Duke wins a tough one at home against a very determined and fiery Va Tech team. Seth Greenberg, it must be said, had his kids ready to play. They fought back from a double digit lead to end the half only down 5. Coach K was livid with the team for a defensive breakdown leading to an easy Vtech bucket. A time out was called and if the cameras had not cut away you would have had to shield the eyes of the young ones. Luckily Duke was able to overcome the mental mistakes because Mr. Kyle Singler went off and found his shot in the first half.
The second half was just as hotly contested with Duke pulling ahead before Vtech tied the game at 42. Duke switched up the offense once again and never looked backed, Nolan Smith, Singler and Scheyer put on a show. Singler finished as the games leading scorer with 25 points, he also pulled down 10 rebounds. Nolan Smith put in 23Â points hitting some end of shot clock clutch shots in this game. With all the points being score by the Big 3, 63 out of 67 by the way, don’t forget the 3rd straight super-man effort by Brian Zoubek. He only scored 3 points in this game but he made his presence felt in this game by pulling down 16 rebounds. These recycled possessions are a huge reason why Duke was able to pull away from Vtech. While only credited with one assist you can honestly say he was responsible for quite a few more on possessions that lead to open 3’s.
The only minus in this game was the bench, once again ineffective, 0-7 to be exact. I applaud Coach K for sticking with using each in the rotation despite the poor performances, but the frosh and sophs really need to see the ball go in the basket a few times. If Duke has to depend on the big three exclusively to win games there may be trouble on the horizon, someone needs to step up and knock down some shots. Zoubek has shown to be a force down low as of late but it would really be nice to see the Plumlees put in 5 to 7 points each a game.
Tune in for the “Why Duke will win it all, Why Duke won’t win it all” coming in the next 48 hours. Where I give my non-expert opinions on what things have to align for Duke to win it all, or what deficiencies will cause Duke to bow out early in the tourney.