What did I say in my preview? I didn't like the fact that the Crazies would be wearing green. No, not because I'm a staunch conservative who isn't sympathetic towards the environment but because I don't like messing with a good thing.
Down 9 at halftime, I felt much less confident that they would pull this game out than I did the Maryland game on Sunday night. For the first time since the Pittsburgh game, Duke allowed the opponent to dictate the pace of the game and to State's credit, they exploited their mismatches down low with Hickson and Costner.
The entire halftime consisted of me thinking of ways to blast the Crazies for going with the green and screwing with the tradition, mystique, and ora of Cameron. However, to my delight, most of the Crazies agreed with me and tossed away the green and sported either an under shirt or even no shirt for some. I'm not sure if the team noticed this or not but whatever it was, Duke came out like gangbusters in the 2nd Half.
Greg Paulus, the most maligned Duke player since Jeff Capel, has enjoyed a very good season to this point and saved his best performance of the year (and possibly his career) for tonight. Paulus was spectacular. He was sinking threes, running fast breaks, making no look passes, and yes, playing tremendous defense (no that isn't a misprint).
Paulus' energy spread like the black plague across the entire Blue Devil team in the 2nd Half. Couple that with State's inability to keep its composure and you have the recipe for a win. Even though the final score was 92-72, anyone who watched this game in its entirety knows that it was a tale of two halves but fortunately for Duke, they won the 2nd Half to the tune of 11 points better than NC State in the 1st Half.
A few miscellaneous things: 1) Who the hell was that guy in the DeMarcus Nelson/Dahntay Jones graphic at first? I don't even think that guy is a Duke student. 2) I know Courtney Fells had a rough game but how about that man block on Lance Thomas? I've never seen a block like that in my life.
Overall, a great come from behind win for the Dukies. They cannot keep making a habit of getting down big at the half or they will get burnt one of these days. Also, mark down March 1st down on your calendar. Duke will go to Raleigh to play NC State on what should be their Senior Day so watch out for a revenge game. Speaking of revenge games, Duke can cross off yet another off the list of teams they wanted to pay back for last year's futility.
Next up is Miami at Cameron on Saturday afternoon. Be careful about these games in the afternoon off of a short turnaround. I know it's good practice for the NCAA Tournament, especially since Duke usually plays that early 2nd Round game but if they aren't careful, Miami can come up and bite them. Jack McClinton, the Siena transfer, is a flat out stud who has a shot at being a 1st-team All-ACC player. Miami is coming off a loss to Wake Forest so you know they are going to come out and give a solid effort. With that said, I will make my prediction now because of the short turnaround.
Prediction: Duke 94 Miami 79
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Beastley
I had a feeling that either Memphis or Kansas had a chance to go down tonight and you know what, one did: Kansas. The Jayhawks, my pick to win the national championship, were completely outplayed and dominated at the hands of Michael Beasley, Bill Walker, and K-State.
What else can you say about Beasley? This guy is a man amongst boys and you want to know how good he is? It looks like the Miami Heat are intentionally trying to tank their season in order to get him in uniform to form a Wade-Beasley duo that could flourish for years to come.
Beasley had 25 points, yet he didn't have a field goal the first 11 minutes of the game and he went an outstanding 4-4 from 3-point range. This guy is hands down the best player in the country and if he takes this Kansas State team to the tournament, with absolutely no guard play whatsover, he must be the front runner for National POY. I don't want to hear about Kevin Love or Chris Douglas-Roberts or Eric Gordon, all of their teams are tournament teams with or without them. This Kansas State team is not even a postseason team without Beasley (no NCAA, no NIT, no 3rd tournament that they are introducing, nothing).
With Kansas falling from the ranks of the unbeaten, the mission is this for Duke: beat NC State and Miami at home this week (which they absolutely should even though I'm a little weary about the Crazies wearing all green tomorrow night) and they will be the AP/ESPN #2 going into Chapel Hill on Wednesday night.
What else can you say about Beasley? This guy is a man amongst boys and you want to know how good he is? It looks like the Miami Heat are intentionally trying to tank their season in order to get him in uniform to form a Wade-Beasley duo that could flourish for years to come.
