When I came up with this blog’s name, I wasn’t referring to this video. I swear.
By the way, does any other team from any other sport get more videos posted on You Tube? I know they’re usually haters, but still…it’s time to get a new hobby, folks.
This is what God does to you when you deny the Blue Devils for Kentucky Blue.
I’m kidding of course. I still believe losing out on Patrick Patterson was a huge. Despite the Wildcats struggles, Patterson has come up big (16 points, 57% from the floor, while pulling in nearly eight rebound per game). While Duke has done fine without him, just imagine what it would be like if Big Pat slid into Lance Thomas’ spot. The Blue Devils would be an elite team if Patterson was taking care of business in the paint for them.
I hate envy him, so I’m supposed to be happy he’s down, but I’m not. Here’s to a good recovery, Pat. We’ll see you next year (maybe?).
Filed under: Word On The Street
I find them, you read them.
- Paulus and Singler are all about the help (WRAL)
- You want to know what Cameron is like, now you don’t have to go (Sports Central)
- One man’s take on Plumlee, with pictures. (Us Versus Them)
Filed under: Hate Duke
Deadspin.com, Sports News Without Access, Favor, or Discretion unless it involves Illinois, brought on a solid guest lecture, who decided to write a fake story about Coach K, cursing out a Jew referee.
That’s right, Coach Krzyzewski, of Polish decent, demeaning Jews and blacks, while the Cameron Crazies chant “Death to Jews!”
Deadspin…you stay classy, brother.
Filed under: Recruiting | Tags: 2009 Recruits, Duke Recruiting, Mason Plumlee
Finally, some size!
Watch out 
ladies, Junior Mason Plumlee has committed to Duke.
The 6-foot-11 junior averaged 12.8 points and 10.5 rebounds in his second season at Christ School, helping his team capture its second straight NCISAA 3-A Championship. Plumlee made a second unofficial visit to Duke this past weekend, and informed the Blue Devil coaching staff of his decision Tuesday.
For me, Plumlee came out of nowhere. I didn’t even have him on our radar until mid-February. According to Scout.com, Plumlee is a 4-star PF, with a solid mid-range jumper, who plays like a guard, who can also rebound. He will however, need to develop a post game. According to Rivals.com, Plumlee is the 66th best player, and 25th best power foward.
Tar Heel coach, Roy Williams, recently watch Plumlee play, but he did not offer the big man a scholarship. However, Georgetown, Indian, Louisville, Michigan, Stanford and Tennessee, UCLA, Vanderbelt, Wake Forest, Xavier all have.
For Duke, this was solid get. They’ve lagged behind so far in ’09 recruiting (UNC already has four commits). Also, Duke has struggled to land in-state talent, so it will be to have a local kid in the mix.
Filed under: Word On The Street
I find something for you to read, you read them.
- Coach ‘K’ of the Year? Wait, I thought Gregg hated Coach K? (CBS Sportsline)
- Gerald’s D gets a little notice (Fox Sports)
- Are fans going to far? (CNNSI)
It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but a win in conference is a win in conference. The Blue Devils handed Georgia Tech its fifth straight loss with a 71-58 victory in Cameron Wednesday night. The win keeps Duke tied with North Carolina for the lead in the ACC.
Let’s get right to it.
- Turnovers had been killing Duke in their two loses, but tonight they handed it over only eight times. You’re always going to get the win if you keep your turnovers below double digits.
- Gerald Henderson looked good for the second straight game. Maybe it’s all in the brace. he shot 6-10 from the floor, mostly on dunks, but a couple of mid-range jumpers.
- Where were the 3′s? A rough night from behind the strip. Duke shot 2-15 from the three-point line, its worst outing this season. They pull this off against a good team, they’re not going to be so lucky.
- Lance Thomas state line (reminder, we want more points and rebounds than fouls): 4 points, 6 rebounds, 4 fouls. Not bad, but not great. In our preview I talked about wanting to see Lance become more aggressive on the offensive end. He only took two shots, and only one was an offensive move type shot. The other was a put-back.
