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