Rivers’ defining moment adds to rivalry

Capel’s runner, Williams’ put-back, Duhon’s coast-to-coast.

Now, Rivers’ dagger.

Yet another thrilling chapter to the storied Duke-North Carolina rivalry was capped by Austin Rivers’ buzzer-beating three-pointer to lift the Blue Devils to a 85-84 win in Chapel Hill.

There’s some ice old royal blue blood running through the freshman’s veins.

It would have been easy to leave Duke for dead when it trailed 82-72 with 2:39 left to play, but it would have made no sense whatsoever. In most cases — almost any one but this — the Blue Devils’ 13-2 run would be called shocking, improbable even, but when these two teams take the court together, nothing is impossible.

Tyler Zeller’s tip-in of a Duke three-pointer with 18 seconds left isn’t supposed to happen. But it did. Zeller isn’t supposed to miss 2-of-4 free throws in crunch time. But he did.

The Blue Devils showed an element of resolve and focus that they had been heavily criticized for lacking in recent weeks. On the same night that Florida State was stunned on the road by Boston College to shake up the race for the ACC title, Duke turned it on its head. The league is entirely up for grabs for the time being.

As for Rivers, the final shot put the finishing touches on easily the best game of his young career. He’s endured more than a fair share of scrutiny over the past three months, but there was little to criticize about his performance Wednesday.

Rivers’ style does not fit with Duke’s system, plain and simple. He does not facilitate the ball in the half court, and he does not move well without the ball unless it’s for a spot-up jumper. Carolina allowed Rivers to play at a pace far more conducive to his style, and the results speak for themselves. He finished with 29 points on 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Through all of the ups and downs that Rivers has been and will go through this season, he will always have this night as a staple of his legacy. This game matters that much.

The Tar Heels have spent all season in the nation’s spotlight. They are supposed to be champions. That’s not the goal. That’s the expectation. Champions do not squander ten-point leads in the final two and a half minutes to anyone. Again, another instant classic in this rivalry is far from surprising, but it does not serve as an excuse for a Carolina team that quite simply isn’t as good as everyone wants it to be.

Losing Dexter Strickland for the season with a torn ACL is a much bigger problem than it appeared on the surface even before tonight. It is forcing Kendall Marshall to play 3-4 minutes per game more than he was accustomed to, which will add up by season’s end and will by a significant hindrance the further the Heels go in March.

P.J. Hairston’s slump continued Wednesday, and he’s now averaging three points per game on 17 percent three-point shooting. The backcourt depth that was supposed to be a strength this year with Strickland and Leslie McDonald is non-existent.

Kentucky made a very loud and very clear statement Tuesday that it was the prohibitive national championship favorite with a 20-point win over seventh-ranked Florida at home. Carolina had a golden opportunity to respond Wednesday, but it couldn’t. It’s now clear that Kentucky is in a class of its own with Syracuse as only elite teams in the country. North Carolina is a cut below those two teams, along with Ohio State. The Tar Heels are better than Duke, but not Wednesday, and that’s what mattered.

Within moments, one legacy was built while another is now at risk of falling by the wayside.

Just another night on Tobacco Road.

Cameron Indoor losing its luster

In a matter of only a few short weeks, the mystique that once made Cameron Indoor Stadium an impenetrable domain for visitors has unequivocally disappeared.

Duke lost for the second time in three tries at home Sunday, when Reggie Johnson led Miami with 27 points in a 78-74 overtime victory. The Blue Devils’ slump comes on the heels of a 45-game home winning streak that was the longest in the nation at the time.

It began on January 21, when Florida State’s Michael Snaer sank the game-winning three-pointer as time expired to emphatically snap the streak.

Several days later, Duke announced it had begun selling roughly 400 tickets normally reserved for students to the general public. According to the school, the average home attendance by undergrads this season had drastically dwindled from 1,200 to 650.

Cameron Crazies? More like Cameron Lazies.

In minutes following the loss to Florida State, coach Mike Krzyzewski was uncharacteristically critical of his usually rabid fan base. He told reporters he thought Duke fans had grown complacent, taking for granted the idea that the Blue Devils were invincible on Coach K Court.

He was at it again Sunday night with an indirect jab at the home crowd as he criticized his team’s effort.