Beasley had 25 points, yet he didn't have a field goal the first 11 minutes of the game and he went an outstanding 4-4 from 3-point range. This guy is hands down the best player in the country and if he takes this Kansas State team to the tournament, with absolutely no guard play whatsover, he must be the front runner for National POY. I don't want to hear about Kevin Love or Chris Douglas-Roberts or Eric Gordon, all of their teams are tournament teams with or without them. This Kansas State team is not even a postseason team without Beasley (no NCAA, no NIT, no 3rd tournament that they are introducing, nothing).
With Kansas falling from the ranks of the unbeaten, the mission is this for Duke: beat NC State and Miami at home this week (which they absolutely should even though I'm a little weary about the Crazies wearing all green tomorrow night) and they will be the AP/ESPN #2 going into Chapel Hill on Wednesday night.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
NC State Missing the Point
Going into the 2007-08 college basketball season, the question surrounding the ACC was: who would be the 2nd best team in the ACC? Obviously, North Carolina, returning Lawson and Ellington to go with Psycho T, were the odds on favorites to win the ACC.
However, the battle for preseason #2, seemed like a tough one, especially considering my choices seemed to be Duke or NC State. Duke was coming its worst season since the 1996 campaign, which coincidentally ended the same way, a first round exit at the hands of a mid-major with an undersized, speedy point guard (1996-Eastern Michigan-Earl Boykins, 2007-VCU-Eric Maynor). The Blue Devils finished a mediocre 8-8 in the ACC, earned a #6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and to boot, lost their best low-post presence, albeit the very underwhelming Josh McRoberts. In addition, Duke swung and missed in the Patrick Patterson sweepstakes, leaving Duke with a Kate Moss frontcourt - very thin with little muscle.
On the flipside, the Wolfpack were coming off a season that started off mediocre but ended with NC State playing great ball, making a last stitch effort in the ACC Tournament only to come up a few minutes short in the title game, and then a very productive NIT. Take that into consideration, along with JJ Hickson, a McDonald's All-American, coming to Raleigh and you had the recipe for a very good team. One problem? They lost Engin Atsur to graduation. Atsur missed a third of the season last year and the Wolfpack were pitiful and clueless without him. When he returned, he proved to be the perfect compliment to an incredible array of young post players, specifically Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner, who some believe may be in the witness protection program this year because he's been an absolute no-show.
The absence of Atsur left me skeptical on how good this team would really be. However, I never thought in a million years that they would've limped out to a 13-6 record with horrible losses to New Orleans (no, not the Chris Paul-led Hornets), Eastern Carolina, and at home to Georgia Tech, which was desperate for a win at that point in the season. I mean they do have good wins against Villanova (on a BS last second foul call), Davidson (an impressive mid-major squad led by Stephon "Don't call me Dell" Curry) and Big East up and comers Cincy and Seton Hall.
Many people believe Duke will dominate this game. I do not. I believe they will win because they can take advantage of State's lack of ball handling ability and do the usual, force turnovers and turn it into easy points. However, if State can consistently get the ball down low, watch out. They have a number of gifted post players including the freshman JJ Hickson who is a physical specimen that Duke could only dream of having in their front court this year. I think Duke's pressure defense, ability to play the passing lanes, and of course, the home crowd will get them a W but it should be hard fought and not decided until late in the game.
Prediction: Duke 80 NC State 76
However, the battle for preseason #2, seemed like a tough one, especially considering my choices seemed to be Duke or NC State. Duke was coming its worst season since the 1996 campaign, which coincidentally ended the same way, a first round exit at the hands of a mid-major with an undersized, speedy point guard (1996-Eastern Michigan-Earl Boykins, 2007-VCU-Eric Maynor). The Blue Devils finished a mediocre 8-8 in the ACC, earned a #6 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and to boot, lost their best low-post presence, albeit the very underwhelming Josh McRoberts. In addition, Duke swung and missed in the Patrick Patterson sweepstakes, leaving Duke with a Kate Moss frontcourt - very thin with little muscle.
On the flipside, the Wolfpack were coming off a season that started off mediocre but ended with NC State playing great ball, making a last stitch effort in the ACC Tournament only to come up a few minutes short in the title game, and then a very productive NIT. Take that into consideration, along with JJ Hickson, a McDonald's All-American, coming to Raleigh and you had the recipe for a very good team. One problem? They lost Engin Atsur to graduation. Atsur missed a third of the season last year and the Wolfpack were pitiful and clueless without him. When he returned, he proved to be the perfect compliment to an incredible array of young post players, specifically Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner, who some believe may be in the witness protection program this year because he's been an absolute no-show.
