Why? Because in reality, that’s what the haters keep talking about. Strange, isn’t?

Let me give you a example. Over at Fox News, Jeff Goodman produced his ACC preview. Nothing too special about it and certainly not Duke heavy. He has North Carolina winning the league and he’s predicting big things from Georgia Tech (Elite Eight, anyone?).

He has Duke second in the league (although you could make a good argument to have them a spot or two lower). In his small review, he hits mostly on Duke’s back court problems. He does have Kyle Singler on his ‘All-Conference’ team and has a sentence about Duke’s incoming forwards, but overall, it’s a pretty routine write up. I don’t see any favoritism or bias or even hate.

Now let’s look at the comments section.

In the comments section, there are 108 comments. Of those 108, an astonishing 67, yes 67 are about Duke.

There are 12 teams in the ACC, including the defending champs, North Carolina Tar Heels, yet the only thing people want to talk about is Duke. I understand hate, I really do, but 67? Jesus. The irony is, half of them commentators, I couldn’t tell you who their actual favor team is, but that’s the thing about most Duke hate. They hate Duke more than they love their own team, which is why it’s so beautiful.

The comments are obviously mostly negative (about 10 are pro-Duke from one or two Duke fans), but the conversation basically revolved around; Duke sucks, Duke’s overrated, Coach K sucks, Coach K is overrated, Duke doesn’t play anyone, Duke sucks, Duke is gay, Duke has white players, white players are gay, Singler is gay, Singler is Hitler, Coach K is a rat, Coach K looks like a rat, everyone in the media loves Duke and Duke sucks.

Ironically, the respectful comments (even the negative ones) came from the North Carolina faithful. That will happen when you’re on top. Back in the 90’s I didn’t hate UNC as much as I do now…but obviously that has something to do with them being the big dogs right now.

Man, this season is going to be fun.

Seriously, is it basketball season yet?

It was an embarrassing Saturday (and Thursday) of football for the ACC. In only one weekend of football, this conference showed they are not ready for the big time. Forget being mentioned in the same breath as the SEC or the Big-12, the ACC didn’t even live up to the standards of the Subdivision. In fact, the ACC went 1-2 against the CAA conference. I don’t even know what the hell “CAA” stands for.

Combined, the ACC went a pathetic 4-6 this week. Those four wins? They were against Middle Tennessee State, Jacksonville State, Northeastern and the Citadel.

North Carolina State lost to South Carolina, 7-3
The Wolfpack, a possible sleeper in the ACC, produced only 133 total yards on 56 plays on Thursday, proving yet again…oh, what’s the point?

Duke lost to Richmond, 24-16
In front of the largest home crowd since 2001, the Blue Devils, who were actually talking about a bowl game this summer, lost to a subdivision school. Duke ran the ball for 19 yards (on 12 carries). This one wasn’t even as close as the score indicates, as Duke trailed by 15 with under three minutes left in the game.

Virginia lost to William & Mary, 24-14
So much for that new spread offense. Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell, complete 12 passes, but unfortunately three were to B.W. Webb, the 5-11, 160-pound CB for the Tribe. The final “completion” to Webb was the decider, as he returned it for a touchdown, giving his team a 12-point lead with under three minutes left on the clock.

Wake Forest lost to Baylor, 24-21
Well, at least Baylor is a Division I school. A year after beating the Bears 41-13 in Texas, the Demon Deacons were pushed around by a team that’s won 25 games over the last seven years.

Maryland lost to (12) California, 45-13 (when I stopped paying attention)
The Terps didn’t lose to the Golden Bears, they were humiliated by the Golden Bears. California treated Maryland like a subdivision tune up, dismantling them by halftime, 31-6. Remember, theTerps beat California last year in Maryland.

(7) Virginia Tech lost to (5) Alabama, 34-24
Despite the defeat, the Hokies were probably the ACC’s best team of the week, holding a 17-16 lead into the fourth quarter. Still, offensively, Virginia Tech was a joke. Yes, the Bama defense is stunningly good, but the Hokies only managed 155 total yards. I lay the blame squarely on quarterback Tyrod Taylor’s shoulders. I get it, you want to be a passing quarterback, but you’re a dual-threat QB, which means you’re suppose to pass AND run. The way to breakdown a solid D that’s playing mostly man-defense is to having a scrambling QB wrecking havoc. Taylor scrambled out only once all game (producing 14 yards). He should have been doing that all game, instead of trying to be Dan freaking Marino.

As for the wins in the league, there isn’t much to really brag about.

Boston College beat Northeastern, 54-0
If they beat Northwestern, that would be something, but the Huskies are not only a subdivision team, they’re a bad subdivision team, winning only two games all of last year.

(15) Georgia Tech beat Jacksonville State, 37-17
You know I lived in Jacksonville for a year and didn’t even know this school existed. Tech did rush for 355 yards, but only a 20-point win?

(21) North Carolina beat the Citadel, 40-3
Let’s see where we stand. Carolina whips an over-matched Citadel by 37 points. That seems impressive until you realize the last game the Citadel played, they lost to Florida by 51. BTW, what kind of school schedules their last game of the season against Florida (last year)? Thanks for playing for our school, enjoy your beating in the Swamp.That’s cold, man.

