Sunday, March 29, 2009

SETH CURRY TO DUKE

Seth Curry, brother of Stephen , yes, has decided to transfer to Duke from Liberty. Curry was the leading scorer among freshman in all of D-I this year. What a welcome addition to the team, he will join the team after sitting out next year. Then in 2010, that team will be just dirty. With what looks like a monster recruiting class in the works, we are sitting real pretty right now! And if John Wall made his way here, that would just be crazy!

STAY TUNED and Go Duke!

Villanova Vanquishes the Devils

Well........let's get a quick show of hands out there and see who thought this one would have ended up a 24 pt shellacking by Nova. No one? Oh, just what I thought. Yes, though, many people did call for Nova to win, but in a blowout? Didn't see that coming. Well, anyway......A Scheyer 3 and Lance's bucket represented the first 5 points of the game, but sadly, it went completely sour from there. The team just looked physically overmatched, Nova played some awesome D. It was a shame we pretty much drew the matchup from hell here has Villanova just caused problems everywhere on defense with their length, athleticism, and depth. It reminded me of the '06 LSU loss, we were completely hounded everywhere we went, and we shot awfully. Gerald sure helped his NBA stock alot by shooting a torrid 1-15. He's still thinking about going to the Association. Well, at least Singler is coming back, he said. That's the silver lining to this huge cloud here, but we are still hoping G comes back. If he does, then we are going to have a helluva squad next year.
Sorry for not talking about the game that much....there really is not that much to say except we were completely handled on both ended of the floor. It's such a shame for the seniors (Greg, Dave, and Marty) to have to go out like this, ending their time here. Especially for Greg, who represented this program so well, gave everything he could to this team for 4 years, and handled his role change so well this year. Best of luck in all of your future endeavors, guys.
Something interesting was that Coach K has actually came out and said that he is acknowledging the fans' and alumni's rumblings about recruiting. It has definitely been painfully obvious that this is an incomplete team. G and Singler are pretty much the only NBA talent on the team. Look back to the late 90's-early 00's. Almost every player in the starting lineups then made it in the NBA. This program no longer is home to the top talent in the nation. No point. While Scheyer performed admirably in that position to close out the year, he is not the long term answer. Hell, we only have one more year with him. No center. Look, the point/center prospects that we recruit/sign (Shaun Livingston) always end up elsewhere. Greg Monroe? At Georgetown. Patrick Patterson? At Kentucky. Greg Echenique? At Rutgers. It is beyond me, why none of these kids would want to play for three teams that were NIT quality or worse this year, over one of the nation's top programs, and more puzzlingly with a vacancy at center. Look, nobody wants to be the center at Duke? With no centers already there? What is this coming to? My hope is that the '10 class will turn into something special with Thornton, Dawkins, Hairston, and hopefully Harrison Barnes. 
Speaking of point guards, the John Wall story, the number 1 PG prospect for next year, who we have been in contact with after Kenny Boynton decided to go elsewhere, has a new wrinkle in the story. He has actually listed Duke, according to ESPN, who was considered a longshot for him, in his final two along with Memphis. He will be meeting with Coach K today, for K to make his pitch and plead for him to join him here. He actually figures to fit perfect at Memphis though, given Memphis' reputation to house one and dones for a year, and him, with Xavier Henry and DeMarcus Cousins would make a jawdropper of a class. Wall, on the other hand has been quoted by a lot of people saying that he is "not a Duke player". Why not? Don't tell me you wouldn't be elated if Wall stepped foot in Durham, if it was only for a year. Wall is actually a good kid. Sure he will probably only spend a year in college. Some Duke fans do not think he would fit the program, his character is an issue. Bullshit. Wall could come here and make a big impact on the team for a year, before the '10 class arrives. One part of the Wall saga has brought to light shadiness in his recruitment in some people's eyes. Dwon Clifton, one of his AAU coaches, was hired away last year to Baylor. Baylor then made an immediate appearance at the top of his college list. Thus rung an alarm in some people's heads that this was a shady recruitment in the making. Since then though, Baylor has pretty much faded away in his college choices. Wall also wants to attend school close to his ailing mother. Waco, Texas is a hike from Raleigh. Not gonna cut it. Durham is a good 10-15 minutes from Raleigh. Close to home indeed. Memphis, our competitor for Wall's services, is half a day away. 12 hours. Will this be a deciding factor though, it remains to be seen. Wall going to Duke would be great. He could prove everybody wrong by coming here, showing that he is his own person, not going to Baylor, where his handler Dwon Clifton, now resides. He would prove everybody wrong by saying he does not simply want to land at Memphis for a year, just to build his draft stock. At Duke, he could do that and more, and also get a nice education for a year (Something i'm sure Mrs. Wall would like.) Some people think Wall is the thuggy type, well prove them wrong, John, and look no farther then Durham. Initially in his recruitment, we were not there. But after the Boynton debacle, we took a look. And he's been to a couple games at Cameron. We were considered a longshot for him, and now I am almost shocked that he has included us in his final two. Memphis may be the favorite for him right now, but Coach K is meeting with him today to make his case. By including Duke in his top 2, that has really spoken to me about his character. He has spurned a father-figure to him (Clifton) at Baylor, and he looks like he will not be going to N.C. State. I never thought we would be this big of a player in the Wall race. Since we've gotten this far, recent recruiting failures aside (Patterson, Monroe, Boynton)why not think we can get him? Come on, John, We'd love to have you at Duke. We NEED you. 
Having John Wall would be HUGE for this program. One step closer in completing the puzzle here. 