“The place doesn’t have energy. We don’t, the place doesn’t. We had none; I’m not blaming anyone else. It’s us. We should have energy even if the place is empty. It’s that important,” Krzyzewski said.

As for the product on the court, Krzyzewski is right. There is a certain lack of zeal among the Blue Devils that is atypical of the program. 

There is no floor slapping, no crowd gesturing and no chest thumping. The behavior that has defined Duke over the years is noticeably absent this season. If you watch the tape, you’ll note the absence of a reliable point guard, abysmal perimeter defense and inconsistency at the foul line as the Blue Devils’ biggest flaws. There’s no arguing that.

But, above all else, it’s the inexplicable lack of focus and effort that has Krzyzewski foiled. Still, Coach K hasn’t won more games than anyone in the history of the sport by happenstance. He’s frustrated, and it shows, but one thing he’ll never do is stop trying to push the right buttons to turn things around. It’s not like the cupboard is bare. At the midway point of the conference season, the Blue Devils are 6-2 and third place in the ACC. Not a bad spot for a team that’s reached its “line in the sand” moment.

Duke returns home Saturday for a battle with the hated Maryland Terrapins. There will undoubtedly be a sense of urgency in the building. If there’s not, the vaunted atmosphere that has defined Cameron Indoor stadium for more than two decades will face a massive restoration project.

Before that, however, there’s another task at hand for the Blue Devils. It’s on Wednesday, and it involves a team just seven miles down the road.

–

Power Rankings (as of Monday, February 6)

1.     North Carolina

The Florida State loss proved to be more of a wake-up call than a reason to panic.

2.     Florida State

The Seminoles won a predictably ugly game against Virginia to continue their hot streak.

3.     Duke

The Blue Devils need a win against the hated Tar Heels Wednesday in the worst way.

4.     Virginia

The Cavaliers are still adjusting to life without Assane Sene. They’re still a good team in his absence.

5.     Miami

If the Hurricanes continue to gain momentum in the wake of the win at Duke, their ceiling is very high.

6.     NC State

Four of the Wolfpack’s six ACC wins have come against Boston College and Wake Forest.

7.     Maryland

The Terps gave North Carolina fits for 30 minutes or so; Mark Turgeon is doing a wonderful job with his new team.

8.     Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons won’t be dancing this March, but they could easily play spoiler to someone else’s tournament hopes.

9.     Virginia Tech

The Hokies nearly squandered a double-digit lead against Clemson before hanging on for their second ACC win.

10.  Clemson

Brad Brownell will be back for a third season in 2012, but his tenure with the Tigers has been underwhelming to this point.

11.  Georgia Tech

An ugly win against Boston College keeps the Yellow Jackets out of the cellar this week.

12.  Boston College

An ugly loss against Georgia Tech keeps the Eagles in the cellar this week.

Do Coaches Matter?

While perusing the Twitterverse this morning, I came across this musing by John Gasaway that really stirred me up.

I am a huge fan of Gasaway; his work is tremendous and a must-read for basketball fans everywhere, but his analysis of the impact a coach has on his team during games is misguided and written through a scope so narrow Mary-Kate and Ashley couldn’t squeeze through it.

Gasaway begins his post with an “epiphany” that coaching is harder than you think. He draws this conclusion based on his experience coaching children in, presumably, recreation or AAU basketball (pre-high school).

“Wow, this is hard. Those players aren’t doing what I told them to do!” he proclaims.

The challenge to retain your players’ attention is a difficult one, and it’s something that coaches face at every level of the game (though the reasons for this change drastically, from limited attention spans to adolescent arrogance to contract-induced selfishness). I know a little bit about this. I’ve spent several years coaching  at both the youth league and high school level, despite being only 21.

Gasaway uses this logic to praise coaches like Frank Haith and Bo Ryan, both of whom are having great seasons and have never reached a Final Four. Fair enough.

That theory, in and of itself, is perfectly rational. 100 percent of basketball fans have, at one time or another, thought they could have coached his or her team better than the man or woman whose job it is to do so. It’s only once those fans are handed a clipboard and a rag-tag collection of 10 or so players that they begin to appreciate the nuances of the job.

The second half of the post is where I completely and fundamentally disagree with Gasaway.

“The admiration due individual coaches, however, is a separate and discrete question relative to an equally interesting matter: what are college basketball coaches for?” he asks.