Clemson over Middle Tennessee State, 37-14
Sadly, this was the most impressive win of the week in the ACC (at least until Miami and Florida State face off). Sure the Red Raiders won only five games last year, but they did beat Maryland.

Talk about ruining your debut in a single throw.

John Elway once said, the best throw a quarterback can make is out of balance on third down. Hopefully for Syracuse’s sake, it’s a lesson Greg Paulus has now learned.

Starting in his first game in football in more than four years, Paulus had a pretty decent game wiped away with a single throw. In the first overtime, after escaping a sack, Paulus tried to force it into the end zone and hit Minnesota’s Nathan Triplett instead. The Gophers would kick the winning field goal in the following possession. It was a bad, bad decision, especially since Syracuse was on the five-yard line. If he simply throws it away, the Orange go up by a field-goal. Considering Syracuse’s defense hadn’t allowed a touchdown in nearly 57 minutes, double-overtime was a real possibility.

First, Paulus actually did played well, even though the game plan was a bit conservative. Even after the Orange fell behind 14-3, Paulus remained poised. He handle Minnesota’s pressure, was unfazed by the blitz and lived off the short passing game, especially the bubble screen for the entire first half.

Paulus’ one touchdown throw came off a beautiful fake bubble screen. The Gophers bought a solid Paulus pump fake and just like that, WR Mike Williams was open 20 yards behind all the defenders.

However, after Syracuse took a 20-14 lead at halftime, Minnesota made the proper adjustments and Syracuse never re-adjusted.

While it will be impossible not to blame the loss on Paulus’ interception, we should not forget that the Syracuse receivers dropped four passes, three crucial ones in the second half. Two drops came on third downs that would have given the Orange first downs. Instead, they were forced to punt both times.

While Paulus played well, looked confident and in control, he did miss some throws throughout the game, especially deep throws. I counted at least two interceptions that were dropped by Minnesota (one in the first half, the other in the second). He also threw into double coverage after a great play-action fake, failing to hit an open receiver down the middle. Also in the second half, Paulus missed an open WR down the sideline, over throwing him at the ten-yard-line. If the throw was good, it probably was a touchdown and Syracuse is up 10 with less than 10 to play.

Overall, Syracuse fans can’t complain too much and I actually look for the blogs to take it easy on Paulus (oddly, my gut tells me people are actually rooting for him). In the end though, it’s just one loss (hell, Syracuse hasn’t won an opener in six years), and Paulus should only get better as the year goes on. Unfortunately , the Orange face Penn State next week, followed by a home game against Northwestern. That could mean 0-3, but did anyone really foresee this team winning more than four games this year?

Over at CBS, Gary Parrish does his best to compare the recent Derrick Rose/Memphis situation to the Corey Maggette/Duke situation. He feels like the NCAA is using “selective enforcement” when they punish Memphis, but not Duke.

Gary is wrong though. These two situations are not the same and he should know better. However, my first question to Parrish (and Doyle for that matter) is, why use Maggette and Duke as your primary example? I know why…because hitting on Duke gets you a lot more hits on your “blog.”

Wouldn’t a better and certainly more timely comparison be Darrell Arthur and Kansas. If you don’t know this one, it has been reported that Arthur actually failed a class in high school (his grade was changed), which would have made him ineligible to play in the exact same game Derrick Rose was playing in (and was ineligible for).

However, since CBS Sports brought it up, let’s just deal with the Maggette/Duke situation.

COREY MAGGETTE/DUKE: A summer basketball coach, Myron Piggie, made cash payments to Corey while in high school. The money had been funneled to Piggie through “a revenue pool that included donations from at least two sports agents.” Years later, after an investigation, Maggette admitted taking the money.

DERRICK ROSE/MEMPHIS: Derrick Rose was a basketball star from Chicago, who would have gone straight to the NBA if he could. Of course, because of the NBA age requirement, Rose had to attend college for at least one year. However, Rose wasn’t a star student. In fact, he had failed his SAT three times. Rose had been committed to John Calipari and Memphis, but he needed to pass that SAT or else. Suddenly one month before he was due to enroll, someone, not Derrick Rose, took the SAT in Detroit (mind you, Derrick didn’t live in Michigan) and passed…and the rest is history.

Now let’s help out Parrish and explain the difference between the two. What Maggette did was wrong, however, Myron Piggie, had nothing to do with Duke University. The money had nothing to do with Corey’s decision to attend Duke. There is absolutely ZERO connection between Piggie, the money and Duke basketball. Sure, if it was discovered prior to Maggette joining Duke that he accepted cash, he would have lost his eligibility. You can also argue that the NCAA dragged their feet on the Maggette investigation. You always want this stuff wrapped up quickly, just because it looks better.

However, in the Rose/Memphis situation, there are two issues at play. First, all because all the dots can’t be connected, doesn’t mean that we have to ignore any and all evidence (this is not a court of law).

Let’s let Geoff Calkins explain:

On May 5, 2007, with all this at stake, someone — the Educational Testing Service has concluded it wasn’t Derrick Rose — showed up at a test center in Detroit to take Rose’s SAT.