Go DUKE!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Battle Royale in Boston: (2)Duke 30-6, vs (3) Villanova 28-7

Sweet 16! Yeah! We're back for the 10th time in 12 years!
Sorry about the lateness of this, precisely 1 hour and 16 minutes from tip. My bad. So it looks like instead of writing up a preview, I will instead link you to the fabulous preview the TwoDukies, my personal favorites, have written.

Ha! But did you think I was going to be lazy enough not to throw in my 2 cents? Not so fast, says Lee Corso. Villanova is obviously a formiddable opponent in front of us. They had to turn on the jets late to escape American the first round, followed by a shellacking of UCLA in part deux, 89-69. Villanova appears to have been the media darlings of the week, as everyone, every analyst employed by the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN, folks.) has picked the Wildcats to advance. Why no love for us? Are we overstaying our welcome? Of course not...our run is JUST BEGINNING!!!!!! Ex-Dukie Taylor King, yes the Biff look alike, and his new team shall not prevail tonight! Taylor KIng, just make like a TREE, and GET OUT OF HERE!

Despite that many recognize Scottie Reynolds as Nova's best player, 6-8 bruiser Dante Cunningham most definitely is. He and Kyle Singler look to battle out in a tussle of epic proportions. Who will get his way? Will Cunningham maximize his post edge early and often, or will Kyle drag him out to pop threes and penetrate the lane? Who knows. That is the key matchup of the game, as if Kyle with help from Brian, Dave, and Lance, are able to slow down Cunningham, that will be huge. Of course, though, if the refs allow this one to be a tough slugfest, the Nova has the advantage. Dwyane Anderson on the Cats also needs to be kept in check.

Villanova, strangely, benches Corey Fisher, who is arguably their 3rd best player. Him and Corey#2, Corey Stokes provide superior marksmanship from 3. If we can play the kind of perimeter D we had vs Texas, saturday, then we can definitely make the two a nonfactor. Also worth noting is that the battle of the PG's-a serious height deficiency for Nova lies within. Fisher who comes off the bench to assume the PG stands at 6-0, while Scheyer registers 5 inches taller. Advantage, US!

Ahhh, so what happens in the end? All of Bristol, Connecticut thinks Villanova will be the one who vanquishes the Blue Devils here, as likely as that looks to be, given Villanova's impressive showing against UCLA, I am not feeling them here. Obviously, if Nova is able to dictate a physical tempo, and the refs let it pass, we are in trouble. But I feel like this team is on a mission. Cunningham will get 20+, I think, but we will clamp down on the rest of the Wildcats to advance to the Elite 8, and possibly play Xavier (currently beating Pitt), who we beat to advance to the Final Four coincidentally the last time we were in the Elite 8, back in '04.
Besides, you know what happened the last time we beat a Wildcats team in the NCAA tournament? We won the national championship back in '01! (beating Arizona)

Come on DUKE! Let's go to the ELITE 8!!!!

