Hugs v. Thugs Sunday

If anyone thinks this St. John's game is going to be easy this year, you need to get your head examined. Duke should and in all probability will win the game but it will be a war. The Johnnies are always ready to play Duke and they usually give Duke problems offensively since they play that playground defense. Ever since 1999, these games have been absolute duels and whoever is left standing wins. Remember, in 1999, Duke was unbeatable with their only loss coming in this 1st week of the season on a dunk at the buzzer against Cincy and they walked into MSG and it was one of the best games of the year in college basketball. It went to 2OT's with Bootsy Thorton scoring 40 points but in the end, it was too much Elton Brand. The next year, the Johnnies went into Cameron and shocked the Blue Devils 83-82 on a last second shot. In fact, that loss to St. John's in 2000 is the last non-conference loss Duke has had at home.

After two hard fought wins in 2001 and 2002 for Duke, the Blue Devils went into MSG ranked #5 in the country against a St. John's team that was reeling. This was the first Duke game I ever saw in person. God, I was excited. I was in awe watching them warm up and then to see K in person was amazing. For 38 minutes, the game went according to plan. It was a grind but Duke held a consistent double-digit lead the entire game. The lead was 71-60 when Dahntay Jones, a Jersey native, fouled out of the ballgame with two minutes left. Then, St. John's hit a 3 and my brother made the remark that he will NEVER live down for the rest of his life. This remark earned him the status as the biggest jinx in history. After the 3, St. John's pressured full court and Duke broke the press. In a crowd of red, my brother stands up and taunts the fans saying "You can't press Duke baby, you can't press Duke!!" Duke then turned the ball over and the Johnnies came down and scored. Duke then proceeded to turn the ball over 3 consecutive times due to that full court press that my brother was so adamant that Duke could break and the Johnnies tied the game up. At 71-71, Duke held the ball for what seemingly would be the last shot. With about 5 seconds left, Daniel Ewing tried to make a move with the ball and Marcus Hatten, in what was a worse molestation than anything Michael Jackson could've done, knocked Ewing on the floor, stole the ball, and rushed down the court where he missed a layup as time expired. Okay, I said to myself, let's go to overtime and win this thing until I hear "He was fouled" They called a foul on Chris Duhon for apparently breathing on Hatten and he was awarded free-throws with no time left in the game. Still, no one can explain to me how if he was fouled shooting the ball, why no time would be on the clock. Or better yet, what did Duhon do? On the replay, it shows that Duhon doesn't touch Hatten at all. Hatten sinks the first free throw, St. John's wins in improbable fashion, I feel nauseous and start screaming at St. John's fans at the top of my lungs "Enjoy the NIT, enjoy the NIT" That was indeeed a dark day.

The last two matchups have been grinds but Duke has won each one. However, Dockery got hurt in the 2005 matchup because of the blatant thuggery of St. John's. So, tomorrow it's the battle of the Hugs, the finesse team, and the Thugs, the bruiser team. Who will prevail? Hopefully, Duke. If not, you can see me on suicide watch with Britney Spears on Monday. I am a Johnnies student but my allegiance is with the Blue Devils.