The absence of Atsur left me skeptical on how good this team would really be. However, I never thought in a million years that they would've limped out to a 13-6 record with horrible losses to New Orleans (no, not the Chris Paul-led Hornets), Eastern Carolina, and at home to Georgia Tech, which was desperate for a win at that point in the season. I mean they do have good wins against Villanova (on a BS last second foul call), Davidson (an impressive mid-major squad led by Stephon "Don't call me Dell" Curry) and Big East up and comers Cincy and Seton Hall.
Many people believe Duke will dominate this game. I do not. I believe they will win because they can take advantage of State's lack of ball handling ability and do the usual, force turnovers and turn it into easy points. However, if State can consistently get the ball down low, watch out. They have a number of gifted post players including the freshman JJ Hickson who is a physical specimen that Duke could only dream of having in their front court this year. I think Duke's pressure defense, ability to play the passing lanes, and of course, the home crowd will get them a W but it should be hard fought and not decided until late in the game.
Prediction: Duke 80 NC State 76
BRB Breaking News...
Although it is still tentative in nature, it looks like BRB will be live blogging on WRAL.com for the Duke/North Carolina game on Wednesday, February 6th.
The details are still not perfected but I, along with a writer for a UNC blog, will collaborate to produce a live, confrontational blog to get the perspective of both the Blue Devil fan (BRB) and the Carolina fan (Mr. Tar Heel's Blog) while the action unfolds!
Details will come shortly but I hope all of you will tune in...
WRAL.com
Listen to the live Internet feed (good talk shows, just had DeMarcus Nelson on).
The details are still not perfected but I, along with a writer for a UNC blog, will collaborate to produce a live, confrontational blog to get the perspective of both the Blue Devil fan (BRB) and the Carolina fan (Mr. Tar Heel's Blog) while the action unfolds!
Details will come shortly but I hope all of you will tune in...
WRAL.com
Listen to the live Internet feed (good talk shows, just had DeMarcus Nelson on).
Monday, January 28, 2008
Duke a #1 Seed in Bracketology
After a year absence, Duke has earned its way back to a #1 seed in the latest version of bracketology.
TAKE A LOOK
Don't look now but if the Devils and Tar Heels continue their success this season, they will share the Raleigh 1st & 2nd Round region. Why should you care? Well, if 2005 is any indication, the crowd tends to be very hostile towards Duke because the majority of fans are Carolina fans and root heavily against Duke.
In 2005, after UNC breezed through their first two opponents, Carolina fans stuck around and almost single-handedly willed Lawrence Roberts and an inferior Mississippi State team to victory. You thought last night's Maryland crowd was hostile, go back to the tape and watch that game...
TAKE A LOOK
Don't look now but if the Devils and Tar Heels continue their success this season, they will share the Raleigh 1st & 2nd Round region. Why should you care? Well, if 2005 is any indication, the crowd tends to be very hostile towards Duke because the majority of fans are Carolina fans and root heavily against Duke.
In 2005, after UNC breezed through their first two opponents, Carolina fans stuck around and almost single-handedly willed Lawrence Roberts and an inferior Mississippi State team to victory. You thought last night's Maryland crowd was hostile, go back to the tape and watch that game...
Hostile Crowds
As the great Stewie Griffin once proclaimed after making a girl cry "See, this is why no one respects the WNBA"
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS...
This is why Pat Summitt shouldn't be considered the NCAA All-Time leader in wins. There should be an NCAA Men's record and an NCAA Women's record because it's apples and oranges. In the women's game, since there is very little television exposure except for the big-time programs, all of the good recruits go to Tennessee, UCONN, UNC, Duke, LSU etc...In the women's game, you can keep a star like Candace Parker four years and win championships. In the men's game, players equivalent to Candace Parker are the LeBron James' and Dwight Howard's of the world who never step foot on campus or Greg Oden's and Kevin Durant's who only come to college because of the one year rule and then bolt...To me, Bobby Knight is the all-time wins leader.