Duke 70, Villanova 65

Friday, March 20, 2009

NCAA Tournament Second Round: Duke (29-6) vs. Texas (23-11)

That was nice. Real nice. The first time we've really beat anyone convincingly in the first round since '04. Seriously, that's how bad it's been. 04 we throttled Alabama State 96-60, then the downward spiral started. 05 saw a ugly 57-46 decision against (16) Delaware State. 06 had an only slightly better showing, and underwhelming 70-54 game vs. (16) Southern, who felt the wrath of J.J Redick and Shelden Williams, (57 points combined), but no one else on the team. (13 points besides Redick/Williams.) ) 07, well you know, happened. Then most recently, last year, we were able to wake up from the (15) Belmont nightmare. By 1. But last night, we had a thing we hadn't seen in a while. A NCAA tournament game in which we completely bitch-slapped our opponent. Hard to believe we hadn't seen that in a while. We took control early, and were already in the bonus 7 minutes into the game. Some defensive lapses in the 1st half, but nevermind those. Elliot Williams and Lance Thomas had unexpected impressive showings, and the team balanced the scoring out. (6 in double figures). Jon led us with 15. Good win, 86-62. Now we have Texas.
Will this be the latest in the series of demolitions of Texas the past years? 2001 saw us destroy them 95-69 in the Preseason NIT. 04, we again saw Rick Barnes squad get systematically dismantled again, 89-61. Then, in 2006, we had the epic #1 Duke vs #2 Texas showdown, which resulted in a 97-66 Duke win, and 41 point from J.J Redick. Wow. I wonder sometimes how each time we have played Texas, they have fielded good squads in each matchup, but we completely obliterate them each time. Will this continue tommorow? You know, the last time we won our opener by 20+, we proceeded to blow Seton Hall out of the water the next round, 90-62. I don't know about this year though. Texas is playing pretty damn good lately. A.J Abrams, Bevo's leading scorer has the ability to take over games, at 16.6 PPG. He connected on 8 trifectas yesterday vs. Minnesota. Unless he becomes basically the 2nd player this year to torch us from beyond the arc (Jimmy Baron), then I think we will do fine. His supporting cast features 6-7 swingman Damion James who can also do a little scoring of his own. Cause for concern? Yes. He plays the 2-3. Mismatch here. He's a couple inches taller then the two possible candidates to guard him (6-5 Scheyer, 6-4 Henderson) (I think Elliot should guard Abrams by the way.). So, to fix this, you want Singler to slide over and guard him? One problem. Who checks F Gary Johnson, and hulking 6-10, 298 lb Dexter Pittman? Kyle? Dave? Zoubs? We've got some work for you tommorow. Meanwhile, Abrams has been revealed to only be 5-11, so here's our edge. Our 2, Gerald, is 6-4.  Which means G should be free to run free, with his defender giving up 5 inches to him. In the same way, Pittman and Johnson, the problem they appear to be, oddly, seem like they won't be able to check Singler as he hangs out on the perimeter. Weird how each player is a mismatch for each other. Oh well. The game isn't played on matchups, and we've had success this year against considerable size disadvantages. Go DUKE! Onto the Sweet 16 in Boston!

Duke 76, Texas 70

Thursday, March 19, 2009

NCAA Tournament First Round: #6 Duke (28-6) vs Binghamton (23-8)

