Duke Basketball

A Look At The East Regional

... and the winner of Southern Cal and Providence on the other. We don’t know enough about the new guy at NMSU but Marvin Menzies did a really solid job there before moving to UNLV. We’ve never been overly impressed with Scott Drew’s Baylor but recently we read something that kind of made us think twice. Drew took over from the bastard Dave Bliss, who did some unbelievably despicable things that helped to destroy the program. Drew may not be a great strategist, but he’s made Baylor a consistent power and hasn’t dragged the school’s name through a sewer like his predecessor did. So consider this a mea culpa. Scott has, on balance, been perfectly fine. SMU is the intriguing team here though. The Ponies have Duke transfer Semi Ojeleye who has become a real star. That’s pretty uncommon really: typically Duke transfers become average players at best. Not Ojeleye: he’s averaging 19 ppg, 6.7 rpg, shooting 49% and 42.3% from ...

2017 Acc/ncaa Tournament Roundup

... point it’s all just rumors. The Hoosiers fired Tom Crean Thursday and that’s huge. Not many jobs will open that are that big. Indiana has been up and down since Bob Knight was fired to be sure, but it’s still a great, great job and they can take their pick of the candidates. This complicates things for everyone down the food chain including NC State. Guys like Kevin Keatts of Wilmington may get interviews and as much potential as State has, Indiana is on the Duke/UNC/Kentucky/Kansas/UCLA/Louisville tier. There just aren’t many jobs like that. Rumor-wise, Billy Donovan’s name has come up and that’d be a home run if it happens. So has Brad Stevens, which is also rumor and not based on much. He’d be huge there though. And of course Steve Alford’s name has been mentioned and that makes sense. Not only is he an Indiana guy but UCLA is likely to see a major exodus this spring. Brice Alford and Isaac Hamilton will graduate and Lonzo Ball is off to the NBA. TJ Leaf may be too. This year has been a huge blast for UCLA but not too long ago, Alford was being ...

Time For Central To Shine

... on top of the three Vic Bubas earned and the one Bill Foster claimed in 1978. Counting this year’s most recent triumph, Duke has 20 ACC titles too. Point is, you get used to it and it’s fun. But there’s a lot to be said for the ride up as well. When Coach K showed up in Durham, there were no guarantees. The Duke Chronicle ran a headline about his hiring saying “this is not a joke.”. Once things got going there it took a few years for things to ramp up then after the first Final Four with Krzyzewski, it took a couple of years to realize that those trips were very possible now. And then the titles started. After the first one, the hotel scene was crazy. We realized immediately that although we gained something precious, we were losing something else precious: the small hardcore group around the program was going to have to deal with a lot of infatuated people who had a lot of money to throw around. We’re not ...

2017 Ncaa Tournament

... by the way, turned 90 in January. Troy joined in 2005 and has been to the NCAAs once before. The most recognizable name for Troy is probably Wes Person Jr., son of the NBA player of the same name and nephew of Chuck Person, both of whom went to Auburn. Person is 6-3 and shoots.400 from three point range. It’s a bit like the Curry family - Persons all seem to shoot well. Jordon Varnado is the leading scorer though with 16.5 ppg (Person knocks down 14.8). He also checks in at 52.6% from the floor. De Von Walker started at Florida and is the only Trojan with NCAA experience. As tends to happen a lot in early matchups, the lower seed doesn’t have as much size as the higher. Troy has three guys who are 6-8. Sophomore Alex Hicks get 21.8 mpg. Obviously the team is smallish. Sophomore Varnado is 6-6 and 215, Walker is 6-6 and 230, Kevin Baker is a 6-2 junior, Jeremy Hollimon a 6-3 senior and Daniel Peace a 6-1 senior. Those guys are the primary rotation. Although Troy’s ...

Win Over Duke A Reminder Unc Has Unfinished Business

... and corrections before the ACC tournament, but that’s more reflex than reflection of what went on Saturday. The Tar Heels commemorated a regular-season league title by cutting down their own nets, and they appear convincingly equipped to repeat the ritual at least one or two more times. The Blue Devils emerged from another rash of injuries with a lineup that at least vaguely resembled the one that had people heaving championship expectations their way, and that group nearly beat a future No. 1 seed on the road. The game mattered in the way Duke-North Carolina always matters, but it mattered in the more substantial way of addressing a nagging suspicion that both sides entered the postseason with something to prove. Although it is not exactly a suspicion with the Tar Heels. Berry flung the ball into ...