He points to micro-managers like Tom Izzo and Bruce Weber as examples of coaches who, in his observations, spend inordinate amounts of energy constantly communicating with his players on the floor. He attributes this to the increased scrutiny — and compensation — of their jobs.

“A lazy Gasaway (redundant) hypothesis holds that shouting and gesticulating from the sidelines have increased over the years in lockstep with salaries, as coaches seek to justify their increasingly lavish compensation in a purely visual manner: I am managing every aspect of this basketball game. I work hard for the money.”

That is simply preposterous. Some coaches like to be more vocal than others just as I like coffee and you like tea. It’s an innate quality that drives some coaches to pace the sideline barking orders at his charges while others sit calmly at the end of the bench until the situation dictates otherwise. On the whole, the more visibly active coaches are not attention whores, as it would appear Gasaway suggests.

He goes on to say, “Apart from the accolades due individual coaching stars, I think college basketball head coaches draw much of their occupational mystique from sheer narrative convenience.”

Basically, he thinks that these coaches are revered so strongly not for their ability to affect the outcome of the game as it unfolds, but because the fans and media give them too much credit.

He ends the post by saying, “I’d also love to see an annual game where the players from both teams coach themselves. My guess is that game wouldn’t look so very different from every other one, even without a guy on the sidelines shouting and gesticulating.”

If everything before this last sentence was teetering on the brink of ignorance, he pushed it over the edge on this final remark.

If you took every team’s head coach away strictly on the day of a single game, the effects may be marginal. Again, for that one day. But arguably more important than in-game tactics is the management of the team every other day of the season.

Connecticut is surviving just fine without Jim Calhoun during his three-game suspension for NCAA violations. If you swiped the Huskies of Calhoun and his assistants off the bench, even it were only on game days, for an entire season and forced the players to account for themselves, they would be a much different team. Same goes if every team also lost its coaches.

The impact of a coach on his team makes all the difference in the world. Would Butler have made two straight national championship games if there were no coaches? Absolutely not. Brad Stevens might be the best example I can use to debunk Gasaway’s theory. Stevens is a tremendous in-game tactician that does not growl up and down the sidelines like an Army general. He efficiently uses time-outs, makes intelligent substitutions, and always manages to exploit his opponent’s system. The Bulldogs are struggling this year because the losses of Gordan Heyward, Matt Howard, Shelvin Mack and company have left the team too young to pick up where the last two teams left off.

Having superior talent goes a long way in determining the outcome, but it is not the only component of winning basketball games. You need order, discipline, smarts, and leadership from a coach to play the game as it was intended to be.

Cook emerging at point guard for Duke

If Quinn Cook is as good as he’s looked in Duke’s last two games, there might be an early April trip to New Orleans in store for the Blue Devils.

The freshman point guard, who missed the team’s preseason trip to China with a knee injury, watched his career begin much slower than he would have liked. In the team’s first seven games, he played an average of only 7.5 minutes. Even on a top-10 team, that’s not the type of action McDonald’s All-Americans are used to seeing.

Since then, Cook has played at least 15 minutes in four of the Blue Devils’ last five games. In the last two outings against Western Michigan and Penn, Cook has dropped 17 assists without a single turnover.

Duke started the season strong with Seth Curry, Austin Rivers, and also Tyler Thornton controlling the backcourt. None of those players are true point guards, and it was exposed in Duke’s only loss, a 85-63 blowout at Ohio State. Aaron Craft and the Buckeyes rattled the Blue Devils early and they never recovered.

Following that game, it was hard to include Duke as a Final Four contender. Rivers was bogging down the offense more than he was facilitating it, and Curry proved that he is not ready to run the point against the best teams in the country.

That’s why Cook’s recent performances are so encouraging. Western Michigan isn’t Virginia, and Penn is North Carolina, but the effect Cook has made on Duke’s offense is apparent.

“He sees the floor as well as anybody on our team.  He really pushed the ball up the floor, and it gives guys like me and Andre [Dawkins] and Austin [Rivers] a reason to run and get open because we never know when he’s going to find us.  He’s doing a great job of finding us when we’re open and getting us shots,” Curry said Sunday.