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of BeDeviled. Tonight, the Duke Blue Devils, the champions of the ACC take on the America East champion and first time dancer Binghamton in Greensboro, NC in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Binghamton? Who?. Exactly what I thought when I saw our matchup. FYI though, after a quick googling brings up the fact that they are a SUNY college, located in, you guessed it, the cozy town of Binghamton, NY. They claim, in their eyes to be one of one of the top public universities in the country. But, apparently, they don't look like they are competant Photoshoppers, unfortunately. Binghamton also claims to be one of the top schools for.......wait? They have a basketball team? A team that made it to the NCAA Tournament? And they've drawn Duke for their first round matchup? Tough luck.
Binghamton will get their shot at Duke tonight, after winning the America East Conference title for their first appearance here ever. Will they give Duke a run for their money, reliving the '08 Belmont nightmare? Yes they could, however, that is NOT likely. Different Duke team. That team had just about hit the wall at that point. Now, it looks like we're peaking right about now. Belmont is a much different team than Binghamton.
 Bearcat F D.J Rivera won't have any of that, as he of the 20.4 PPG has other ideas. Still, Rivera, only 6-4 while playing the 4 will likely draw the assignment of defending Singler. Really. Singler has looked like a man possessed at times in the ACCT, snaring rebounds everywhere, banging down low effectively at times, and connecting on many a trifecta here or there. Now you thought Rivera has a size disadvantage, wait til you here this. The Bearcats don't really utilize anyone over 6'6. While we might have some height problems of our own, that's a mismatch. We have to EXPLOIT it though, as that fact alone doesn't get us a free pass. Lets hope we see some Zoubs, as well as Singler doing some work down low. This team simply does not match up well with us, though the fact that this team is quick and athletic could present a problem here or there. Oh well....nothing K won't fix anyway. Look for the Bearcats to hang around for 10 minutes or so....until fading into the night, while Singler, Scheyer (ACC Tourney MVP, and Gerald) take the reins!

Go Duke!

Duke 80, Binghamton 62

Sunday, March 15, 2009

ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME TIME!

#8 Duke, 27-6 (13-5), vs. #22 Florida State, 25-8 (12-6)

Well looky here folks! We're in the ACC championship game! Vs. Florida State! Who would have thought we would meet up again with the Nulls here again? Sorry for no entry yesterday, I was feeling down, the best part of the day for me was the third vanquishing of the Twerps this year, and UNC getting eliminated.
Luckily, I am feeling a bit better today! I'm ready to get the second 3-peat over an ACC opponent in the last two days. This FSU team though, is a helluva lot tougher than that upstart Maryland team that was on a bit of a roll. In a way, I almost would rather play UNC than FSU, though. Why? We know UNC so good, we have played their starting lineup as of now 4 times, we know how to beat them (although we cant), and they don't have LOLson, who is out with a hangnail-errr toe injury. There is no doubt in my mind we would beat them if we were playing them today. FSU presents some problems for us. Sure, we have beaten them twice, but in two difficult contests. FSU has a stable of long post men to throw at us, and they have really disrupted us at times with their length and athleticism. Don't forget the best player in the ACC, Toney Douglas, although don't tell the media that. (Lawbreakerson was voted POY instead). Douglas has gone off the last two games, with 25 vs GT and 27 vs the Powder Blue Pussies. E-Mail will likely be guarding him, and if Elliot can get to him like he disrupted Tyrese Rice so much, then we are golden! The other guard on FSU, Derwin Kitchen has actually made the game clinching shots (and free throws) in the last two games, but I don't think we have to worry about him here. Lock down Alabi as well, and FSU has pretty much no one outside of those 3 who could seriously hurt us. Echefu? Good for a put back or two? Singleton? Looked awful yesterday. Dulkys? Yeah, he might come off the bench and do his best Melchionni impression, hit a 3 and not really do anything besides that. Reid? Well, not if he plans to use a BB gun during the game. Here's the point though. While FSU outside of Douglas might not be hard to lock down on, their long frames could really disrupt us on D in the paint and the lane. Which calls for another big performance from Scheyer, who had a fantastic game yesterday. Nolan is also looking great, and if he can give us just 6-9 points, that could be big. Singler is also doing work down low so far in this tournament (40 pts, 20 boards, 9 blocks!)And he has alos played 40 vs BC and Maryland! Someone get this man a towel! Another thing that will be key is the curious performances by G the past two games. Only 24 points. Despite having the game winning layup vs. BC, he has been relatively quiet. He's missing from the line, and he's relying on his J too much. Come on, G reclaim the airspace in the lane you own! Also gotta give a shout-out to DAVE MCCLURE! Dave's interior defense and rebounding has been huge for us this year, and those were 4 big points he had yesterday to help us break away! Greg did decent for us, and it was good to see him on the court after he only got ONE minute of playing time vs BC.