Rose lived in Chicago, mind you. He traveled to Detroit to watch an NBA playoff game and — doesn’t everyone do this? — take the SAT.

Care to guess what significant friend of Calipari’s has deep connections in Detroit?

William Wesley a.k.a. Worldwide Wes, the most mysterious and connected man in college basketball.

Who knows how this all played out? But if you think Calipari didn’t know how his star player qualified to play basketball at Memphis, I have a 2007-08 Final Four banner I’d like to sell you.

Who is Worldwide Wes? Some have called him the most powerful man in sports. You can be the judge.

From Larry Brown Sports, who has done a fantastic job covering the whole Derrick Rose fiasco:

Worldwide Wes (William Wesley) is based out of Detroit and it’s long been established that he helped steer Rose to John Calipari at Memphis. Wes, whom most fans have never heard of, is considered to be one of the biggest powerbrokers in the NBA, one some players say is running the league. Wes helped bring prized recruit DaJuan Wagner to Memphis and Calipari obliged by hiring Wagner’s dad onto his staff. Since then, Wes has helped send Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and Tyreke Evans to Memphis. Calipari has even called Wes a “goodwill ambassador” to the Memphis program, making you wonder if he’ll now be Kentucky’s ambassador. So now the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fit together, and the dots between Rose, Calipari, the suspicious SAT test, and Detroit have all been connected. And just like I said three months ago, sounds like John Calipari helped Derrick Rose cheat on the SAT, or at the very least, knew exactly what he was up to.

This brings us to my second point, it’s all about a track record. Coach K’s record is crystal clear, Memphis and Coach Calipari’s aren’t. First, Rose isn’t the only player from that Memphis team with questionable SAT results and let’s not forget, Coach Calipari is now the only coach in NCAA history to have two Final Four teams disappear from the record books (and in both cases, he was gone by the time the punishments came down). The first case, if you recall was at UMass where Marcus Camby, while on campus, was taking money, jewelry and prostitutes from an agent.

Now granted, Calipari wasn’t the one that was throwing hookers at Camby and there is absolutely no proof that he set up the Rose/SAT situation, but at the very least, Calipari is the master of “plausible deniability.”

Another fact lost on Parrish was that the cheating on the SAT wasn’t the only infraction.

From Dana O’Neil at ESPN:

In regard to this specific investigation, (Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson) agreed to let Reggie Rose (Derrick’s brother) on (the team) plane. By the letter of the law it was OK. NCAA rules say a player’s family can ride on the team plane so long as that opportunity is afforded to the general public.

But it turned out to be a slippery slope to disaster. One missed payment — or in this case, more than $1,700 worth — and Memphis had itself a violation (and by the way, how could Reggie Rose be unaware that he didn’t pay? That’s not exactly chump change for a man who isn’t a Rockefeller).

So let’s see where we stand.

In one case, we have Corey Maggette, who took cash from a high school summer coach that has ZERO affiliation with Coach K and Duke University.

In the other case, we have a player who cheated on a SAT test (after failing his first three tries) in a different state from where he lived, in a city where Worldwide Wes (the man who had brought half-a-dozen players to Coach Cal) lives, just to be accepted by a school that had other players with questionable SAT scores, by a coach who has run afoul with the NCAA in the past…oh and then gave a free plane ride to the player’s brother (who most believe was the one who actually took the SAT test).

Now on top of all that, the big difference, the one fact that separates Maggette/Duke from Rose/Memphis is that, according to the NCAA, Memphis found out DURING Rose’s freshman season that there might be issues with his SAT scores and they did nothing to investigate. In fact, the school didn’t even tell Coach Calipari about the possible infractions (which should make UK fans happy). This means, Memphis knowingly let Rose play games, despite knowing their might be eligibility problems with their star player.

From ESPN:

Paul Dee, the chairman for the committee on infractions, said in a teleconference that even though Memphis was not aware of Rose’s questionable test score until midway through his freshman year, once the score was invalidated by Educational Testing Service, Rose no longer met the initial eligibility standards.

“This is a situation of strict liability,” Dee said. “If he is ineligible and does not meet initial requirements, the penalties are related back to that time and a determination is then made: Did he play in any contests after the fact? In this case, he did.”

Calipari was not penalized because he was never included in the original notice of allegations, Dee said. But Dee did stress that vacating the record books carries with it an implied punishment.”

Yep Gary, no difference at all.

Sorry folks, big difference. It’s fine to ignore Worldwide Wes, Detroit and all other bits of information, but the big difference remains…Duke didn’t learn of Maggette taking money until years after the fact, while Memphis learned of it during the season.

What I don’t get is…Parrish is a good reporter and he should have known the difference because he’s reported on it on his OWN BLOG before.

From August 20:

One of the interesting bits of information released today is that the SAT in question that the NCAA believes Derrick Rose did not actually take was taken by somebody in Detroit only a month before Rose enrolled at Memphis. Rose had already taken the SAT three times and failed to get a qualifying score each time. So suddenly this Chicago native went to Detroit to take the test one final time, and would it be too cynical to mention that the famed William Wesley — AKA “Worldwide Wes” — just so happens to live in Detroit?