That’s what Cook provides that Duke so desperately needs: someone who can set up Duke’s excellent perimeter shooters with open looks. With Curry running the offense, it took away most of his chances to spot up from three-point range.

With Mason Plumlee, Miles Plumlee and Ryan Kelly inside, Duke has the horses in the post to contend with anyone. They won’t dominate a front line like Kentucky, North Carolina or Ohio State’s, but they can hold their own. As Rivers grows more comfortable and improves throughout conference play, Duke will be extremely tough to stop.

The Blue Devils need Cook to continue to grow. We’ll find out what he’s really made of when ACC play gets under way. He’s earned the trust of his teammates, and more importantly his coach. Mike Krzyzewski thinks he’s got a good thing going now.

“The guys like playing with Quinn because he passes and when he passes he sees you in places where other people have a hard time seeing you. I mean he has 17 assists and no turnovers for two games. I don’t care who you’re playing against and he’s playing against a really good guard. That’s impressive, very impressive.”

 

Special Announcement + Sweet 16 Preview

What’s up everyone? This has been a down semester for ACC Mania for a couple of reasons. For those of you who don’t know, I began blogging for Raycom Sports’ website in January, and a majority of my content has been posted over there.

I’m also happy to announce that as of Wednesday morning, I have accepted an internship with ESPN for the summer. It’s taken a lot of hard work to get here, but it has finally paid off. I appreciate everyone who has helped me along the way and thank all of you who have supported ACC Mania, as it was a critical element in my application.

Now, with the craziness of internship applications finally out of the way, it’s time to start blogging again. I’ll be down at Duke this Saturday for its spring football game; I’m looking forward to seeing how David Cutcliffe’s experienced offense looks, in addition to the improvements the Blue Devils have made defensively.

But for now, I want to talk about the NCAA Tournament, and the outlook of the three ACC teams still alive heading into the Sweet Sixteen.

First off is the Duke Blue Devils, who face Arizona at 9:45 p.m. Thursday in San Diego.

The Blue Devils nearly coughed up a ten-point lead with six minutes left in the second round against Michigan before hanging on to win 73-71.

The biggest subplot to the Arizona game, and any potential subsequent Duke game for that matter, is how the Blue Devils will use Kyrie Irving.

The freshman point guard missed the final three months of the season with a toe injury before returning for the NCAA Tournament. In two games, Irving has played 20.5 minutes per game and is averaging 12.5 points per game. He is 5-for-12 from the field and 13-of-14 from the foul line as well.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski expects Irving to play but he will not start. Krzyzewski is trying to gradually slide Irving back into the normal rotation, but he has to be careful. Irving was in the game down the stretch against Michigan when the Wolverines staged their comeback.

If the Devils’ offense begins to lack continuity with Irving in the game, Arizona is talented enough to send them packing.

Duke is a more talented team across the board. They are a better rebounding and shooting team with a more efficient offense. The Wildcats are a slightly better three-point shooting team, but Duke’s perimeter defense is so tight that it shouldn’t be an advantage. When Duke has struggled this season, it has been when its key shooters like Kyle Singler and Seth Curry did not shoot well. Arizona has to hope for off nights from both of them, as well as Andre Dawkins, if it hopes to have a chance.

PREDICTION – Duke 74, Arizona 67

Next up, North Carolina matches up with Marquette at 7:15 p.m. Friday night in Newark, NJ.

The Tar Heels breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Golden Eagles upset Syracuse last Sunday night to eliminate the Orange. Marquette is a more than worthy opponent, but the Orange were a terrible matchup for Carolina. Instead of facing a team with great length and a suffocating 2-3 zone defense, the Heels face a Marquette team that makes up with heart what it lacks in size and talent.

UNC’s post players Tyler Zeller and John Henson had monster weekends in rounds two and three last weekend in carrying Carolina past Long Island and Washington.

Zeller followed up a 32-point performance against Long Island with 23 against the Huskies. Henson, meanwhile averaged 19 points and 10.5 rebounds per game over the weekend while also blocking 10 shots.

North Carolina’s front line lists at 7-foot, 6-foot-11, and 6-foot-8. Marquette’s checks in at 6-foot-11, 6-foot-7 and 6-foot-6. The Tar Heels’ size forces teams to settle for jump shots and keeps opponents off the boards. UNC is the No. 1 rebounding team in the country.