Thornwell Leads South Carolina To Second-round Upset Of Duke

... of the season. But behind Thornwell’s outside shooting and Silva’s dominance underneath, South Carolina rallied to win two NCAA games for the first time in 44 years. The Gamecocks rushed to their fans when things were over, celebrating one of the biggest wins in program history. Next up is the East Regional at Madison Square Garden, where the Gamecocks will face third-seeded Baylor, an 82-78 winner over Southern Cal earlier Sunday. Duke (28-9) was attempting to reach the round of 16 for the sixth time in eight seasons. The Blue Devils, though, could not surmount South Carolina’s stifling defense. Leading scorer Luke Kennard had his second straight subpar shooting game, finishing 1 of 6 for 11 points before fouling out. The Blue Devils made five of their eight 3-point attempts in the first half, yet only 5 of 19 after the ...

2017 Ncaa Tournament/acc Roundup

... Chris Collins is fueled by emotion and so probably weren’t surprised that he erupted at the blown call. He got a technical and for all intents and purpose, the comeback was over. Still, who could blame him? It was outrageously bad. Even the NCAA admitted it. It would have been the story of the tournament - lowly Northwestern knocking off a #1 seed after a huge comeback. There was a #1 to lose of course as Villanova fell to Wisconsin in a taut and exciting game. Nigel Hayes, one of our favorite players in recent years, made a brilliant baseline move to hit a layup. Villanova came down and Josh Hart had a shot in the lane down two with 0:05 left, but Badger Vitto Brown, he of the golden throat, got a hand on it. He was fouled, split, and ‘Nova’s last gasp shot came up far short. It was a stirring game by a tough and experienced team. Clearly, despite ...

Should Duke Have Gotten A No. 1 Seed

... movie. Godzilla, for example, has been in some good and some awful flicks. In honor of the 36 at-large bids to the NCAA tournament, we’ll rank the top 36. If you’re complaining about your favorite monster not being ranked, save it. Like the teams in college basketball, there isn’t a ton of difference between No. 35 and No. 50. If your favorite is the 37 th best monster, it didn’t deserve a chance at the title, anyway. 1. The Xenomorph, Alien(s). 3. King Kong, King Kong. 4. The Predator, Predator. 6. The Kaiju, Pacific Rim. 7. The Blob, The Blob. 8. Freddy Krueger, the Nightmare on Elm Street series. 9. Jason Voorhees, the Friday The 13 th series. 10. The Thing, The Thing. 11. The T-1000, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. 12. Pale Man, Pan’s Labyrinth. 13. Sil, Species. 14. The Sarlacc, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. 15. The Skeksis, The Dark Crystal. 16. Stripe, Gremlins. 17. The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, Ghostbusters. 18. Pinhead, ...

The Duke Basketball Garden Continues To Grow

... Players talked about their lengthy trip in New York as a catalyst for team growth. Double-digit, second half comeback wins over Louisville and North Carolina set up a chance for an ACC championship, a first for Duke since 2011. Freshman Jason Tatum and grad student Amile Jefferson echoed the same sentiment. “It would be an honor” to win a championship with this group. Commitment fulfilled. No team in ACC history had ever won four games in route to the championship and never has a No. 5 seed cut down the nets. Standing at mid-court with Krzyzewski, I watched him try to answer questions about the journey of this season. The winningest coach in college basketball history and gold medal USA coach had nothing to compare this championship run to. He just kept shaking his head from side to side, non-verbally punctuating the words he was trying to say. “I’m a little whacky right now,” he said. Understood, because the feat was inexplicably amazing. Look at the Duke garden now. It is ...

Looking For Another Run From Duke

... of seven entries into the Sweet 16 (the most ever), four teams in the Elite Eight (the most ever) and two in the Final Four. Although UNC did fall just short in the title game, the ACC was a record-setting 19-7 (with three self-inflicted losses). The 19 wins are the most ever for any conference and the 36 wins over two years is seven more than the next best two-year record. The question is whether the ACC can continue that postseason dominance. It’s going to be interesting to watch. The ACC put a record (for the ACC) nine teams in the tournament. Four are seeded to reach the Sweet 16 – No. 1 UNC, No. 2 Duke, No. 2 Louisville and No. 3 FSU. No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 5 Virginia are seeded to lose in the second round, but both have winnable second-round games – probably with No. 4 West Virginia and No. 4 Florida, respectively. No. 8 Miami has a difficult opener against No. 9 Michigan State, but even if the Hurricanes survive that one, they would have to beat No. 1 seed Kansas to reach the Sweet 16. No. 9 Virginia Tech has it even tougher – a game with No. 8 ...