact that they traditionally struggle on early afternoon regular season games, the Dukies came out uninspired, let BC dictate the pace, and that coupled with a ton of missed shots, led to BC leading at the half.

BC continued to take punch after punch and repeatedly got back up and punched back and they did this for most of the game. When the Eagles came back to take the lead in the 2nd Half, I started to get a little nervous but my man crush came through once again. Kyle Singler hit big shot after big shot, culminating with his huge three out of the corner to make it 66-65 and Duke never looked back. Singler finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds and those numbers don't even speak to how important he was in this game. In addition, he continues to show his toughness when he stepped in and had some words with Spears after Spears tried a Steven Segal-esque choke hold on Gerald Henderson. What else can I say except I love this kid and if he stays four years, he will have a special Duke career, up there with the likes of Battier, Redick, and Hurley (not Laetneer, no one will ever top what he did).

DeMarcus had 23 points but let's face it, I would hold my breath if he was at the foul line late in the game. He, along with Lance Thomas, is dreadful from the line and these missed free throws could cost them come tournament time like they did for the 2002 team. Overall, coming off of a great UNC win and Maryland on the horizon, you can't blame Duke for coming out with very little intensity but the main thing is that they won and they continue to move one step closer to that prized #1 seed in Charlotte, which would be huge for their Final 4 chances.

A few other points:

1) I love Greg Paulus, I do but can he stop slapping the floor? I became a Duke fan based on Bobby Hurley doing that but when he did, not only did they not score, the other seemed to never get a shot off. When Paulus does it, not only does the other team score but it usually turns out to be an open look by the guy he is guarding!

2) Is Lance Thomas turning a corner? He was spectacular against UNC and today, he was excellent collecting 6 points, 5 rebounds (all offensive), and 1 block.

3) Brian Zoubek returned today, albeit 2 minutes. When Zoubek went down, I wrote a post saying that it would hurt Duke immensely because they needed all the size they could get. Some people then wrote to me and said I was nuts and I came back with a rebuttal insisting that it would. I don't normally say this but I WAS WRONG, I WAS DEAD WRONG!

4) Big game tomorrow on ACC Sunday night hoops. If Clemson can beat UNC, that would give Duke a 3 game lead over UNC, Clemson, and Maryland (which would really be 4 with wins over each and Duke having the tie break).

Next up is Maryland on Wednesday night at Cameron. If there is a team that never gets phased by Cameron Indoor, it's Maryland. Watch out! Prediction coming later in the week...

Thanks again to all of the positive comments on the live blog and to everyone else who didn't comment but read it. I really appreciate it...

The Brady Crunch

As per request, I will weigh in on the firing of John "I never comb my hair" Brady from LSU. How does a man who is only two years removed from a Final 4 appearance (the huge win over Duke in the Sweet 16) get fired from a football-first school? In addition, this guy did lose Tyrus Thomas after only one season and lost Big Baby Davis a year early (a guy who is contributing on the best team in the NBA right now).

I've passively followed LSU and Brady ever since they ended Duke's season in 2006 and I know exactly where this is coming from: money, money, money. After Brady led the Tigers to the Final 4, he practically held the university hostage for more money and threatened to go elsewhere if the trustees didn't comply. They gave in but it never sat well in Baton Rouge. When you're a winner, you can do whatever you want and piss anyone off that you want (ala Belichek with the Patriots) but when you start losing, you become a prime target and hence bye bye (see Charlie Weis if Notre Dame continues to struggle).

Swann Song?

Wow, here's some bad news for Florida State. Not only are they 3-6 within the conference but now they have lost guard Isiah Swann for the season with a torn ACL. Excuse the pun but what a bad break for the Seminoles who would've struggled to make the NCAA Tournament with Swann and pretty much have no chance without him...

Devils Continue HEELing Process

Marquette, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland, NC State, Florida State, and North Carolina. What do they have in common? All of these teams have been victims of the revenge tour that unofficially began when Eric Maynor and VCU broke Duke's heart last year in the 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament.

Duke went into a hostile environment in Chapel Hill and came out victorious, mainly because of their ability to hit the 3 and hit a lot of them (13 to be exact). Greg Paulus, over the past month, is finally starting to show why Duke coveted him so much out of Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse, NY. He's doing just about everything for this team: he's hitting 3's, he's penetrating, he's playing adequate defense, and most of all, he's a great leader for this young basketball team.

Before the 2005-2006 season, JJ Redick proclaimed that Greg Paulus would be the "Next Hated Duke Player" Through his first two seasons, Redick was only half correct because he was the most hated but it was amongst the Duke fans. He was horrible last year whether it was turnovers or the inability to defend. Then, in the off season, it comes out that he was playing on a broken foot the whole year. This year, he's been fantastic. He's cut down his turnovers and he is lights out from 3-point range.

The most impressive thing about last night's victory over the Heels was the balanced scoring, with 6 players in double figures.

