Earlier in the season, amidst the expected rash of wins, Duke's continued lack of a single go-to athletic scorer bothered me quite a bit. There was much talk among sports analysts that this is a Final Four caliber team.
I begged to differ. I didn't think that being as balanced as they were would allow them to penetrate past the Sweet 16.
There were two conditions that needed to be met as I saw it: Gerald Henderson had to realize and become confident in the superstar that he could be. And Elliot Williams needed to start playing significant minutes.
Well, finally, both have happened. Gerald started turning it on January, and Elliot worked his tail off to get ready for when his chance finally came. And he's been contributing in a serious way ever since he got the starting nod against St. John's.
Not only does Williams have the potential to be an even more explosive athlete than Henderson, he is displaying tenacity on the defensive end that used to be displayed by all Duke players. Duke has been playing smart defense, but not intense defense. And Williams, thankfully, brings that intensity to the floor.
That's not to say that Williams does not have his drawbacks. He makes lots of freshman mistakes, but he is just a tick away from creating his shots at will, like Gerald has finally realized he can do.
So the pieces that were missing are in place, and the wins have been coming. Quality wins against Wake Forest and Maryland have allowed the Duke faithful to breathe a little easier as the end of the season approaches. Of their four straight victories (including at St. John's and tonight's victory at Virginia Tech), the win against Maryland was probably the most encouraging - the entire game (in Maryland) was close, and Duke found a way to win. The Wake Forest game was good in the end, but it, as well as the Virginia Tech game tonight, followed a nauseating pattern that has plagued Duke since their loss at home to North Carolina: get up big on turnovers and shot creation early, then squander that lead as the opposition makes adjustments to the pressure and begins to play smarter defense. In the most recent cases, Duke has held on to victory, but what is disturbing is Duke's reluctance to make adjustments to exploit new weaknesses and maintain their lead. Duke even benefited from a couple of seriously questionable calls in the final minute and and a half of tonight's game - and that's something we really don't want going into the final week of play.
All that being said, the pieces are in place, and Duke has won four in a row and remain a single game behind North Carolina in the ACC standings. Wins against Florida State and UNC in Chapel Hill will be difficult, but Duke has an intensity now that could push them over the top. We just need to see that intensity turn to strategic dissection of their opponents in the latter part of the contests. And, as a believer, I believe that we will.
Go Duke!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Duke is used to 30 point victories in the early part of the season. By the end of their season opener against Presbyterian on Monday, Duke tacked on another, 80-49, but the game was far from a resounding success in the eyes of the Duke coaches, players, and knowledgeable fans.
Duke struggled to open up a big lead in the first half before Greg Paulus came in and provided a spark. After the game, players talked about not being on the same page. Then in the second half, Duke failed to run the plays that Coach K called three out of four trips down the court. This is something that even young Duke teams haven't struggled with significantly in the early going for a long time.
This may come as a mild hit to the psyches of fans who have been getting their hopes up hearing about how Duke now has the experience they've lacked for the past two years, the athleticism to replace and exceed Demarcus Nelson's in Nolan Smith, Elliot Williams, and Gerald Henderson, and a surprisingly effective big man in freshman Miles Plumlee. However, in the opener, while the athleticism was evident in plays like Elliot Williams' 360 degree dunk, Miles Plumlee was largely ineffectual and the experience, while providing spark from time to time, did not supply the leadership needed to give Duke consistency throughout the game.
But it's a mild hit at most. It's very, very early, and the Duke coaching staff has some time to build the hustle and consistency back into the team from top to bottom. If they do, then as we hope, Duke could remain a legitimate top 10 contender all year.
Already in their second game against Georgia-Southern, Duke is playing more cohesively. Czyz and Pocius are both seeing some action, and the usual suspects are in double digit figures.
We'll have an early look on freshman production after the game on Sunday.
Go Duke!
Duke struggled to open up a big lead in the first half before Greg Paulus came in and provided a spark. After the game, players talked about not being on the same page. Then in the second half, Duke failed to run the plays that Coach K called three out of four trips down the court. This is something that even young Duke teams haven't struggled with significantly in the early going for a long time.