That’s probably just a coincidence, right?

Now come on, Gary…you don’t see a difference?

PS – And before I start to receive the hate male from the haters, for the record, unless the NCAA can prove Memphis knew or allowed Rose to cheat, I think the punishment is B.S. I don’t believe Memphis should lose anything. If the school didn’t do anything wrong, then they shouldn’t have their Final Four vacated.

Because I like having my summers off, I try to avoid summer blogging, but I saw that The Big Lead was unhappy with Dick Vitale’s most recent poll, where he had Duke ranked No 5. I wondered, is Dickie V that far off? Can Duke really be the 5th best team? Maybe TBL is the one off, they have Carolina at No 2?

After a lot of soul searching, I figured I’ll take a stab at my own meaningless August college basketball top-20 +1 rankings. I couldn’t do any worse than those folks.

#1 KANSAS - Bringing back Collins and Aldrich was enough of a reason to put the Jayhawks in the No 1 spot, but add in former Memphis recruit, Xavier Henry, and the rich just got a lot richer (it’s the American way, folks).  If these guys don’t crack the Final Four, something is wrong with America. By the way, speaking of Xavier Henry, am I the only one who feels bad for Memphis? Seriously, has any team gone from such a high (another undefeated conference result, another Elite-eight appearance), plus one of the top recruiting classes of all time coming in…and just like that, all gone?

#2 MICHIGAN STATE - They lose only two players worth noting, Sutton and Walton, but bring back Lucas, Roe, Summers and Raymar. They will play in an improved Big 10 (dare I say “best conference?” No, I won’t, but close), which should keep them focused. Plus, they still have one of the best tournament coaches in the land.

#3 VILLANOVA – I feel like people are not appreciating what the Cats did last year. They lose their size in Cunningham, but they bring back the best back court in Reynolds and the two Corey’s. The big question marks will be, can incoming freshman Yarou, step in and fill the void in the paint and how will the suspension of Redding effect Nova out of the gate?

#4 KENTUCKY – So much talent, so little time. No team has more pure talent than the Wildcats. No team has more future NBA players. Outside of Derrick Favors, Calipari landed the two best incoming freshman, Wall and Cousins. Throw them in the mix with Patterson, Orton, Bledsoe and Hood and it starts to get scary. They should have no problem breezing through the SEC, but…and there’s always a but, I’m a firm believer in upperclassmen equals championships. The main contributors on this team have none, zero, nada post-season experience. Hell, junior Patterson has never even tasted the NCAA Tournament.

#5 PURDUE – They got a solid and experienced three-headed monster in Johnson, Hummel and Moore. In fact, all five starters have played together for two straight years. In fact, six players averaged over 27 minutes last year and all seven are back. Experience, baby. That’s what this thing called college basketball is all about.

#6 NORTH CAROLINA - How many teams can lose a Hansbrough, Ellington and a Lawson and still be ranked this high? Don’t get me wrong, they’re going to hit some bumps along the way, including some great early season match ups against Michigan State (Dec. 1), Kentucky (Dec. 5), Texas (Dec. 19) and maybe a game against Cal in the Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic. That’s a beautiful December. The good news is, Carolina is stacked up front with Davis, Thompson, Zeller and stud freshman, Henson. Personally, I wouldn’t expect to much from the Wear brothers this season. In the end though, a repeat will be out of the question because of the point guard position (trust me, I’m a Devils fan. I know). Can anyone really see Drew II leading this team to the title this year?

#7 TEXAS - Just look at the returning stars; James, Mason, Johnson (sounds like the Founding Fathers) and the human hamburger, Dexter Pittman. Obviously, Pittman isn’t the star, but he’s the key. He needs to stay thin (under 300) and stay on the court for more than 20 minutes a game (which would be a first). However, when it’s all said in done, the man who can deliver a Final Four to Texas could be freshman, Jordan Hamilton. You might have missed him. He’s from the west coast and we all know nothing happens west of the Mississippi. The man is an offensive beast. Let’s just say, if basketball was pornography, our man Hamilton would be Ron Jeremy (please God, let that become his nickname).

#8 DUKE - Yep, they crack the top ten, but they can personally thank the arrival of Andre Dawkins for that. Without him, I’d drop Duke to at least No 15. The Devils are going to look a lot different this year, a lot bigger. First though, look for Duke to go 10-deep, with eight players standing 6′5 or better (hell, seven are 6′7 or better). The good news is, the Plumlee brothers are going to be good, which will allow both Thomas and Singler to finally move to their nature positions (PF & SF). While I’m excited about Dawkins and I certainly think Scheyer will do a fine job at the point (fine enough to win 30 games again), I can’t see Duke getting to the Final Four without a REAL point guard, one that can breakdown a D. Sorry folks, but…Not going to happen.

#9 BUTLER – Let me just be honest…I don’t think they’re a Final Four team. Maybe I’m bias, maybe I’ve just been burned too much by Gonzaga, but for me to put a Mid-Major in the Fina Four, they really have to knock me on my ass. Butler doesn’t do that, but they do impress me. They return everyone from a 26-win team, plus they got Gordon Hayword (the mid-majors version of Kyle Singler), who knows how to get it done when it’s all on the line.