- Coach K put a tight lease on the bench again tonight, and I’m not quite sure why. All five starters, plus Scheyer played 22+ minutes (four played at least 30). Singler alone only sat for two minutes. Smith and McClure each played eight minutes while Zoubek and King only saw five and two minute on the court, all in the first half. This was a bit disappointing, especially after Zoubek’s solid game against St. Johns. King continued to struggle, going 0-2 from the floor, one miss from three. Right now, his confidence is shot. Someway the Duke coaching staff will need to find a way to get it back.
Like I said, these kind of numbers worry me. Duke’s biggest problem over the years has been their lack of players on the pine. This is why Duke always looks tired come tournament time and they eventually get run out the building (early each year). This team is supposed to be different, featuring a decent 10-man rotation. Now is not the time to start having our starters averaging 30+ per game.
- Good game overall for Matt Causey of Georgia Tech. I’ll be honest, prior to this game, I’d had never really heard of him. However, did you see what his eyes were doing after he banged his head just before halftime? Seriously, your face doesn’t do that if all the parts are working correctly upstairs. I’m not a doctor, but he shouldn’t have been allowed back in that game.
- Duke won this game by playing great D (14 steals), shutting down Morrow, and getting to the free throw line. Duke finished 21-30 while Tech only managed 7-11 (all in the last nine minutes of the game).
- One issue I had tonight with the announcing was Len Elmore and his problem with the free throw differential. All night he kept pointing out that Tech, for whatever reason, was struggling to get to the free throw line during their current losing streak. In six of the last seven Yellow Jacket’s loses, their opponents have averaged over 16 more free throws per game (13, 16, 6, 32, 15, 19). Despite this, Len started to question the ‘fairness’ of the free throw discretion. Is it the refs job to assure that both teams shoot the same amount of free throws for the game? No, it’s their job to make sure the calls are made correctly.
If Len was pointing out that the refs were missing calls, or reffing a bad game, then that’s an argument to make, but outside of disagreeing with a couple calls throughout the game, that wasn’t the issue. He simply thought it wasn’t right that Tech wasn’t getting to the line…despite the fact they have a long history this season of not getting to the line, while putting their opponents onto the free throw line.
SAD, BUT TRUE MOMENT: The Blue Devil mascot pulled a Bill Gramatica.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Gerald Henderson…6-10 from the floor, 15 points, 5 rebounds and a few solid dunks
PROPS GO TO: Gani Lawal…he score 10 (as did Causey), but Lawal did it in six shots, while Causey needed eleven. In fact, Lawal was the only Tech player to shoot about 50%.
The win against St. Johns was nice, but this one matters more. Duke welcomes the Yellow Jackets into Cameron, looking to end a two-game losing streak in ACC play.
This one should be easy for the Blue Devils. Georgia Tech has fallen on hard times, losers of four straight. They’re three games below .500 for the season. Unlike Duke’s last two ACC opponents Wake/Miami, who were fighting for a spot in the NCAA tournament, Tech with five games left in their season, plus the ACC tournament, they need to start winning now just to maybe sneak into the NIT.
For Duke the win should come easily, so let’s focus on what we’re hoping to see in the game.
- Henderson’s had a solid game coming off the bench. More importantly, he seemed to have confidence again in his jumper, wearing a brace around his injured wrist. Is this answer? Time will tell. Let’s see if he can make it two good games in a row.
Redan High 4-star forward, Kenny Hall visited Duke this past weekend to check out the Duke/St. Johns game.
Afterwards, Hall met with Coach K for about 15-20 minutes. The two talked about the University, his grades and of course, how he would be used if he ever put on a Duke uniform.
“Coach K talked about how they develop players at my position, the three, and he talked about how I am actually similar to Ro (Roshown McLeod) in size and how we play. When he came to Duke he was tall and skinny like I am and they used him at the four to start off with and let him gradually move into a three role sometimes.”
At this point, Duke has not offered Kenny a scholarship.
Filed under: Word On The Street | Tags: Brian Zoubek, Greg Paulus, Krzyzewski, Reggie Love, Roy Williams
I find the links, because I have nothing better to do.
- Sticks and Stones (Fay Observer)
- Zoubek scores a headline (Gaston Gazette)
- Remember Reggie Love, he’s been busy (Bleacher Report)
- Paulus isn’t all flops, he has a brain too (WRAL)