This may come as a mild hit to the psyches of fans who have been getting their hopes up hearing about how Duke now has the experience they've lacked for the past two years, the athleticism to replace and exceed Demarcus Nelson's in Nolan Smith, Elliot Williams, and Gerald Henderson, and a surprisingly effective big man in freshman Miles Plumlee. However, in the opener, while the athleticism was evident in plays like Elliot Williams' 360 degree dunk, Miles Plumlee was largely ineffectual and the experience, while providing spark from time to time, did not supply the leadership needed to give Duke consistency throughout the game.
But it's a mild hit at most. It's very, very early, and the Duke coaching staff has some time to build the hustle and consistency back into the team from top to bottom. If they do, then as we hope, Duke could remain a legitimate top 10 contender all year.
Already in their second game against Georgia-Southern, Duke is playing more cohesively. Czyz and Pocius are both seeing some action, and the usual suspects are in double digit figures.
We'll have an early look on freshman production after the game on Sunday.
Go Duke!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Final Exhibition
Well, the final exhibition game for the Blue Devils ended at 95-42 for Duke. Just a quick post on this, as I just found that Michael Crichton died and am a bit stunned.
Lenoir-Rhyne
Check that. Five minutes later, and with the addition of David McClure, Duke finds themselves up by 20.
Threes aren't falling super-often, reminding us that college basketball has a new 3-pt line distance this year. The long ball is so important for Duke, it will be interesting to see if the new distance affects them at all.
Threes aren't falling super-often, reminding us that college basketball has a new 3-pt line distance this year. The long ball is so important for Duke, it will be interesting to see if the new distance affects them at all.
Lenoir-Rhyne
In the early going, Duke is playing poorly against Lenoir-Rhyne. It's tied at 13, and Coach K is pissed, saying that the boys are not ready to play. They're bending at the waist to pick up balls instead of diving on the floor, something Greg Paulus is hopefully going to remedy as he gets brought in.
What I don't need on my birthday, is Duke not playing their hardest.
Go Duke.
What I don't need on my birthday, is Duke not playing their hardest.
Go Duke.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
No Way to Win
It is ironic that the first post of the 2008-2009 season should largely not be about Duke, but the news of the moment is the first-in-history unanimous selection of the North Carolina Tar Heels as the preseason number one team in the AP, Coaches, and ACC polls.
No doubt, North Carolina is an incredible college basketball team. You have four or five guys who could have gone in the first round of last year's NBA draft, and they're all back for another year, a la the Florida Gators. Err...well...not exactly. See, the Gators WON the title the first time through and returned to win it AGAIN.
The Tar Heels, on the other hand, got embarrassed by Kansas in the semifinals last year, due not to Kansas' overwhelming talent, but to the fact that North Carolina came out flat. They came out flat in one of the most important games in any of their careers. They're so good, they almost made up for it, but it wasn't good enough.
And so, this year is a dream year for a Duke fan. People want to make the argument that North Carolina is not only great but also has new incentive this year since they got their collective ass handed to them last year. You call it incentive. I'll call it crushing pressure. North Carolina's preseason is 33 games long, and the only game of their regular season is the NCAA final, and they're not even guaranteed to get there. Imagine playing 30 plus exhibition games, hoping that you'll be let into the regular season. Granted, they don't have to win each exhibition game, but every one that they do win will be no reason to celebrate. And every loss (and I'm predicting at least one, likely coming in the first three weeks) casts more doubt on their ability to make it to the Final, and win it.
That kind of pressure is going to suck the joy out of their year. Well, it'll suck whatever joy they pretend is still available, anyway. Because even if they meet their goal of a National Championship this year, they miss what their ultimate goal was: to realize their potential. They have ALREADY FAILED to do that, in handing Kansas the title last year, so there is no way for them to ultimately succeed in 2009.