#10 TENNESSEE – Celebration, good times, come on! That’s exactly what UT fans were singing when word came back that Tyler Smith would be back for his senior season. It was a smart move and it keeps the Volunteers in my top-10 (and let’s be honest, that’s all that really matters, right?). With Smith, Prince and Woolridge, UT has three 6′7 guys who can all hit from a distance. Bobby Maze should be solid at the point, but someone, anyone (Williams, Negedu…you guys listening?) needs to be a inside presence (i.e. compete with Patrick Patterson in the SEC).

#11 CAL - Who’s got the best back court in college basketball? You don’t know? Neither do I, but the Bearcats have a good one. Christopher and Randolph can take this team deep, they’re just that good. Yet, ironically, the X-factor on this team is Jamal Boykin. Remember him? You should, he’s a former Dukie. He was part of that awful 2005 class. The same class that was ranked No 2 in recruiting. The same class that produced ZERO starters last year (for what should have been their senior seasons). That’s right, the 2005 class of Martynas Pocius (injured/bust), Eric Boatend (transfer), Jamal Boykin (transfer), Josh McRoberts (left after two seasons) and Greg Paulus (benched senior year, now starting QB at Syracuse) are to blame for all of Duke’s recent woes. Anyhow, Boykin contributed 23 minutes last year for Coach Montgomery, scoring 10 points, grabbing six rebounds. If he can up that to 15/9, watch out PAC 10.

#12 WASHINGTON - Forget a back court duo, how about a back court trio? Thomas, Pondexter and incoming freshman, Abdui Gaddy, will be fun to watch this season (yeah I know, Pondexter is technically a forward. Cut me some slack).

#13 MICHIGAN - Nation, meet Coach John Belien’s 1-3-1 defense. John Belien’s 1-3-1 defense, meet the nation. Duke got a personal meet-and-greet last year and we know how that turned out.

#14 WEST VIRGINIA - Last year, I picked them to go to the Final Four. I was off…by a lot. What can I say, I have a thing for Devon Ebanks and Da’Sean Butler.

#15 GEORGIA TECH – Say what? I just love their incoming recruiting class. It’s just that good. In a less-than-stellar ACC, the Yellow Jackets will have time to grow and as long as the game plan is, ‘get the ball to Derrick Favors’, Tech will surprise some people this season.

#16 CONNECTICUT – Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson are going to be a solid pair, but Huskie fans will be asking a lot from Oranaki to replace both Thabeet and Adrien.

#17 LOUISVILLE - The Cardinals will again be very deep, but when was the last time a team made it to the Final Four the year after the married head coach, banged a mother of four in a restaurant bathroom, knocked her up, paid for the abortion, then was blackmailed after the fact? You get back to me on that one.

#18 MISSISSIPPI STATE – Two words for you…Renardo. Sidney. Stud Renardo Sidney. Potential All-SEC Renardo Sidney. Potential All-SEC Renardo Sidney has lots of baggage. Wait, that’s nine words. Speaking of nine, did I fail to mention the Bulldogs return their nine leading scorers? How many teams can say that?

#19 SYRACUSE – Thanks to the return of All-everything point guard Johnny Flynn, the Orange have their best shot at cracking the Final Four since a young freshman named…oh wait, Flynn is a pro now, playing in Minnesota. Never mind.

#20 GONZAGA - Another year, another season with the Bulldogs ranked in the top-20, another year where they won’t reach the Final Four.

#21 FLORIDA STATE – Maybe it’s a homer pick, putting in another ACC team over the likes of Ohio State, Florida and Illinois, but their size scares me (as does Alabi) and it should scare all those in the ACC who travel down to the sunshine state.

JUST MISSED THE CUT:
Ohio State, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Georgetown, Oklahoma State.

It’s bad enough taking a shot to the gut, but to have it followed up with a jab to the face, ouch. That’s how my Tuesday went, when I learned that John Wall was headed to Lexington and Gerald Henderson signed with an agent, thus ending his career as a Blue Devil.

First, let me take the high road just this once. Congratulations to Kentucky. You got a solid talent in Wall. There is no doubt, with or without Meeks, Kentucky is now an instant top-10 team. I know some of you Blue Grass faithful will want to stick them No 1 right now, but let’s let these kids earn something before we award them the title.

The talent is certainly there, with four ‘for-sure’ NBA players (if Meeks comes back), with potentially three more future NBA players as well. However, I see four challenges for Kentucky:

A) Who are you going to cut? If Meeks comes back, the Wildcats will be four over the scholarship limit. That means four players have to give up their scholarship. Coach Cal will have to tell a few players they won’t be seeing any playing time, hoping they will then transfer out. It’s a little rough, it’s pretty cold, but Coach Cal wanted to bring in his own boys, plus keep Gillispie’s recruits, and that’s that.

B) If Kentucky wants the title, there’s little time for growing pains. While Patterson and Meeks were the stars last year, let’s not forget, these two have yet to taste the NCAA tournament. Obviously, that won’t be an issue this season, but if they want a title, the two most important players will be two freshmen; Cousins and Wall. If you recall last year’s Final Four, there weren’t a lot of freshman playing the important minutes.