You know what, besides all the length, and talent FSU has down low, and with Douglas, I have a good feeling about this game. Talent and size together cannot beat execution alone. It has been a reoccuring theme before, where UNC gets knocked off in the semis, and we get UNC's assailant. And you know what?, We always pull it out!
GO DUKE!

Duke 72, Florida State 68

Friday, March 13, 2009

ACC Quarterfinals from Atlanta

#8 Duke, 25-6 (11-5) vs. Boston College, 22-10, (9-7)
Welcome and greetings to Atlanta, the site of the 2009 ACC Tournament. Still wondering why this tourney is never in Greensboro anymore, its true home. What is it with the tourney these days.....Tampa Bay, D.C., Atlanta? Why isn't it either in Charlotte, at least, or Greensboro, preferably. Hmmmm.....moving on now......

BeeCee, by putting Dave Leitao and UVA's season out of it's misery last night, earned a chance to go 2 for 2 vs. Duke this year. And I'm not so sure that will happen. BC won a yawner of Virginia last night, 76-63. Tyrese Rice, had strangely only 9 points last night. And the hero of the Round I against Duke, Reggie Jackson, who had 24 the first meeting, only had 2 vs the Hoos. Rakim Sanders led BC with 25 to lead all scorers. So will Skinner's Squad pull off an upset again? No, they wont. Because the debacle at their place was the beginning of our current starting lineup (Schy, G, EMail, Kyle, Lance), and Paulus was still starting at that time (not to knock him or anything). Scheyer has since then flourished at the point. We have improved dramatically, Elliot has been a revelation for us, and we are playing some of our best ball right now. Never mind the UNC game, we played them very close, we just could not make plays and finish the deal. I'm fine with it. Almost a week of rest going into this game will do some good too. I have feeling this team could be poised to make a run in March. This guy thinks so too. This could be the year we exorcize our recent postseason demons. An ACC tournament title would be nice, although we would most likely have a LOLson-less? UNC in our way for the championship, providing we win our first 2.
B.C. should not provide a obstacle too formidable to get by if we can just focus and play our game. The first meeting, we got off to a good start, but we pretty much played no D and pissed the game away in the finall 22 minutes. What was a 12 point lead 2 minutes before the intermission turned to a skinny 5 point halftime lead. All downhill from there, we had a chance at the end, but it didn't happen. An interesting stat from that game is that we only had 3 points produced from the PG position that game (Nolan, Greg). And Elliot did not leave the bench that game. That will be different this time around. Tyrese Rice, for being the electric scorer he is, has averaged a rather pedestrian 13.3 pts his last 3 games (by his standards, at least). Stopping him would be great, but BC rolled, even with only 9 from him last night. Rakim Sanders, the star of last night needs to be contained as well. I wonder if Elliot will guard Sanders or Rice.....My guess is Rice though, he has been their best player all year. BC's frontcourt hasn't been too imposing this year, except for combo forward Joe Trapani impressing ocassionally. Next to Trapani is Josh Southern, who plays the 5 for these guys. Another F, Corey Raji will also see time. Will Duke come out and put BC away? We definitely can, but BC will be gunning for us again. G needs to rebound from his tough game at UNC, and Elliot needs to play some D on Rice or Sanders. I see Duke rolling, with some resistance though.

Duke 77, Boston College 69

Thursday, March 12, 2009

ACC TOURNAMENT TIME!!

Well folks, we have entered ourselves into the wonderfulness that is March Madness. Yay! First up we have the ACC tournament, though. It's always fun to watch it, and you can see the bracket here.  As you can see, we will play the winner of BC-Virginia on Friday at 9 PM, so stay tuned!
Let's Go DUKE!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Round 2: The Conquest of Chapel Hill

#7 DUKE 25-5 (11-4) @ #2 NORTH CAROLINA 26-3 (12-3)