The Tar Heels are already failures. Failures. This year is about staying only Failures and not becoming Absolute Failures. Can even the great Tyler "Beaker" Hansbrough keep his intensity up knowing that he has to generate an undefeated season just to remain a failure? He may. But then, as a Duke fan, so what? Even he does, he's succeeded only in keeping the Tar Heels and Roy Williams from winning the Greatest Choke In Sports History title.
And that's fine.
No doubt, North Carolina is an incredible college basketball team. You have four or five guys who could have gone in the first round of last year's NBA draft, and they're all back for another year, a la the Florida Gators. Err...well...not exactly. See, the Gators WON the title the first time through and returned to win it AGAIN.
The Tar Heels, on the other hand, got embarrassed by Kansas in the semifinals last year, due not to Kansas' overwhelming talent, but to the fact that North Carolina came out flat. They came out flat in one of the most important games in any of their careers. They're so good, they almost made up for it, but it wasn't good enough.
And so, this year is a dream year for a Duke fan. People want to make the argument that North Carolina is not only great but also has new incentive this year since they got their collective ass handed to them last year. You call it incentive. I'll call it crushing pressure. North Carolina's preseason is 33 games long, and the only game of their regular season is the NCAA final, and they're not even guaranteed to get there. Imagine playing 30 plus exhibition games, hoping that you'll be let into the regular season. Granted, they don't have to win each exhibition game, but every one that they do win will be no reason to celebrate. And every loss (and I'm predicting at least one, likely coming in the first three weeks) casts more doubt on their ability to make it to the Final, and win it.
That kind of pressure is going to suck the joy out of their year. Well, it'll suck whatever joy they pretend is still available, anyway. Because even if they meet their goal of a National Championship this year, they miss what their ultimate goal was: to realize their potential. They have ALREADY FAILED to do that, in handing Kansas the title last year, so there is no way for them to ultimately succeed in 2009.
The Tar Heels are already failures. Failures. This year is about staying only Failures and not becoming Absolute Failures. Can even the great Tyler "Beaker" Hansbrough keep his intensity up knowing that he has to generate an undefeated season just to remain a failure? He may. But then, as a Duke fan, so what? Even he does, he's succeeded only in keeping the Tar Heels and Roy Williams from winning the Greatest Choke In Sports History title.
And that's fine.
Monday, February 4, 2008
2 v 3
On February 6th, not only will we see the best rivalry in sports renewed, but it will be a match up of the 2nd and 3rd ranked teams in the country.
Duke and North Carolina hold the two and three spots in both the coaches and AP polls. The only thing that could make this any better is if they were both undefeated and ranked one and two. This game is going to be epic.
Duke has played a somewhat more difficult ACC schedule than UNC so far, and they have come through without a loss, whereas UNC, the pre-season favorite for ACC dominance, has already dropped a game to one of Duke's victims.
This in no way means that Duke is favored going into enemy territory on Wednesday, but they are certainly in better position to compete with a fantastic Tar Heels team than they were last year. Particularly with a defense that actually becomes more suffocating as the game wears on.
UNC will see the best defense they've faced this year, and they will be trying to still an offense that has shown that it can post strong numbers - without a dominant big man.
Duke will see the best defensive big man they've seen this year in Hansbrough, and an offense that can simply light it up.
Prediction: Duke 81 UNC 78
GO DUKE!!!!
Duke and North Carolina hold the two and three spots in both the coaches and AP polls. The only thing that could make this any better is if they were both undefeated and ranked one and two. This game is going to be epic.
Duke has played a somewhat more difficult ACC schedule than UNC so far, and they have come through without a loss, whereas UNC, the pre-season favorite for ACC dominance, has already dropped a game to one of Duke's victims.
This in no way means that Duke is favored going into enemy territory on Wednesday, but they are certainly in better position to compete with a fantastic Tar Heels team than they were last year. Particularly with a defense that actually becomes more suffocating as the game wears on.
UNC will see the best defense they've faced this year, and they will be trying to still an offense that has shown that it can post strong numbers - without a dominant big man.
Duke will see the best defensive big man they've seen this year in Hansbrough, and an offense that can simply light it up.
Prediction: Duke 81 UNC 78
GO DUKE!!!!
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