Marquette shoots a respectable 35 percent from three-point range, but they’ll have to shoot better than that to beat Carolina. Teams that give the Heels fits make plenty of outside shots and slow the game down on both ends of the floor.

UNC is a decidedly better defensive team statistically. Its opponents’ offensive efficiency is 94.2, while Marquette’s is 100.5.

Golden Eagles’ coach Buzz Williams is an excellent motivator, and North Carolina always gets every team’s best shot. This young Heels team is starting to understand that and live up to that challenge in a tournament atmosphere.

PREDICTION –

North Carolina 83, Marquette 72

The final game of the Sweet Sixteen for the ACC is the most unlikely of the bunch. Florida State meets VCU in a battle of Cinderellas.

VCU has pummeled its first three opponents in the big dance by an average of 17 points. The three opponents? USC, Georgetown and Purdue.

None of those teams were know for playing great defense. Florida State knocked off Texas A&M and Notre Dame by completely disrupting their offensive rhythm.

For the second straight season, the Seminoles are the nation’s best defensive team. When they shoot well from the outside, as they did last weekend, they can beat anyone – just ask Duke. When they struggle from the outside, anyone can beat them – just ask Auburn.

Like Irving for Duke, Florida State is trying to bring back a star player from an injury. Chris Singleton is the unquestioned leader of that team, but his absence has allowed the Seminoles to develop a more balanced offense. Derwin Kitchen has played the best basketball of his career over the past month.

Singleton should play 15-20 minutes on Friday, but FSU is fine without him. They boast a huge size advantage across the board against VCU, but the key will be handling the Rams’ pressure. Shaka Smart’s energy on the sidelines translates into a high-intensity defensive attack on the floor from VCU, and that could rattle the Seminoles.

The Rams will have to create turnovers and score in transition in this one. If the game turns into a low-possession affair, Florida State will control the defensive glass and won’t give VCU many open looks.

VCU probably snuck up on the teams it dismantled last week, and used the momentum of being the underdog to never take its foot off the accelerator. Florida State has a way of sucking the life out of teams and turning it into a boring game, more or less. VCU doesn’t want that to happen.

PREDICTION – Florida State 65, VCU 62

 

 

Hoops thoughts — FSU’s turnaround, Duke’s vulnerability, VT’s unexpected star, and UNC’s turning point

Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton didn’t panic when his team lost to Auburn. He shrugged off a loss at Virginia Tech that was his team’s third in four games.

“We’re going to shoot the ball better than we have lately…we’ve had games where we’ve made 12 or 13 three’s…we are not as bad of a shooting team as we’ve showed the last few games,” Hamilton said following the Seminoles’ 71-59 loss to the Hokies – a game in which the ‘Noles shot just 35 percent from the field.

Four days later, the Seminoles heated up in its biggest game to date, turning their season around in the process.

In shocking previously unbeaten and top-ranked Duke 66-61, Florida State shot 46 percent from three-point range while holding Duke to an unprecedented 31 percent from the field. The Devils’ previous season low was 40.3 percent.

“Their defense just dominated our offense for about 25 minutes in the ballgame,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said following the game.

While the Seminoles offense has struggled much of the season (they are 10^th in the ACC in field goal percentage), the defense has been rock solid. Led by preseason all-conference pick Chris Singleton, one of the best defenders in the country, the Seminoles lead the nation in field goal percentage defense at 35 percent.

“They’re very fundamentally sound. They play outstanding defense and they’re committed to it,” Krzyzewski said.

Riding the momentum of the biggest win maybe ever under Hamilton, Florida State returned home to beat NC State 84-71. It was an even better offensive display than in Durham, as five Seminoles scored in double figures while shooting 54.5 percent from the field as a team.

“That was the most impressive stat tonight that we had five guys in double figures,” Hamilton said. “We also had some come off the bench and give us productivity. You need all of the sum of your parts working to have success in the ACC.”

NC State is only 11-6, but recently saw the return of senior forward Tracy Smith to the lineup. Smith’s absence early in the season left the Wolfpack without an identity, not to mention much experience. His presence was supposed to push NC State to the head of the line in the ACC.

Instead, Florida State shut down everyone around Smith, whose 19 points led all scorers. The youth around him was out-muscled by the big and physical Seminole defense.