Here we are, folks. Round 2 of the greatest rivalry in sports, and the regular season finale. One team (UNC) has failed to live up to lofty pre-season expectations, but still managed to put together a fine season. In the other corner, we have Duke, who has had a roller-coaster of a season thus far. Duke initially started out hot, but a puzzling beatdown at Clemson sent the team into a curious tailspin, losing 4 of 6. My, have the fortunes of Duke changed since then, but now we have a couple of injuries as well. Nolan will miss the 3rd straight game, out with a concussion, and Lance and Z have some nagging injuries as well. The key to Duke's late season revival has been Elliot Williams. Out of the bazillion lineup changes we have had this year, Jon, G, Elliot, Kyle, and Lance has worked out the best. Elliot has really been composed for a freshman-he also brings a tenacious defensive presence with his long frame, and he can also hit a shot or two and get some putbacks.
We are playing our best ball of the year right now, in my opinion. Can the team go into Chapel Hell and ruin the Marvelous Mouth-breather Tyler Handsburro's senior night, returning the favor for '06? Why yes, yes they can, but it is going to be quite the effort. Emotions for Tyler will be high today, causing the refs to send him to the line about 30 times. That I do not wish for. The atmosphere in the K-Dome will be more than the normal whine-and-cheese crowd there.
Now, onto the game. The story of the game will be Duke's injury problems (primarily frontcourt) and how they will affect us. We can win, no doubt. It is just going to take one helluva effort. Ol' Horseface Williams, in his best, most convincing way has also said that Tyyyyyyy Lawbreakerson left practice the other day on crutches, because he stubbed his toe? Broke a toenail?. Please......Lawson is going to play the full game in this. Nice try, Roy, we're not buying it. A lot has changed since the first meeting, (with us.). You guys still play the defense of 5 traffic cones on D, nothing really has changed. We, on the other hand, have discovered our secret weapon- E.Williams. And he's coming for you, Lawbreakerson. But still, all is not peaches and cream. We are pretty thin on the inside, with Z with a broken nose, and Lance, with a ankle sprain. Both figure to play sparingly, but we will need them. It's your time MILES!!!!
UNC on the other hand, throws out Cryler Handjob, Deon Thompson, Ed Davis, and Tyler Zeller to throw at our paper thin frontcourt. Here's to hoping Dave, Miles, Kyle and Z can play some good D down low! I want to see Thompson being acknowledged as an actual player on UNC, instead being seen as just a space eater....consequently, he scored UNC's first 8 pts the first time around. Let's go out there and play some solid defense, and ATTEMPT to keep Handjob off the line!!! Come on, Kyle, we need you to have another big game!
On to the backcourt....Can we contain LOLson? Elliot Williams will be the key to that. If we cannot, we are in a world of hurt. You saw how he repeatadly sliced and diced his way into the lane at will the first matchup. Stopping that would help us tremendously, and you, Elliot Williams, are the key! Who on UNC can stop G? No one really, so I think he will have a big game. You saw how he willed us to the win on Tuesday, what will he do today? What will Scheyer do? He needs to be steady in his new PG role, and it would help if he could hit a couple 3's as well. 
Let me bring up the example of the '01 season finale-at the K Dome. Sans Carlos Boozer with a broken leg we entered the Dean E. Smith Center with no chance in the media's eyes to win. Our new, quick strike lineup, with Reggie Love, Casey Sanders, and Matt Christensen performed admirably in Boozer's spot, going in and shocking the Holes, winning 95-81. Let's not get all excited though, these are different teams, Duke then and now, and UNC then and now. We ended up winning the NC that year, and that team was a  lot better then this one. UNC on the other hand was OK, featuring Joe Forte and Brendan Haywood. Today's UNC team is a helluva lot better than that one. 
What will come out of this game? We can definitely win vs this less than-impressively performing Tar Hole squad. All we need to do is stay steady throughout the game, don't abandon our gameplan when distressed, like we did the first meeting. No track meets, either. DO NOT make this into an up and down game. MAKE them play D. Defense is some kind of foreign concept to them. But alas, I am actually nervous for this game....nothing like the first time around where I was almost sure we would win. 
Come on DUKE! 
Spoil Handjob's Senior Day and return the favor! GTHC, GTHC!!!!
GO DUKE!!!

UNC 87 Duke 80
PROVE ME WRONG, BOYS!

