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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!