C) The Wildcats are oozing with talent, but don’t forget, talent doesn’t just automatically jell. If that was the case, then this past summer, the U.S.A. basketball team would have won their fifth straight gold medal in China, and not just their first in a long time. These guys will have to learn to check those mighty egos at the door to make a deep run in the tournament.

D) Calipari still needs to prove he’s a championship coach. There is no doubt he’s the man in recruiting, but this is also a man who’s already had some pretty talented players in the past already, yet he still has the same amount of championships as I do (that would be none). It’s hard to imagine Coach Cal not eventually winning one at Kentucky, but stranger things have happened

Having said all that…it sure would be nice to have those problems. Good luck, Kentucky and good luck, John Wall.

As for Henderson, I’m certainly disappointed, but I can’t blame the guy. For the first time in his career, he was completely healthy and he proved how good he could be. His dream has always been to be in the NBA, so why not go now. In reality, with next season’s freshman class, plus with so few freshman going early this year, there is little doubt Henderson could really improve his draft status by playing one more season of college basketball.

Obviously, I think he will be a solid pro, however, I still feel like he needed some work. He struggled to go to his left last year and he has not shown that he can hit the NBA three-point shot consistently. Worse yet, he’ll have to live with the fact his best friend, Wayne Ellington got an NCAA championship and he didn’t.

Word is, Henderson will end up in Charlotte, who is desperate for a two-guard. Good luck, Gerald. I’ll be cheering for you.

So what now for Duke? Size, size, oh and more size.

First, the good news. Duke just got a lot bigger by subtraction. Singler will switch to his natural position at small forward. At power forward and center, it doesn’t really matter who starts, but my best guess is Lance Thomas and freshman, Mason Plumlee. In reality though, you’re going to see a six-man rotation of Thomas, Zoubek, Kelly and the two Plumlee brothers. I don’t really know where Czyz fits in right now, although I’m sure the coaching staff will figure out his role soon enough.

The inside actually excites me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as good as Carolina’s Ed Davis, Deon Thompson, Tyler Zeller and John Henson (and you can thrown in the Wear brothers, although I don’t see them playing too much their freshman years). However, our six-man front-court rotation has size, a 7-footer and three 6-10 guys, experience; Thomas and Zoubek, pure talent (Mason Plumlee) and a three-point shooter (Kelly). Obviously, it will be up to the freshman to walk right in and do all the things missing in the paint the past few years; defending, rebounding and most importantly, scoring in the post. We will see if that’s asking too much.

Obviously, the best move is Singler going to small forward. Thanks to his experience inside the past two years, he’s stronger, tougher and can play inside when the situation calls for it, but now he’ll be where he should be and he’ll be a match up nightmare for a lot of opposing small forwards.

Now the bad news. Duke will only have three legit guards on the 2009-10 roster. I shudder the thought of foul trouble or dare I even think it, an injury to either Scheyer, Williams or Smith.

Like last year, Duke’s problem is at the point, where we don’t have a point guard, which is pretty sad considering we have what seems like 85 McDonald’s All-Americans on our roster . Of course if John Wall picks Duke, PG is not an issue and the Devils are ranked preseason No 1 this fall. Without him (and Henderson), we have some issues.

So who will play the point? Obviously Scheyer did a nice job, but his limitations were exposed against a athletic Nova team and trust me, it will happen again in 2009-10, if Johnny finds himself back running the point. Elliot Williams is a natural two-guard. Sure he proved he can guard the point, but Duke needs a man who can run the offense and get into the lane and make the decisions. He is not that guy. This leaves Nolan Smith.

I think Nolan’s a great kid. You can’t read an article about him and not like him. I also believe he CAN play the point for Duke. Don’t get me wrong, he’s no Jason Williams. He never will be. However, there is no reason why he can’t be as good as Chris Duhon.

Last year, late in the season, after returning from the concussion, he finally looked relax. He was coming off the bench, doing his job and it looked like he was enjoying himself again. The question is, can he relax, perform and simply have fun playing the point for Duke? Can he get into the lane with the ball? Can he keep opposing point guards out of the lane? All great questions, with the same answer. I don’t know. He hasn’t really done it yet in his career. My best uneducated guess is, we’ll find out soon enough. This is the route Coach K will most likely take to start the 2009-10 season; Smith, Scheyer, Singler, Thomas, Mason Plumlee as out starting five, with Williams, Zoubek, Miles Plumlee, Kelly and Czyz coming off the bench.

Let’s think deeper and talk recruiting and about the future beyond the 2009-10 season.

This past recruiting season was a frustrating one…to say the least. In fact, the past five or six years has been tough for any loyal fan of the Blue Devils. Too many stars; Patterson (2007), Monroe (2008), Kenny Boynton (Florida ‘09), John Wall (Kentucky ‘09), Leslie McDonald (Carolina ‘09) and Erik Murphy (Florida ‘09) have gone elsewhere. Not to mention, solid point guards like Darius Smith and Eric Bledsoe, weren’t ever seriously chased, even though they were interested in Duke. It just seems like the coaching staff only goes after a handful of studs and when they fail to land them, it’s too late in the recruiting process to recover.