BOX SCORE

Although you can point to Paulus, Henderson, or Sheyer for the MVP of this game, I will actually go with Lance Thomas. Yes, that isn't a typo, Lance Thomas. Outside of maybe his game against Air Force early last year, this was the best game I've ever seen Lance Thomas play. At times, it seemed as if he was omnipresent. He scored 10 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and made two blocks (including one fantastic one from behind that stopped a dunk). At 6'8'', 210, Thomas is hardly a post presence (at least in terms of your traditional Brand, Boozer, Williams type) but if Duke gets those numbers from the 5 spot consistently then they will be virtually impossible to beat.

Kyle Singler, my man crush, was spectacular again last night and had a lot to do with Duke's offense last night because he was able to pull the UNC big guys away from the basket and drive them to the hole. His ability to consistently hit the 3-pointer makes him one of the most versatile PF's not only in the ACC but in the nation.

Duke's defense, as usual, played a huge part in this game, forcing 20 turnovers. Carolina fans will downgrade this win because Ty Lawson was out but Duke should still be commended for this win. Sure, Lawson may have made a difference but Duke is playing at an exceptional level right now and no matter who you are, you have to bring your A game to beat them.

This game against UNC has turned be into a believer. Maybe, it's still some of the awe I feel from my Giants shocking the world and winning the Super Bowl but for the first time this year, I feel as if Duke can go to the Final 4. Why not? If they hit their shots, which is certainly hard for 6 straight games, they can beat anybody, anywhere. They are so versatile. Many people emphasize the mismatches they have defensively down low but face it, on the offensive end, they present the same type of mismatches with Kyle Singler stepping out and either hitting 3's or putting the ball on the floor and pulling opposing big guys away from the basket.

I was a little surprised that Gerald Henderson wasn't booed more than he was last night. In fact, I thought that crowd really let the Heels down because without Lawson, they needed that extra spark and they didn't get it from the Dean Dome. They started out electric but there were times in the 2nd Half when I could hear the shoes screaching on the gym floor, which is not a good sign for a good college basketball atmosphere.

BTW, I don't know if anyone saw the Roy Williams press conference but what was with him repeating over and over "It just shows how bad of a coach I am" Roy, take it easy, you're the quickest to 500 wins in NCAA history so just take it easy and get that vertigo checked out.

Overall, I am very pleased with this W and Duke has now positioned itself perfectly for a #1 seed. At 8-0 in the ACC, they need to keep up their tenancious defense and outright win this league so they can get the easiest path to the Final 4, the #1 in the Charlotte region.

Next up is BC at Cameron on Saturday afternoon. Watch out for this game! I know BC isn't the BC of old with Jared Dudley, Craig Smith, and the convict Sean Williams but this is a trap game. Duke usually doesn't give into the trap game atmosphere but they traditionally struggle on regular season, afternoon games so let's take care of business and pull out a W.

Prediction: Duke 92 BC 74

Duke/UNC Prediction

Since I've been wrapped up in this WRAL stuff, I haven't been able to write up a formal prediction for the game for the site but I will have one on WRAL by tonight and again, make sure you guys chime in with comments during the game. I don't want to get bombarded with UNC/Anti-Duke fans killing every word I say...

Good news, in the first 3 hours, we got over 1,100 views so keep it coming and again, I appreciate you guys reading and letting me put my crazy, insane man love I have for Duke into words...

HERE'S THE LINK AGAIN

GO DUKE!

WRAL Link

BRB Readers,

Enclosed is the link for the live blog on WRAL. By tomorrow night, it should be in real-time and should be live. From what I believe, anyone who is registered on WRAL, can respond to our comments during the game. So, sign up ASAP!!!

WRAL Live Blog Link

-BRB

Coach K & Bobby Knight

Bobby Knight, the all-time wins leader in NCAA Men's history, has resigned from Texas Tech tonight and has likely coached his last game. He finished his amazing coaching career with 902 wins...

As of Monday, Coach K has 794 wins. Since 1996 (when Coach K returned from back surgery), he has averaged an astounding 28.7 wins per season. He is 108 wins shy so if he held on that average, he should do it in 4 years --when incoming freshman Eliot Williams will be a Senior. If Coach K coaches until he's 70 (9 more years), he has a shot at over 1,000 wins!!! That would be ridiculous...

I hope it happens and I hope win #795 comes at the hands of North Carolina on Wednesday...

Duke #2 in ESPN Poll

Duke will head into Chapel Hill on Wednesday with their highest ranking in 2 years...They jumped one spot because of the Kansas loss to K-State earlier in the week. UNC, after a hard-fought, OT win moved up to #3.

Heading into this game, the storyline figures to be Gerald Henderson and how he will respond to a hostile crowd but on Sunday, we got another headline: Will Ty Lawson play? He twisted his ankle when he got caught up in a loose ball scrum with FSU's Ryan Reid, who is like Deron Washington with a mask, with how reckless he plays. If Lawson doesn't play, advantage Duke because then they should be able to force Quentin Thomas, a 3rd string PG, and Marcus Ginyard into turnovers...

Much more on this game later on...

POLL

Anything Can Happen...

in sports...It's a cliche in the NFL that "any given Sunday" any team can beat a given team on a single day. Last night, clearly indicates why professional football and college basketball are clearly the best sports in the country because of the single elimination nature of their playoff system.