Thursday, March 5, 2009

POST GAME: Duke 84, Florida State 81

Sorry for being this late. I have been hella busy lately, and to make it worse I was unfortunate enough to have to miss the first 38:40 of this game. I can't really give a good or in depth recap then, but I shall attept anyway.
Closer than expected. Did a double take when I saw the halftime score, FSU by 6, 40-34. That's been the story (and the opposite a couple times, for ACC games this year.) Start slow then finish blazing. (FSU twice, GT, NC State, at Maryland, Miami). The exact opposite (start firing on all cylinders, then go flat) has happened too this season more than a couple times, but I will not go in to that.
Toney Douglas and Co. jumped out in front midway through the 1st half and we didn't regain the lead until a Singler 3 in the middle of the 2nd. From there, it was on and on, a nailbiter. G and Douglas had some really clutch play in the last 2 mins; Douglas a 3 with 2 minutes left to give FSU the lead, and G a jumper to regain the lead for good. Free throws iced it. Glad we could send out Greg, Dave, and Marty with a win. Thank you seniors!
Anyways still, there are some issues approaching the last and biggest game of the season thus far. Injuries. Yes, more than a couple. Nolan, Lance, and Brian are all injured yet Lance and Brian will probably play Sunday. Nolan,  don't think will play Sunday, they're going to be cautious with him. Lance has an ankle sprain, and Z has a broken nose, which will probably require him to wear a Tyler Handsburro-esque mask.

I'll have a big preview for you Sunday, until then GO DUKE!
On to the Conquest of Chapel Hill!

Monday, March 2, 2009

SENIOR NIGHT: #7 Duke, 24-5 (10-4) vs. #24 Florida State, 22-7 (9-5)

First of all, let me apologize. I am on a time crunch and this entry will not be as long as others, but sorry, this is the best I can do with this time.
The Florida State Semi-Nulls come into Cameron tomorrow in a good matchup looking to knock off Duke on their Senior Night. Speaking of seniors, i would like to recognize all 3: Greg, Dave, and Marty.

Greg, we love you. You have been a great representative of Duke basketball on and off the court for the last 4 years. You have given us crucial qualities like, heart toughness, your deadly 3 point shot led us back on many an occasion, and your impeccable leadership led the way for the team . You were a true winner, never complaining if anything never went your way, you took it like a man when Nolan replaced you. No one should criticize you for anything. You were truly the prime example of what a Duke basketball player should be.
Thanks so much, Greg. For the last 4 years. You have been a fantastic leader.

Also thanks to Dave, you have really given us a boost down low neutralizing some height mismatches with your grit and toughness. You have been one of the most important players on the team this year. Thanks for your time here. 

Marty, thanks for all of your contributions the last 4 years. It's a shame you were never able to repeat your fantastic performance against NC State (16 pts)in the ACC quarterfinal loss to NC State in 2007, you were never given the chance again. But still, thanks so much for all of your contributions over the years, you have made a positive impact on the team the last 4 years. Good luck playing Euroball.

On to the game. Florida State is actually having a good year, and they look to be bound for the NCAA's this time, after being snubbed multiple times in the past couple years. Not much has changed really, for Leonard Hamilton's squad, Toney Douglas is still the heart and soul of the team. Douglas is the only player averaging double figure points on the team, with an impressive 20.6, while you have to fall a ways back to find the 2nd leading scorer: Uche Echefu, with 8.6. No help for Toney? Well not as it seems. No one else averages double figures, but he appears to have a quiet, but steady supporting cast in  the aformentioned Echefu, JUCO transfer Derwin Kitchen at the point with 8.4, 6-11 Nigerian import Solomon Alabi with 8.1, 6-9 frosh Chris Singleton, and 6-9 BB Gun marksman Ryan Reid with 5.4. Ohh.... so lets also hope this game isn't a complete stinker in the first half like last time as well. (Duke led 19-14 at half, but won 66-58). And at least there won't be a microphone conspiculously placed to a ever persistant FSU student repeatadly chanting "We Want Paulus!" We do want Paulus though, he's our leader!
Listen....Florida State has everything they need to give us some trouble here. ESPN kept referring to them as the "tallest team in America" on average. I know that sounds cheesy, but with guys everywhere with long wingspans, and lots of height, it can really mess you up. We were lucky to open up the 2nd half with a big run to blow the game open. FSU really stymied us at times in the 1st half, leading to the exciting 19-14 1st half, which we somehow managed to be winning by 5.
Singler, G, and Schy are going to have to be ready to play, as they cannot afford to lose this game, lest an unhappy senior night occur. Luckily, with the emergence of Elliot, a facet we never had to ourselves the first go-round', we can have Elliot guard Douglas, which (if kept in check), should keep FSU's offense reeling. FSU can really hurt us with their length, and Douglas is a light the game up type that can give us trouble, but I feel like Singler and G will be up to the task against these Semi-Nulls, preserving the senior night for Greg, Dave, and Marty!
Thank you, Seniors!
Greg
Dave
Marty
Lets go out winners on Cameron!!