As for the article, you have to be kidding me. Summitt is considering ending the Duke series because the fans are mean to the players. Have you ever heard Coach K say something like that when the Maryland crowds chanted "JJ drinks his own pee", "JJ, I f***** your sister" (who happened to be 12 at the time" or "No Means No" when Shelden Williams shot free throws (referring to the allegation that Williams might have been involved in a gang rape, which eventually was found to be highly inaccurate). Did Jim Calhoun go crazy when the Villanova fans in the Wachovia Center collectively chanted "Where's my laptop?" when Marcus Williams touched the ball? No, because it's part of the road atmosphere. If Summitt doesn't want to hear those chants then she shouldn't recruit a player who plead guilty to shoplifting from a Walmart. I mean it's absolutely disgraceful to complain about this...Stop acting like a mother and see it for what it is, a hostile road atmosphere. That's not disgraceful, it's a clever student body trying to give their team every edge to win the game.
You want disgraceful? How about at last year's Duke-Tenn game in Knoxville, Men's bball coach Bruce Pearl jumping up and down topless, painted orange only to place attention on himself, which he so desperately craves. That's why he did that, not for Summitt and the Women's program, and that's why he wears that crazy Orange blazer because with bums like Pearl or Bruce Weber, it's all about them and not about the kids and that's the true disgrace in college basketball.
There's no one that hates Maryland and their fans more than me but some of the things they do are funny and clever and even the Duke players have a chuckle or two about some of the things they do (see flyers of Jon Sheyer's weird faces) or see on College Humor, a Duke fan holding up a "Redickulous" sign only for a Maryland fan to cleverly innovate and hold up a sign next to it that says "...ly GAY" spelling out "Redickulous-ly GAY." That's clever stuff and that is one of the things that makes me love college basketball more than any other sport.
Suck it up Pat...it's part of the game
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS...
This is why Pat Summitt shouldn't be considered the NCAA All-Time leader in wins. There should be an NCAA Men's record and an NCAA Women's record because it's apples and oranges. In the women's game, since there is very little television exposure except for the big-time programs, all of the good recruits go to Tennessee, UCONN, UNC, Duke, LSU etc...In the women's game, you can keep a star like Candace Parker four years and win championships. In the men's game, players equivalent to Candace Parker are the LeBron James' and Dwight Howard's of the world who never step foot on campus or Greg Oden's and Kevin Durant's who only come to college because of the one year rule and then bolt...To me, Bobby Knight is the all-time wins leader.
As for the article, you have to be kidding me. Summitt is considering ending the Duke series because the fans are mean to the players. Have you ever heard Coach K say something like that when the Maryland crowds chanted "JJ drinks his own pee", "JJ, I f***** your sister" (who happened to be 12 at the time" or "No Means No" when Shelden Williams shot free throws (referring to the allegation that Williams might have been involved in a gang rape, which eventually was found to be highly inaccurate). Did Jim Calhoun go crazy when the Villanova fans in the Wachovia Center collectively chanted "Where's my laptop?" when Marcus Williams touched the ball? No, because it's part of the road atmosphere. If Summitt doesn't want to hear those chants then she shouldn't recruit a player who plead guilty to shoplifting from a Walmart. I mean it's absolutely disgraceful to complain about this...Stop acting like a mother and see it for what it is, a hostile road atmosphere. That's not disgraceful, it's a clever student body trying to give their team every edge to win the game.
You want disgraceful? How about at last year's Duke-Tenn game in Knoxville, Men's bball coach Bruce Pearl jumping up and down topless, painted orange only to place attention on himself, which he so desperately craves. That's why he did that, not for Summitt and the Women's program, and that's why he wears that crazy Orange blazer because with bums like Pearl or Bruce Weber, it's all about them and not about the kids and that's the true disgrace in college basketball.
There's no one that hates Maryland and their fans more than me but some of the things they do are funny and clever and even the Duke players have a chuckle or two about some of the things they do (see flyers of Jon Sheyer's weird faces) or see on College Humor, a Duke fan holding up a "Redickulous" sign only for a Maryland fan to cleverly innovate and hold up a sign next to it that says "...ly GAY" spelling out "Redickulous-ly GAY." That's clever stuff and that is one of the things that makes me love college basketball more than any other sport.
Suck it up Pat...it's part of the game
Duke #3 in AP & ESPN Poll
Road wins against VA Tech & Maryland coupled with a Tennessee loss to Kentucky allowed Duke to move up one spot in the AP poll. Since Memphis and Kansas continued to roll, Duke could not move up in the ESPN.
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