My football Giants shocked the world last night and beat the mighty, undefeated Patriots but let's face it, if the NFL Championship was determined in a 7-game series format, the Patriots probably would've won 4 games to 1. However, in a one game setting, any team can lose to another. That's why I am so opposed to standardized tests carrying so much weight in a student's future because anyone, no matter how great you are, can have a bad day.

The Giants upset of the mighty Patriots brought back some good and bad feelings surrounding the Duke program.

The Good: Heading into the 1991 Final 4, Duke was an immense underdog against the undefeated UNLV Runnin' Rebels, despite having been to 4 straight Final 4's and 5 Final 4's in the previous 6 years. But, did you blame the oddsmakers? UNLV stormed through the 1991 season, never being challenged, and to top it all off, they were the defending champions who happened to beat the same Duke team by 30 in the final. The odds were against the Blue Devils but after 40 great minutes and a few lucky bounces, the Blue Devils shocked the world 79-77. There is no doubt that if this were a series, UNLV would've advanced but in single elimination tournaments, anything can happen...

The Bad: 1999 Championship game...Duke was an amazing 37-1 heading into the title game against UCONN and the one loss was in late November on a dunk by Melvin Levitt of Cincinnati at the buzzer in the Great Alaskan Shootout. Throughout the year, it appeared that this Duke team was the most unbeatable of the K era. They had everything on this team: Elton Brand (National POY), Shane Battier (National Defensive POY and eventual National POY), Chris Carrawell (2000 ACC POY), Trajan Langdon (2-time All-American), William Avery (one of the quickest guards in the game), and get this, Corey Maggette (now a prominent NBA talent) off the bench. However, on that given day, UCONN played their best game, Duke played their worst game, and in the end, you had a crushing 77-74 loss ending with Langdon dribbling the ball off of his foot. It was a bitter pill to swallow. However, we all know that Duke would've won a 7-game series.

That's why I love college basketball and that's why I love football...

Let me soak up this win by the football Giants, regroup, and then make a huge push back towards Duke where this week will be busy for me. Remember, WRAL.com on Wednesday, with an extensive preview sometime tomorrow...

Canes Placed in Full Nelson

This game, especially in the first half, can be described in one word: chippy. It seems as if these mediocre ACC teams have the same philosophy when they play Duke: play dirty, try to get under their skin, and most of all, take it out on Greg Paulus. Well, you know what, it looks like those teams are 0-3 (meaning VA Tech, NC State, and now the latest victim, Miami).

I'm really getting sick of the way these teams are playing Duke. There's a difference between using your physicality to your advantage and out right being dirty and reckless. Whether it was McClinton's elbow to the ribs of Henderson, the shot Paulus took the nose, or the shot DeMarcus took underneath the eye, Miami tried to play dirty in order to win but in what's been the case now 95% of the time this year, Duke rose to the occassion and grinded out a W.

Despite the chippiness, Duke's worst enemy in the 1st Half was the referrees who continually called fouls, stopped the clock, and halted any ryhtym the Blue Devils could create using their spread offense. Some of the calls, both ways, in this game were absolutely mind boggling and the ones that went against Duke, really cost them in the 1st Half. If Miami was any type of squad, they would've been able to open up a healthy margin against the Devils but instead, Miami trailed by 7 at Half, which was a bad sign. It was a bad sign indeed since Duke shot miserably from the line (10-21) and couldn't make a basket inside the 3-point line.

Greg Paulus, just like on Thursday night against NC State, was spectacular running the offense and most of all, hitting 3 after 3 in the 1st Half. DeMarcus Nelson, who was saddled with 2 early fouls in the 1st Half, had 19 of his 21 points in the 2nd Half and more importanly, held McClinton to 6 points below his season average of 16. He played lights out defense, much like he has all year long. I'm not ready to put him in the discussion for National POY like Brent Mussberger is but I think he strongly deserves consideration for ACC POY and 1st-team All-ACC. In addition, he should be mentioned as National Defensive POY with his efforts this year, always against the other team's best perimeter player.

Taylor King and David McClure gave Duke some good minutes as well off the bench, especially since it seemed Lance Thomas picked up his 4th foul during the national anthem.

Overall, a great win for Duke. They looked lethargic at times, looked inspired at others but it doesn't matter how you get a W in this league, it just matters that you do. Now, Duke is 7-0 in the league heading into the North Carolina game in Chapel Hill.

No prediction right now. As mentioned earlier in the week, I will be on WRAL.com (live before, during, and after the game) blogging on a minute by minute basis as the play unfolds. Please be sure to catch me on Tuesday night as I will give a little preview as well. I look forward to all of you who read BRB and beyond to look for me on Wednesday. It should be a thriller and although I feel UNC may have the edge at home, I will be rooting like hell for my Blue Devils!

Final details on WRAL will be provided in the coming days before Wednesday's main event...

JJ Read

JJ Redick rarely plays for the Orlando Magic, depsite being their lottery pick a year ago. In fact, it looks like, by all reports, he is requesting a trade but the Magic have declined.

Despite this lack of playing time, JJ reassures everyone in this article below that he is a good player but an even better guy...

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