Elliot Williams will land at Memphis, a lot closer to home and his ailing mother. Good luck, hopefully no probation occurs for them. Elliot is seeking and exemption to play this upcoming season.

Duke had lost another member of next years team, Elliot Williams has decided to transfer to be closer to home.  This transfer is due to an ailing family member. All Duke fans wish Elliot the best.

This definitely leaves Duke shorthanded for next year, essentially this will be a transition year with only two guards on the roster there is no way Duke will be very competitive in a very tough ACC. Most likely Duke fans will have to look to 2010 for any kind of success as Duke will welcome a stellar recruiting class of probably 6.

This will still be a very interesting season but one where Duke will probably have a pretty definitive mid-season meltdown, not having guards will substantially hurt point production as well as stamina. Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith will not only have to start but play virtually entire games.

Good Nolan Smith read, if he makes a jump similar to the one after his freshman year, it should be a very productive season for him. PG wise all we have are he, Jon Scheyer and possibly Elliot Williams, neither are natural points. Not sure where the scoring comes from this year, but it will be fun to watch either way.

Pretty routine but here is the link, this shouldn’t keep him off the court for very long.

Yup you heard it right. In a quest for more exposure and steeper competition Seth Curry, younger brother of Steph and son of Dell has decided to leave Liberty  and become a Blue Devil.

• Sports Briefs: Seth Curry tells AP he’s going to transfer to Duke
• Curry headed to Duke
• Seth Curry transferring to Duke
• Seth Curry Duke!
• Seth Curry Chooses Duke
• Seth Curry to transfer from Liberty to Duke
• No panic in LU camp over Curry’s departure
• Seth Curry to transfer to Duke

Once again the same recipe for beating Duke in the tourney comes into play.  A team that was supposedly built on defence was porous and gave up as many layups as I have seen in a tourney game from a team not seeded 10th or below.  Not only did Duke lay an egg on defense, they did offensively a well. With Gerald Henderson making one shot, Duke had no chance. In what will probably be the last game for Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler and what will be the last game for Greg Paulus, David McClure and Marty Pocius Duke played with a complete lack of toughness and effort on the boards. The one thing Duke was supposed to have going for it was guard play, it got none, nothing on the inside and nothing on the outside. Give credit to Villanova they were battle tested, and once again the Big East proves that it is the toughest league from top to bottom.

The positives:

were that no one expected Duke to even advance to the sweet sixteen. Well not much of a plus really, and the only plus we can really think about.

The negatives:

You cannot cobble together a back court in the NCAA tourney and hope for much success. Jon Scheyer played as well as he could considering he played out of position. When you can only manage 2 assists from the PG position you just aren’t going to get very far. When you lack inside toughness or even presence, again you aren’t going to get very far. We are all fans of Lance Thomas and David McClure but neither are big enough or strong enough to battle for rebounds on the collegiate level.

The Unknowns:

This team could definitely take a huge hit in the offseason, with the sour taste that has to be in the mouths of Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler, one could understand if they did not want to come back. Of course we all know that both need to work on their game, this loss proves it, neither could get their own shots, and neither is defensively sound.  The second unknown is Nolan Smith, who nearly transferred last offseason. Who’s to say losing his starting spot will sit well with him. This is a team without a point guard, possibly with only one shooting guard, and still a lack of interior size and strength. With no real athletic players coming in next year, expect more of the same…more later.

Duke #2 Seed in the East Region

In a back and forth game in the ACC semi-final Duke just had a little more gas in the tank the Maryland.  Trying to win their 3rd game in as many days Eric Hayes put 20 in the board including 15 of MD’s final 18 points. Duke limited the touches allowed to Greivis Vasquez. Vasquez scored 14 points on 6 of 17 shooting and 4 turnovers.

With Gerald Henderson struggling to find rythm in this game and only scoing 8 points, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler went to work. Although Singler wasn’t great from the field he was 6-6 from the free throw line. Scoring 14 points on 3-12 shooting. Scheyer on the other hand lit it up pacing Duke with 22 points hiting 4 out of 10 from 3.

The stat of the game would probably be the bench scoring, Nolan Smith scored 10 coming of the bench, and Dave Mclure put in 6 points. Next up Florida State who outlasted UNC.

Duke holds on in their first game of the ACC Tourney to win by one point over Boston College. This win avenges an earlier loss by the Devils where they gave up 21 points to Tyrese Rice and 20 to Joe Trapani.  While Rice did score 17, he did so on 5 for 15 shooting, Elliot Williams did a masterful job keeping Rice in check. Duke played much better defense in this game. And with Gerald Henderson in early foul trouble, Kyle Singer took over.  Scoring 26 points on 10 out of 15, and playing the entire game, Singler definitely has not worn down as he did last year.  Henderson still managed to put down 16 points on some aggressive drives to the basket, while Jon Scheyer threw in 14. The most impressive stat was probably the 6 blocks attributed to Kyle Singler. Up next-Maryland

Once again Duke had a chance, with everything on the line, and didn’t have nearly enough. The perfect oppurtunity to prove wrong the doubters and pundits who said that they don’t belong on the same court as Carolina and once again Duke couldn’t hit the big shot, couldn’t get the essential stop, or the loose ball.  This is not the team that others used to fear, there is a very easy and simple formula for stopping the Devils and teams have figured it out. The players that score can’t rebound and the players that can rebound can’t score. The man-to-man defense is weaker this year than any, and Duke can’t hide behind a zone–they lack the quickness to make either defense effective against high caliber teams.   The go-to players in this game disappeared for long stretches at a time. Sure they have some amazing stat lines but during crunch time, the last 5 to 10 minutes where are they? Where are the bench points? Where are the points coming from PF and Center positions..in this game 2. Not a recipe that is going to prove worthy of winning games in March.

Who doesn’t love Kyle Singlers game, it’s versatile and smart. But be smart enough to use your versatility, driving aimlessly toward the basket when you are capable of the pull up is silly. The charges that were called on Singler weren’t even close, you have to make it hard for the officials to make that call. Tyler Hansbrough is not a stellar defender, if you can’t get around that statue then that’s a problem. Use your dribble maybe? Perhaps on a 4 on 1 break you pass the ball? Just a thought.  Shot selection is another issue I’m having, I know Elliot Williams isn’t strong enough to get the ball over most ACC defenders. But why he would be shooting 5 3 pointers in this game is beyond me. That is not his shot. Not yet.

Not too much to say good about this game, the theme for me is missed oppurtunities. The  oppurtunity to win a share of the ACC title, a chance to be a number one seed in the ACC tourney, and possibly a number one seed for the NCAA Tourney.  At very least some momentum, something they have lacked for the last 3 to 4 seasons. Instead it’s back to the drawing board. While most teams at this time are strengthening and preparing, Duke will once again be trying to play stop-gap, trying to plugup holes and try to get through the first round of either tourney using smoke and mirrors.