As of Tuesday, the Seminoles sit tied atop the ACC standings at 3-1, along with Duke and Boston College. As long as Hamilton continues to get offensive support from players other than Singleton (Derwin Kitchen has averaged 16.5 ppg since the Virginia Tech loss), Florida State is a viable candidate to challenge the Blue Devils for the conference championship.

–

That said, Duke will win the regular season crown. The Blue Devils are far too consistent amidst a league that’s full of up-and-down teams to relinquish the title.

For the first time since Kyrie Irving went down with a toe injury in early December, the Blue Devils have looked like they miss him.

In three conference games, the Blue Devils have turned the ball over an average of 15.6 times per contest. Nolan Smith is not a point guard, and the Blue Devils’ offense has been as smooth as a jar of chunky peanut butter lately because of it. He has 13 turnovers in the past three games to go with 19 assists. Of course, it’s easy to rack up high assist numbers when you play on one of the best jump-shooting teams in the country.

Plain and simple, the Blue Devils are much more talented than anyone else in the ACC, but it’s obvious the bigger, stronger teams that play hard-nosed defense are going to give them trouble. Maryland’s Jordan Williams scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the Terps’ 71-64 loss at Duke on Jan. 9, and if it weren’t for early foul trouble, he may have carried Maryland to a win.

Without Irving, Duke is the third best team in the country at best. Pittsburgh and Ohio State have all the tools to beat the Blue Devils on a neutral court. There is no timetable whatsoever for Irving’s return, though it sounds like it will be a while if he ever does come back this season. What was a foregone conclusion a week ago – that Duke was a final four lock and national championship favorite – is an uncertainty today.

–

Seth Greenberg won’t admit it, but he wishes he had guys like J.T. Thompson, Allan Chaney, Dorenzo Hudson and Cadarian Raines healthy and suiting up for his team.

Since mid-December, the Hokies have known they’ll be without all five players for the rest of the season, leaving them with eight healthy scholarship players.

Starting with a dicey overtime win at St. Bonaventure, the Hokies have played very well, going 5-1 including two ACC wins to level their conference record to 2-2.

Erick Green has emerged as a viable ACC point guard, and it’s completely revolutionized the Hokies’ offense.

In eight starts, he’s turned the ball over just eight times to go with 27 assists and 21 steals. He’s averaging 12.8 points per game during that span as well.

“He’s playing with great poise. He’s taking shots when they’re available. He’s making good decisions on penetration. He’s doing a great job of getting in the lane, coming to a top and making a play – or pump-faking and getting fouled. He’s another guy that’s just gaining confidence, and he’s getting us in the offense,” Greenberg said.

The biggest impact of Green’s steady play on his team has been that it’s allowed Malcolm Delaney to move freely in the offense as the shooting guard.

Since Green’s insertion to the line-up, Delaney’s turnover rate has dropped from to 5.25 per game to just two. He’s still shooting about the same rate and his scoring has dipped slightly, but the rest of the team has become much more involved with Green at the helm.

Against Wake Forest, six Hokies scored in double figures, and Delaney was not one of them. The unexpected boost in playing time for reserves like Jarrell Eddie, who scored 16 points against the Demon Deacons, is rapidly improving their confidence.

“It’s crucial. It’s really big for me just to be on the floor and get that game experience. It builds my confidence when I knock some shots down, make some plays. It’s big for me. I love it. I love being out there. When I’m on the floor, I’m happy,” Eddie said.

Nevertheless, outside of the Florida State win, none of the Hokies’ victories have been impressive. Four of their next five league games are on the road against Maryland, Georgia Tech, NC State and Boston College. That is a very difficult stretch that will define the Hokies’ season. A 2-2 record coming out of that stretch would be a successful run, while winning at least one game is a must. If the Hokies are 2-7 or 3-6 on Feb. 5, there is no chance they’ll make the NCAA Tournament.

–

In North Carolina’s forgettable 2009-10 season, the start of the Tar Heels’ downfall could be pointed at a 82-79 overtime loss at College of Charleson on Jan. 4. I have a funny feeling their 78-58 point loss at Georgia Tech on Sunday could be a turning point this season in a similar manner.

The Tar Heels were lucky to win their two previous games against Virginia and Virginia Tech in which they overcame double-digit deficits in both.

