Duke draws NC State

Things could be better for the Blue Devils. Their path the ACC Tournament Finals all but guarantees that they would have to face two teams with prolific guards. Virginia in round two and either Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech in round three. Duke has struggled all year against teams with strong guard play, and now, with their entire defense looking suspect, is not the time to take another hit on their Achilles heel.

Oh, would that Duke had finished 5th. Or heck, even twelfth. Then a first round win would have them playing the abysmal and jackass-ridden Boston College in the second round. Boston College sucks. They should be thanking their lucky stars they stumbled in at fourth in the conference and aren't having to battle it out in the trenches in the first round. They've lost four of their last five, and six of their last eleven ACC matchups. In the six conference wins they have managed since January 16th, four of them were over the teams in the bottom four in the ACC, with only one quality win against Virginia Tech.

They're horrible right now. Dudley is a scrapper, but the entire lot is a bunch of whining babies. Seriously, I've never seen a team get away with more out and out crying to the officials. Constant nagging, constant whining. Sean Marshall is the worst. I've seen him applaud a missed free throw by an opponent, mock refs behind their backs when reprimanded, and leave the free throw line between shots to go complain to an official. One of the biggest jackasses in college basketball.

But getting back to the point, Duke's first match is against the NC State Wolfpack. Duke beat up Sidney Lowe's new team earlier in the season, and while Duke has struggled lately, the Pack is not in any better shape. They've lost six of their last eight, all but one of them by 15 points or more. What's more, they don't have superstar guards, so Duke figures to be a decent favorite here. However, Duke's low post defense has not been what it once was in the last two games, so who knows.

Keep the faith.

Go Duke