The 2010 class will tell us a lot. By the look of things, Coach K has already learned his lesson and got the ball rolling early. He has nailed down three solid commits; five-star (SG) Andre Dawkins, four-star (PF) Joshua Hairston and three-star (PG) Tyler Thornton. Not to be forgotten is Liberty transfer, Seth Curry. These four are solid grabs and you can already put Duke down for a top-ten recruiting class (obviously excluding Curry), but the true test for the coaching staff will be their ability to land one of the superstars in the 2010 class. I’m talking of couese about (according to Rivals), No 1 Brandon Knight, No 2 Harrison Barnes and No 5 Josh Smith. If the Devils can land one of these players, then there’s nothing more to talk about.

In the end, it was a disappointing Tuesday in May. We got knocked down today, but we’re not out. Duke has a solid team next year. If a couple players can really develop into the players we had hoped they be (Nolan, anyone?), then a Final Four trip is not out of the question.

Until I see who stays in the NBA draft and who comes back for other teams, I won’t make any predictions, but Duke is certainly a top-15 team, maybe top-10. Look for the ACC title to be wide open, with Carolina and Duke again competing with Wake (if Teague comes back) and Clemson. However, watch out for Florida State. They are my mid-range sleeper who could sneak up and take down the big boys.

It’s official now, Duke gets John Wall, or they can kiss any title run goodbye next season. Yes, he’s that important.

Today, point guard Eric Bledsoe, picked the Kentucky Wildcats, leaving John Wall the last solid point guard still uncommitted. A while back, we talked about whether the Duke coaching staff was making a mistake going after one-and-done Wall over Bledsoe (assuming he could qualify). Sure Wall is a lot better and can step right in and make an impact, but Bledsoe ain’t half bad either.

The 6-1 point guard from Alabama is a pass-first guard, who knows how to get into the lane (something Duke clearly needs now). He nearly averaged a triple-double in high school;  20.3 points,  11.5 assists and 9.4 rebounds per game. Whether he could have led Duke to a championship this season is surely questionable, but it would be hard to argue against the fact that he would have been the best point man from day one.

This leaves John Wall. Obviously, there are concerns about his recent run-in with the law, but trust me, it’s not a big deal. It appears he and some friends entered a vacant house, looking for a place to hang out with some ladies.

While I think Bledsoe to Kentucky helps the Blue Devils in the John Wall recruiting saga, my personal opinion has always been that wherever Calipari landed, that’s where Wall would end up…and that hasn’t changed.

Sadly, I can see Calipari convincing Bledsoe that a year on the bench, behind Wall, would be good, allowing him to take over the point guard duties in 2010 after Wall leaves for the NBA. I can see Coach Cal convincing Wall of this scenario as well. I hope I’m wrong. I really do, but after seeing Duke get burned by top-notch talent the last few years, I’m not confident the coaching staff can close the deal.

Having said that, I still believe that it would be a smart thing for John Wall to come to Duke. First, he’ll start from day one for a veteran team and he’ll get to compete for the title now. Second, he’ll be on television nearly every game. Third, there is no better uniform to wear to improve his slightly battered image.

Let’s hope and let’s pray, because if Henderson decides the NBA is the right way (That’s where I’d put my money), Duke will have no TRUE point guards next season, and only three guards total (Scheyer, Smith and Williams).

Today, I stumbled across an article on the Huffington Post, where some guy named Chris Kyle (nope, never heard of him either), accused Grant Hill of being a doper (nope, I’m not kidding). You see, after battling a bad ankle over the years, Grant Hill played in all 82 games this season, the first time since his days in Detroit.

From the Huffington Post:

How?

How does a 36-year-old man play in all 82 regular season games and do it in style, finishing his final game with 27 points, 10 board, 5 assists, four steals and a block?

If I were hoping, I’d say that Grant Hill is an Outlier, straight from the pages of Malcolm Gladwell, but if I were betting, well, you get the idea…

I don’t like to think about Grant Hill taking HGH, or whatever else, because he’s always been one of my favorite Blue Devils. I say that because some people might think it’s unfair for me to the raise the performance-enhancing drugs issue with a guy like Hill. I don’t know. But I do know that my friends and I sit around and talk about stuff like this.

This might be the most irresponsible article I have ever read on the Huffington Post? Seriously. I read that site more than any other on the web and I still can’t believe I came across this filth.

Without a trace of proof, without a single whisper from a single source, this person can simply write an article on one of the most popular news sites, linking Grant Hill to HGH, just because he can’t believe Grant Hill can do it?

Chris’s so-called proof is that Grant Hill played in all 82 games this season after suffering through injuries throughout the latter half of his career? Is it really that amazing? Let’s look back.

In Grant Hill’s first six years in Detroit, he was one of the NBA’s best. He scored 9,383 points, grabbed 3,417 rebounds and dished out 2,720 assists. Only Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson produced better numbers in their first six years.

Then came the trade to Orlando and the health issues. Granted, it wasn’t a rash of injuries, it was just one bad ankle, followed by many failed attempts to fix it. Because of this ankle, Grant Hill played in only 48 games in a four-year stretch from 2000-2004.

