Coming Out Party

Greg Paulus and the Blue Devils beat Gonzaga in a sold out Madison Square Garden last night 61-54 in front of yours truly. What can I say? The atmosphere was tremendous. I've been to 9 Duke games in my life (8-1 lifetime), either at MSG or Continental Airlines Arena (1 at Duke), and that was the most electric atmosphere of them all. The crowd was pretty much divided with about 60% Duke fans and about 40% Gonzaga, UNC, Va Tech fans. It even got a little heated up in the nosebleeds where my brother and I almost got into a fist fight with a fat, obnoxious UNC Fan who had consumed one too many alcoholic beverages.

As for the game, Duke has never played such a poor offensive half in the Coach K Era. With 5:43 left in the 1st Half, the Blue Devils only had 10 points, yes 10 points. Then, in typical Duke fashion, they went on a 10-0 run and only went into halftime down 1 point. Pretty amazing considering they shot 22% from the field in the 1st Half. At halftime, I turned to my brother and said that they were in good shape considering they made Gonzaga play their style, couldn't throw the ball into the ocean, and were still only down 1 point.

As for the 2nd Half, it was a much different story. The Blue Devils came out inspired and they went on a 14-9 run to go up 34-30. Then, at 36-32, one of the biggest plays of the game occured. Duke missed a shot but Gonzaga failed to hold onto the rebound and the ball went out of bounds. Then, like so many before him, Jon Sheyer hit a backbreaking 3-pointer from the top to make it 39-32 and the Devils would never relinquish the lead after that.

Obviously, the star of the game was Greg Paulus, who in hindsight should have went to St. John's, because he plays his best at MSG. He was great against Memphis last year and last night, he had the best game of his young career. He clearly was the best player on the floor last night and who would've thought I'd be saying that after the way he started the season? Paulus had 20 points, 4 assists, and only 1 turnover, which was early in the 1st Half. All Blue Devil fans got a huge scare when Paulus laid on the floor after crashing into the scores table. Eventually, he got up to a "Let's go Paulus" chant, came back into the game, and executed on three crucial plays in the game with Josh McRoberts. First, he hit a 3 off a McRoberts kick out. Second, off an inbounds pass, he threw a beautiful pass to McRoberts for an emphatic slam. Third, in the play that clinched the game, McRoberts threw one of the nicest passes you'll ever see from someone his size to Paulus who finished with a tough, left-handed layup to make it 56-50.

One of the biggest stories of the game was the collective defense against Ravio. Ravio, came into the game averaging 20 points per game, he was held scoreless through 36 minutes and finished 1 for 4 from the field with 4 points. Also, McRoberts showed why he is the most versatile big man in the country by shutting down Heytfelt. He had 10 points but he really didn't have much of an impact besides that one monster dunk he had.

Overall, this was the best win of the season by far. Sure, the Georgetown game was huge but I really feel the crazies willed them to victory in that game. In this game, they withstood an early 9 point deficit and won a game that had an NCAA Tournament atmosphere. You can't help but love this team.

Next up for Duke is San Jose State (1-9). At the risk of sounding like a jinx, this will be the easiest game of the year. This team is flat out awful with double-digit losses to the likes of Stanford, Long Beach State, Arizona State, Santa Clara, St. Mary's, and BYU. Their lone win this year is against Cal Poly, who may only have a wheelchair basketball team. BUT, who knows, anything is possible especially after another 10 day layoff and each player adding a couple of extra holiday pounds.

Prediction: Duke 90 San Jose State 45