MBB: Duke 61, Butler 59 - 2010 NCAA Champs!!!

[arydolphin]

Postgame press conference on ESPN right now.

[bjornolf]

Congratulations to our blue devils, and to Butler on an amazing game. Wow. Best national championship game I've seen in years.

[TampaDuke]

Lost three years of my life.


Well worth it. Great game guys.

[arydolphin]

They just asked Z if he missed the 2nd free throw on purpose. His response: "Yep."

[mph]

Just awesome! It has been loads of fun watching a bunch of guys who love their teammates improve from game to game. Where this team has come from the beginning of the season to tonight is remarkable and I can't remember the last time being a fan was this much fun.

Thanks to all of the 2010 Blue Devils, but especially Jon, Brian, Lance, and Jordan.

[SharkD]

Zoubek intentionally missed the second free throw, as per instructions.

Happy Birthday, Brian! Thank you!

[dustin8131]

I love this team and what it represents to me and to the world about playing the right way

lets go duke

National champs

[DukeBlueNV]

CHAMPS BABY... gotta love the story... 4yrs ago these freshman were part of the team that supposibly was signaling the decline of duke basketball... cant remember the record something like 22-11(?) but look at what the DID!!! AWESOME!!! DUKE BASKETBALL BABY THE PAST IS GREAT AND THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT! LOVE BEING A BLUE DEVIL... and cant forget....


EAT YOUR HEART OUT UNC!!!!

[TampaDuke]

But what? were we afraid of overtime? If Zoubek makes that free throw there's no way we lose and we most likely still win in regulation. If he misses it, it's the same deal as missing on pupose, pretty much.

Had Butler's shot fallen I cannot imagine the criticism.

Please don't crush this post. I'm ecstatic, but really really confused.

Agreed. IMO, you have to handicap your overtime expectations on this. They never led by more than 2. Worst case scenario, they need a great play just to make overtime and then need to play great to win in OT. I'm feeling OK. Miss the free throw, worst case scenario, they need only one great play to win a game they haven't really led the whole night.

[billybreen]

I am happy!

[elvis14]

I love this team. They came so far this season. All heart. I'm so happy. It was us against the world tonight and the world lost. How sweet is that?

[DevilHorns]

Agreed. IMO, you have to handicap your overtime expectations on this. They never led by more than 2. Worst case scenario, they need a great play just to make overtime and then need to play great to win in OT. I'm feeling OK. Miss the free throw, worst case scenario, they need only one great play to win a game they haven't really led the whole night.

Ok so here it goes.

They pretty much had the optimum situation after the rebound. It was a sharp linear rebound. It could've easily skated off and wasted more than 2 seconds.

Im thinking K was hedging. In 100 situations, perhaps they get a good shot off 5 times. If we hit the freethrow, perhaps they get a good shot off 20 out of 100.

[A-Tex Devil]

So is Andre Dawkins glad he graduated early? Ummm yeah. And if he doesn't make that shot at the end of the first half against Baylor, maybe we aren't here. Just saw him on the stage as I am catching up with the post game. Can't feel better for that kid. And we needed him. If not tonight, definitely Baylor to get here.

[SharkD]

Reporter just acknowledged that Kyle got clobbered by Howard at the last second. Kyle stayed classy and just talked about watching the shot bounce out, not about Howard's cheap shot.

Edit: I'm Mike Gminski with this post!

[devildownunder]

Winning after not winning, and sending millions of haters off to wallow in their own bile and tears???? Now that's just awesome!

[UrinalCake]

Moments like this are why I follow sports, and Duke in particular. The team developed so well throughout the course of the season and especially during the tournament itself. These kids are all winners, they've worked their butts off and deserve this success. It's been a wild ride... from G and Elliot leaving, Andre coming early, Mason breaking his wrist, the blowout at State, beatdown of North Carolina, and finally this amazing tournament run. This year has had so many wonderful memories and we have so much to be thankful as fans!

[dairedevil]

It did suck. CBS should bring back the David Barrett version and never use anything else.

Not just the musical production, but the video was awful. The first line, "the ball is tossed" always used to show the tip-off of a game..this year, we saw Jennifer Hudson. There were lots of close-ups of children, cheerleaders in too much makeup and Jennifer Hudson. Not many highlights from the championship game or of the winning team. It was such a great tournament, it's a shame that the tribute was awful.

[arydolphin]

All I'm going to say right now is the exact same thing Coach K just said in the postgame press conference: "I still can't believe we've won."

[BleedsP287]

Huge defensive plays by Brian at the end, altering the shot and then grabbing the rebound, HUGE plays a second apart, meanwhile Clark is yammering on about the amazing Butler offensive effort on the play. What game was that dude watching?

[TheDuckStore]

Gotta give it to Doug, he called this. A few days after his "alarmingly unathletic" comment, he did a 5-minute Subway Sandwiches video chat on ESPN.com and was asked "Does Roy get his third before K gets his fourth?" Doug hesitated and then answered that "I think K gets his fourth." At the time I thought it seemed too contrived... but it obviously worked out!

Here's to you Doug!