“By the way I am hearing Maccabi Tel Aviv may have interest in Jon Scheyer if NBA doesn’t work out. Would be a great spot and lots of $$$.”

Duke survives after a very ugly first half that saw UVA with an 8 to 0 edge in fast break points and also 22 to 19 edge in rebounding. Having Brian Zoubek and Kyle Singler in foul trouble didn’t help Dukes ability to put defensive pressure on UVA.

Credit must be given to UVA who even without their leading scorer took it to the Devils and managed to play Duke to a standstill in the first half. The second have was a back and forth affair with Duke pulling away in the last 5 minutes. That extra day of rest may have really helped Duke in this game, this is why you play for that number 1 seed in the tourney.

Duke had to win this game even with poor shooting from Jon Scheyer who is clearly short arming  his jumper a bit.  Duke is going to have to find ways to win games like this. Survive and Advance.

Duke 77  -  Miami 74

Miami came into this game fully believing that they had the formula to take the Devils down, and for most of the second half they did. Hitting a last second 3 in the waning moments of the first half to take a 3 point lead into the half.  Duke had to come out in the second half with much more crispness and much more defensive pressure.  And Duke started the second half strong with 2 three pointers from Kyle Singler to put Duke back on top. The would never relinquish that lead and would grow it to 16 before Miami would fight their way back. Miami never gave up on this game and it nearly paid off in the end. Duke was sloppy on offense and when it turned to stall-ball, mistake after mistake kept Miami knocking on the door. Duke had just a little more than the Canes in this game, let’s hope Duke comes out with more poise and more emotion in the finals. Georgia Tech is no slouch. It’s winning time.

Duke landed its first 2011 recruit on Thursday when 6′6 shooting guard / small forward Michael Gbinije gave his verbal commitment.  The Devils are still hoping to land one more for 2010. Michael Gbinije is a consensus top 50 guard/forward who should inject some athleticism at that position. A good shooter with the skills to also get past his defender into the lane.

He’s back…Well he’s coming back anyway!

Congrats to the Devils for grabbing that ACC regular season crown in impressive fashion. Rivalry or not Duke came out on a mission and never really allowed the Heels any space to operate. One tweet described it as UNC getting smoke-monstered by Duke. I would agree with that assessment. The Heels just seemed to never have their footing. Never had the emotion to keep up with Duke nor the fire power. The big 3 played like it was all on the line. Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler took this game over from the tip and never looked back. If Duke can keep this sort of play going in the conference tourney, they will sew up a number one seed in the NCAA tournament.

It was hard to find bright spots for the Heels in this game but John Henson you can tell, with the addition of a few tons of Ben & Jerrys, will be a major player next year. It was nice to see Duke finally get that home win against UNC and in style. Next order of business is the ACC tourney. I’m sure the next set of practices are going to be working on getting the offense crisper and working on the defensive rotations. There were a few mistakes once the Plumlees entered the game that I am sure Coach will try to shore up. All in all a dominating performance.

We want to say thank you so much to the seniors on this team. In the last 4 years they have gone through so many battles, been the target of so many criticisms, and really over achieved. We all as Duke fans have been treated to amazing growth by these men.  As a part of the youngest team Coach K has ever fielded is now one of the best. Thank you Lance, Jon and Brian.

Congrats to the Terps for taking it to the devils and withstanding the duke runs. Duke battled an emotional Terps team on senior night, and nearly pulled it off. I don’t think this will hurt Dukes chances at a 1 seed. This was a game that the Terps had to have and one Duke stayed in despite a hostile crowd and an emotional team.
The committee does take into consideration how you lose.

I’m not going to dissect this game too much it was a battle between two really good teams that came down to the last few possessions. No one for either team played poorly, Duke just didn’t hit the shots down the stretch and Terps rebounded when they needed to.

If Duke takes care of business at home against UNC then the regular season title will be theirs, whether they share it with MD or not isn’t the point. It will position Duke very well in the NCAAs.

Duke will have to once again work on getting those bench players going.  Andre Dawkins hit a couple of threes but Duke really needs to get those points from the Plumlees. That is what is separating Duke from being great. 10-15 points coming from the brothers P.

The only hardware really up for grabs tonight is possibly the ACC Player of the Year. It’s still anyones game. I give the nod to Scheyer based on the year and the body of work, but it should be close.

More perspective later..