Duke 80, Florida State 71

Sunday, March 1, 2009

POST GAME: Duke 72, Virginia Tech 65

Whew. The Devils escaped with another hard fought on the road Saturday afternoon in Blacksburg. Before we get to the recap, I would like to talk about all the teeth gnashing about this game that is going on right now.
The primary complaint for this game right now in the eyes of all Duke haters going on is that Scheyer traveled after receiving an inbounds pass with 14 seconds left, up 3. Scheyer indeed traveled, but it doesn't end right there. Right before he traveled though, he was hacked, which was not called either, and none of the haters can see that. Many people are calling for the referees' heads for letting that go. But, you know, had traveling been called, VT would still have had to score to either tie or cut Duke's lead to one. It POSSIBLY could have affected the outcome of the game, but it did not. Moving on, here's another warm embrace initiated by an opposing player after the Dave Neal incident, this time from Terrell Bell, to the recipient Kyle Singler. Yet no one noticed it and is calling out VT. Why? Notice the title "Duke Gets a Taste of Their Own Medicine. Hater alert. It brings up G's elbow on HansBlow 2 years ago, and also Singler's elbow on Hansjob this year as well. NEWS FLASH: G's wasn't intentional. This was resolved 2 years ago. Singler's elbow, well, I still stand between the "intentional" and "unintentional" camp. This just sickens me.....that when people refer to Duke players getting elbowed in the throat intentionally as "Duke Gets a Taste of Their Own Medicine". It makes Duke out to be a thuggish program, which is certainly untrue, and quite to the contrary. Just disgusting......One final thing. Jimmy Dykes is an AWFUL commentator. I almost put my TV on mute more than a couple times. Hey Jimmy, next time you call a game, you could make it LESS OBVIOUS which team you want to win. Mention "taking away the baseline" or "doing the hokie pokie" or,even worse "taking a 22% shot" And you saw Scheyer "walk 3 times", I guess you saw the several hacks on him as well, preceding the travel? What a dickhead. And, additionally, he takes the game ball during a TO and demonstrates how to guard G in close proximity to VT's bench. Please don't tell me he is calling either the FSU or UNC game.

Now for the recap part of this scheduled show. The first half, G started out UNSTOPPABLE, driving the baseline at will, posterizing Athletic Director Vassallo with a sick jam, then recieving an unwarranted T. Which was ridiculous. G and Scheyer pretty much singlehandedly guided the Devils through the first half. It almost concerned me, getting almost ALL of our first half production from numbers #15 and #30. The second half rolled around, G couldn't hit anything- the VT players made sure to take away the baseline from him, after Dykes demonstrated how to. Gerald going cold?-No problem! Kyle Singler, who was relatively invisible in the 1st half with 2 pts, took the reins and finished with 19. Virginia Tech creeped back behind 10 straight points later from After Dark Vassallo, to pull to 58-all. This run was met by 4 points from Kyle to give the Dukies some breathing room at 64-61. At this point, was when Greg iced the game with an impressive layup to push it to 68-63, right before the Scheyer fiasco would occur. FT's made up for the final score, 72-65. Very good effort. This team has been doing a fantastic job to responding to runs by other teams of late. Look at the last two games. Duke has had leads erased, and to bounce back and seize the control to decide the game. They are displaying a ton of toughness and resiliency right now. I like how this team is playing right now, and it's even better that as of today, it's MARCH! Great timing!

On to Florida State-Senior Night for Greg and Dave!