Most people want to point the Heels’ struggles to the shaky point guard play by Larry Drew II, but another issue of equal impact has been Tyler Zeller’s regression since a sensational game against Kentucky. He scored 27 points with 11 rebounds and was instrumental in holding off the Wildcats late in the game by making 11 of 12 free throws.

Since that point, he’s been unable to dominate the interior offensively. The best measure of this is his average of just 5.3 trips to the foul line per game and his 12.4 points per game (down from 14.8 prior to playing Kentucky). For comparison, Tyler Hansbrough averaged 9.7 free throw attempts and 20.7 points per game during the 08-09 season.

Obviously, Zeller is not expected to be Hansbrough, but Zeller’s timidity inside has been as much of a glaring difference from the Tar Heels of old as the disparity between Ty Lawson and Drew II.

Head coach Roy Williams was as frustrated as he’s been all season following the loss to the Yellow Jackets.

“I’ve got to do a better job of getting my kids to act like it means something to them,” Williams said.

That was the exact problem that plagued the Tar Heels a year ago, and while it’s improved this year, it’s been clear this team still lacks a killer instinct that typically defines this program.

The fact that Williams came out and admitted it’s a problem might indicate it’s growing worse, and a line must be drawn in the sand. This team lacks a clear leader, which is scary for team facing a situation as adverse as this one.

Thankfully (or perhaps not), the Heels turn around quickly and play Clemson tonight at home. The Tigers are a much worse team away from home, so the Heels have an opportunity to wash the sour taste of the Georgia Tech loss from their mouths and improve to 3-1 in the ACC.

Freshman Thornton sparks Duke’s win over Maryland

It was a weekend full of upsets in college basketball. If there was ever a weekend for the best teams in the country to stumble, this was it.

Come on, did you really think that meant Duke was doomed on Sunday?

It wasn’t pretty, but the Blue Devils edged Maryland 71-64 at home thanks to one familiar face and a couple of his lesser-known cohorts.

Kyle Singler’s 25-point, 10-rebound effort filled the stat sheet for the Devils, but equally as important as his performance was that of Tyler Thornton and Seth Curry.

Thornton, a freshman guard from Washington D.C., entered Sunday 10^th on the team in minutes played. When Maryland scored seven straight points to open the second half, Mike Krzyzewski used a time-out to scold his team, which now trailed 38-34. A few possessions went by without a score before Krzyzewski turned to Thornton and Curry.

The pair combined to score 11 points amidst an ensuing 14-2 Duke run. Curry was responsible for nine of those, showing off the clutch outside shooting precision that is engrained into his DNA.

Thornton, meanwhile, did what seldom-used players often do when they get their chance to shine. He made several “effort” plays to energize the Duke crowd. During the run, Thornton made two steals and drew an offensive foul on Maryland’s Pe’Shon Howard that led to another Curry jump shot.

“Tyler and Seth were huge. For a youngster in a game like this, not playing in the first half, and really he’s not in that seven man rotation, for Tyler to play as well as he did tonight is really one of the things that makes you love coaching. That was just a great performance,” Krzyzewski said.

Thornton played 12 minutes in the second half, or nearly double his per-game average.

“When I got in I just wanted to pressure the ball full court,” Thornton said. “Coach always tells me when I get in he wants me to pick up so that’s what I did. I wreaked a little havoc, made a couple stops and got some steals.

The game may have played out a little differently if Maryland forward Jordan Williams hadn’t been saddled with two early fouls. When he left the game with Maryland trailing 12-6, Williams had all of the Terps’ points. In 31 minutes, Williams finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and he was clearly playing cautious after he picked up his third foul in the second half. He was a big reason why Mason Plumlee fouled out with 5:47 left.

You can’t count the number of Jordan Williamses in the country on more than one hand, but he’s the exact player who can keep a team in a game with Duke. The Blue Devils are not physical around the rim, where Williams is an absolute bruiser.

Thornton may never see the floor that much again this season, but that is why Duke is the unquestioned team to beat for the national championship.

“What he did tonight obviously opens our eyes. That’s what we’re looking for. We’re looking for things like that. We have a lot of improvement that can happen for us. He was a difference maker. How would you predict that? It’s one of the really neat things that happens,” Krzyzewski said.