Without their leading scorer UVA really never had a chance in this game. It’s unfortunate because watching Sylven Landesberg play is a treat. He is a star in the ACC and would have put some good pressure on Dukes defense both off the dribble and from distance.

So really this game was never really a contest although Tony Bennett must like what he sees in the players that did step up. Jerome Meyinsse in particular gave Duke a hard time on the interior scoring 21 of Virginias 49 points. He also pulled down 7 rebounds and really did his part in this game. We also got to see a little of the highly touted freshmen Tristan Spurlock who only played 5 minutes near the end but showed glimpses of what we will see from him next year. He is going to be a flat out star for the Hoos.

For Duke it was the usual suspects: Scheyer with 20 points on 8-14 shooting, good to see his percentages go up. He also had 3 assists, 1 turnover and 5 steals. My favorite stat is that he played 33 minutes instead of 40… I love to see that late in the season.

Kyle Singler who has been truly forcing the issue as of late put on another good offensive performance scoring 21 points on 6 for 10 shooting. Kyle was offensively aggressive, looking to take the ball to hole when it was appropriate and taking the 3 when it was there for him.

Nolan Smith didn’t have the best offensive game but had 2 assists, a steal and a couple of rebounds. Some other positive signs for this team in this game was the turnover numbers. Duke only had 8. If they can keep that number low they will be in good position in most games, that prevents run-outs and easy transition buckets for the opposition. In actuality even when Duke was forced into transition defense they did well, they hustled back on D, it was good to see this late in the year, and several times it prevented easy scores for UVA on what looked like sure layups.

The other sign we like was the performance of the bench. They didnt light ip up or anything but to have Andre Dawkins see a 3 go down and also to have a nice drive to the basket against ACC competition could be big for him and team going forward. Dawkins actually played 19 minutes in this game, pretty sure that’s his highest total in a while. He scored 5 and had a couple of assists as well. This could be huge. Also coming up big off of the bench was Mason Plumlee, putting in 6 points but more importantly not committing silly fouls and dishing out 2 assists. He also got extended time in this one 18 minutes.

Next up for Duke is MD, this game is probably the biggest of the year and really could cement Duke as a number 1 seed in the NCAA tourney. MD is now rannked and is playing its best ball of the year. This team is always dangerous and especially at home, they are going to be ready to take it to Duke.

Duke overwhelms Virginia
Singler, Scheyer shoot Duke past Virginia, 67-49
AP Photos: Duke 67, Virginia 49
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Well what I hoped I would see I saw for the  most part. Coach K put the players to the test and in turn they put Coach to the test.

It was good to see the bench being utilized, admittedly I would like to see more points coming from “the small 6″ it was really just nice to see the big 3 sitting on the bench, even if just for 5 minutes a game. I know the wear down is coming, it may not manifest itself in missed jumpers but if we can get these guys in an actual rotation it could be the difference between a real run in the tourney or just being happy to be nominated. Yes, Jon Scheyer has not been hitting his shots consistently, watching him tonight I honestly think it’s less about his legs and more about shot selection. A lot of his shot misses were layups, over penetrating and not having a real good look at the goal. He’s not missing a ton of open shots so that is a good sign.

That all being said Duke did not play a very good first half of basketball, it wasn’t bad..they just seemed a step slow on offense. Things just weren’t as crisp as they could be. Adjustments were made and Duke came out of the locker room and dominated the rest of the game. Brian Zoubek is definitely coming into his own and at the right time, making nice deliberate moves to the hoop, knowing when he has a good shot and when he needs to push it back out to the guards. It’s amazing what happens when you feel the clock ticking and you know you need to make your mark. People will be talking about these games for a while to come, and teams now will have to prepare how to guard a Duke big man. Havent really been able to say that in a while. Zoubs has also been a force on the boards and the defensively. Color me impressed and really happy for him. I hope he continues and perhaps earns himself a shot at being a pro.

Kyle Singler occasionally has the edge on a defender be it size or speed or skill set. Tonight he was not faster than the people guarding him, he wasn’t stronger either. But by forcing the issue and creating contact and getting to the line. Kyle only shot 4 of 12 in this game but was 9 of 11 from the free throw line. Forcing the defense to react to you and manufacturing points is a huge part of his game and Dukes success.

It was good to see Miles Plumlee get some shine in this game, it must have been refreshing for him to see the ball go in and also to not be in foul trouble. With 6 points and 6 rebounds I am very happy with this performance. Between Zoubek and Miles thats 16 points and 17 rebounds. While Duke is not going to dominate the paint against any team, if there are other means of point production it only serves to help their chances in March.