After taking a full year to recover in 2004, he came back and played 67 games. The following year though, he only played in 21 games thanks to a hernia injury caused by the fact that he was still favoring one ankle. After that season, Hill went and saw a new specialist in Vancouver. The treatment appeared to help, although it wasn’t an instant recovery (you know, the kind a player usually gets when he’s using HGH). Hill came out and played in a respectable 65 games, along with a trip to the playoffs that season.

Following 2006-2007 season, Grant went to Phoenix. His ankle held up again and he played in over 70 games. He did miss two weeks because he suffered an emergency appendectomy. And finally this season, he played a full 82, although his stats were his lowest in years.

So after seeing all this, Chris Kyle things, but hopes it’s not true, that Grant Hill used HGH. Stunning.

What do I see? A player who had a bum ankle,  who slowly, year after year, worked his way back to complete health. But wait, Chris says 36-year-old players are suppose to break down at that age. Obviously, Chris doesn’t take into account that when Grant missed all those games, his body avoided the NBA beat-down in 280 games during that stretch. So maybe, just maybe, it’s reasonable to assume that if Grant Hill’s ankle got stronger and stronger over a three-year period, then he could somehow manage 82 games in one season. Is it really that much of a stretch? The guy comes off the bench, averaging under 30 minutes per game. Can HGH be the only way?

Again though, this isn’t a post about Grant Hill and HGB. Like I already said, there’s not a single ounce of evidence linking Grant to the drug or to anyone associated with HGB. And unlike Chris, when I know a person has been a class act his whole life and has never done anything in his career or life to tarnish the game he loves, guess what…he gets the automatic benefit of the doubt in my book.

This article is about Chris Kyle though, who despite getting a top-notch education at Duke University, just doesn’t get it. What was that award winning reasoning he had again:

I don’t like to think about Grant Hill taking HGH, or whatever else, because he’s always been one of my favorite Blue Devils. I say that because some people might think it’s unfair for me to the raise the performance-enhancing drugs issue with a guy like Hill. I don’t know. But I do know that my friends and I sit around and talk about stuff like this.

No Chris, no one thinks it’s unfair to write a B.S. article about Grant Hill because you like the guy. My issue is the fact that you get to use the Huffington Post to post a ‘gut feeling’ simply because you and your friends “sit around and talk about stuff like this.” Discussing Grant Hill and drug use without a shred of evidence with your friends IS the proper forum. Trashing a great NBA player and a good guy with no proof whatsoever in a national news site is slander.

It’s no different if I wrote that Chris Kyle’s mother was a whore, who sleeps with men for money. That would be wrong. Sure I can sit around with my buddies and debate the merits of the whoring mother of Chris Kyle, but to post it on this site would be wrong, no matter how much my gut says it so. I shouldn’t do it because I don’t have any proof that she works the streets for money.

Just imagine the possibilities if I used his logic.
- Tyler Hansbrough uses HGH. My friends talk about it all the time. Look at his body, he’s built. I have no proof, but I’m just saying.
- Crying causes Cancer. Again, I have no proof, but a friend and I were talking about it yesterday.
- When the Tar Heels win, a baby dies. Sure I’ve never seen it happen. But come on, at one point in this world a puppy had to die when Carolina won. It just makes sense, right?

That’s really all I can say about it. A classless article by a clueless writer. Huffington Post, if you’re looking for a real writer, let me know, my neighbor’s kid is pretty good at making shit up out of thin air.

Pro Football Talk is reporting that former Duke point guard, Greg Paulus has worked out for the Green Bay Packers.

Really?

I know Greg was a football star in high school and could have played at Notre Dame, but was he really so good that he could basically take four years off and suddenly land on an NFL roster? It’s not like Paulus has a Tim Tebow build. He’s 6′1, about a buck-eighty. He’s Pat White without speed. I figured Paulus would be roaming a sideline somewhere as an assistant basketball coach.

As best as I can tell, the Packers already have Aaron Rogers, LSU’s Matt Flynn, Louisville’s Brian Brohm. I just can’t see Paulus betting out any of these guys for a third-string job.

Word on the street says that Duke forward, Gerald Henderson, is leaving college for the NBA…and he will be signing with an agent?

Gerald Henderson is also expected to announce he’s leaving college shortly, and is expected to hire an agent with strong ties to Duke.

WTF? I get the declaring yourself eligible for the NBA, but why sign with an agent? Any reasonable junior would declare so they can go workout with NBA scouts in Chicago. There he can be evaluate by the brightest minds in the NBA (much like Ellington, Green and Lawson did last year). Afterwards is when you make that final decision whether to return or not. If you decide not to, then you hire an agent.

This rumor doesn’t make a lot of sense. There’s is no harm in not hiring an agent now. However, as soon as he hires one, his college career is over, whether he bombs during the workouts or not.

We’ve said it before, we think Henderson is going to be a solid pro (assuming he remains healthy), but he needs more work. He still struggles to drive to his left, especially against real athletes and he doesn’t have NBA (three-point) range yet, which he’ll need since he’s only 6′4 and will be asked to play shooting guard.