Curry and Thornton’s contributions were critical because senior All-American Nolan Smith had one of his worst games of the season. He was uncharacteristically cold from the field, shooting just five-for-18, but he was a perfect eight-for-eight from the foul line to finish with 18 points. Maryland was rugged with Smith defensively, however, which led to his poor shooting and five turnovers (one short of tying a season high).

For the first time since freshman phenom point guard Kyrie Irving left the line-up with a toe injury, Duke clearly missed his presence. Smith struggled to engage the Devils’ offense at times, and Maryland was able to hold Duke from every breaking away. Duke is so good at finding ways to get open and knocking down long-range shots, though, that even if Smith struggles the Blue Devils can find ways to score. Without Irving, though, good teams can compete with Duke.

The Blue Devils have a rotation of talent that is unparalleled, but when they can insert a 10th-man like Thornton with the energy he brings to the game, it completes them. Duke won’t face many six-point second half deficits this year, but Krzyzewski can rest more easily at night knowing he has Thornton on his side.

 

Duke’s national title not as memorable as it seems now

Gordon Hayward's buzzer-beating half-court shot barely missed. Instead of being the most memorable play in college basketball history, it will soon be largely forgotten.

The NCAA Championship Game could have ended differently Monday night.

It almost did.

The culmination of a tournament full of shocking moments, unbelievable endings, and unforgettable images, nearly saw tiny little Butler stun the nation by beating Duke.

Instead, Gordon Hayward’s faithful heave from half-court did everything but pierce the net as time expired.

And as it clanked away, while the Duke coaches embraced one another in glee, the storybook ending that should have been written dissolved into the night.

In time, nobody will remember that, either.

Every time it seemed like Duke muscled the Bulldogs into a corner, they fought their way right back out.

51-47; 54-49; 56-51; 60-55. Those were scores at four different moments in the final ten minutes, all in favor of Duke.

Hayward and embattled center Matt Howard led the resurgence, scoring 14 of Butler’s final 16 points.

It was the three points left on the court at the end that was the difference.

Instead, Duke wrapped up what probably won’t, but should be remembered as a remarkably easy path to its fourth national championship.

It wasn’t because of Bulldogs that the path to the title was smooth. Butler claimed the tournament lives of Syracuse and Kansas State already before Monday night.

The Bulldogs were not a Cinderella. Put Kansas, UCLA, Memphis…hell, any team from a power conference’s name across their jerseys, and nobody would have looked at this game as a mismatch.

However, Duke did walk through the consensus easiest region in the bracket. To reach the Final Four, the Blue Devils beat Arkansas Pine-Bluff (the play-in game winner), California (champion of the weakest power conference), Purdue (playing without its unquestioned leader), and Baylor (come on, who knew Baylor was that good before they showed up as a three seed on selection Sunday?).

It could have ended differently. Kansas was supposed to be a cut above the rest, but they went all Bill Self on us and lost prematurely in March.

Syracuse was supposed to have a vaunted defense, suffocating opponents all season.

If that was supposed to be the case, the Orange got out-Syracused by Butler in the Sweet Sixteen.

Meanwhile, Duke quietly won games that were nowhere near the end of the meter in terms of competitive value.

It wasn’t anything new to Coach K’s squad. They ran through the ACC Tournament, beating 9^th seeded Virginia, 12^th (and last) seeded Miami, then 7^th seeded Georgia Tech in the finals.

They didn’t exactly face the cream of the crop in March.

Nevertheless, they took control of West Virginia in the second half of their Final Four game, and thanks to the torn right ACL of Da’Sean Butler, cruised into the championship game without breaking a sweat.

Butler scratched and clawed all game long. They never led by more than two points, but never allowed Duke to lead by more than six.

At least somebody made the Devils work for it.

So many things about this year’s tournament won’t be remembered.

Butler’s run to the title game is a good story, but ten years from now nobody will talk about its title game loss. It’s not George Mason.

Nobody will remember how much easier Duke’s road to the championship was than usual. It’s just another title to Coach K’s name, who’s on his way to cementing himself as a top three coach of all time.

Don’t be mistaken; Duke deserves credit for surviving the dance, unlike its powerhouse counterparts.

But it could have ended differently.

Maybe it should have ended differently.

But it didn’t.

And soon we will all naively look back on 2010 as the year of the Blue Devils.