Nolan Smith, the quiet assassin, also had a less that stellar percentage of shots going in he scored 18 and worked for every shot.  Scoring on breakaways, outside shots, mid range jumpers. Nolan has definitely made huge strides since last year. He’s simply deadly off the dribble or screen. H was a variety of moves to the bucket that makes defenders have to respect and give space.

This was a brilliant scheduling move, I think this will energize the team as they return to conference play.

Tonight against Tulsa Duke needs to look at this as a first or second round tournament game warm-up.  Coming off of a 3 game losing streak the Golden Hurricane look to rebound against Duke and and possibly get into the NCAA conversation. This team has played tough against Memphis and UTEP and boasts 3 double figure scorers as starters. With nothing to lose in this game they should come in guns ablaze.

As far as what i want to see out of Duke..I want to see an offensive flow to this game, want to see the subs rotating in and being effective. I want to see Duke establish a post presence. Need to see effective showings from Andre Dawkins, both Plumlee brothers and hopefully even Ryan Kelly. I want to see less minutes being played by the big three. Possibly even a bit more distribution of scoring.
I want to see more of an effort to play in the half-court. Slowing down the tempo in preparation for the tournament.

I don’t want to see the big 3 logging 40 minutes each or scoring more than 60% of the points. I don’t want to see a sloppy game, but more sets to put the young players in a position to succeed.

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Why Duke Can Go All the Way:

Duke can go all the way this year because of the three scoring options it has, 3 of the top 5 scorers in the ACC are starting for Duke, and there is rarely a game where all three (Smith, Scheyer and Singler) are all shut-down. Dependable scoring options are something we have lacked. Also not to be overlooked is the experience factor, 2 juniors and a Senior are leading this team in scoring and Duke starts 3 seniors and 2 juniors. It’s a luxury not many teams have and Duke has used it to its advantage this season.

Duke can go all the way because Brian Zoubek is playing like a 7 footer. Zoubs is clearing out space in the middle, recycling possessions, setting screens, rebounding and passing to open shooters from the post. A rebounding presence has been sorely lacking from the Duke arsenal for quite a while. This will offset bad shooting nights by the big 3.

Duke can go all the way because unlike years past this team has remained injury free (knock on wood). Continuity is key, and being able to keep a lineup together for the better part of the season is a very good thing. Chemistry and communication will serve this team well in March as it has for most of the season. Aside from the occasional bump and bruise the only serious injury has been Kyle Singlers wrist which he played through, Lance Thomas’ bone bruised knee (he also missed no time), and Mason Plumlees wrist which was an early season injury. Which may have stunted his growth this year a bit but with the high level that Zoubs is playing at, it hasn’t hurt Duke as of yet.

Why Duke Can’t Go All the Way:

The reason why Duke cannot go all the way is the staggering number of minutes that Singler, Scheyer and Smith Play. All three do great things on the court, all three are in tremendous shape. Everyone wears down, those jumpers are going to stop falling even more so than they have already. Teams are going to over substitute and bring in fresh bodies off of the bench to try and wear down a team that does not have the luxury of subbing out it’s guards.

The reason this team cannot go all the way is probably one of its greatest strengths, the 3 point shot. Duke in recent years has seen that shot go in less and less in the tourney. With tired legs (the big 3 play nearly every minute of every game) and no discernible inside scorer Duke will have to work harder for its shots than any team in the tourney. Duke has a few games left to find that consistent inside presence. Mason Plumlee, Miles Plumlee and Brian Zoubek are going to have to maximize their time on the court, play defense without fouling and contribute a few buckets to the cause. With a legitimate scoring option in the middle Duke becomes a very dangerous team. When depending on outside shots and the long ball, Duke becomes very beatable and predictable. Not matter how open those 3 pointers are, a layup or dunk is a much higher percentage shots. Duke is going to be tired, there is no doubt about it and the less energy the big 3 have to expend on the offensive end the better. They need to find easy ways to score.

The reason why Duke cannot go all the way is the bench production.  With a bench full of freshmen and sophomores who haven’t shown they are quite ready for prime time, Duke is having to depend completely on the scoring of Smith, Scheyer and Singler. While having 3 scoring options is much better than in previous years. All three are primarily perimeter players and Duke needs a variance in the way that they acquire points. The bench is not pulling its weight and spelling the starters, Duke needs to be able to substitute without losing it’s edge.