MBB: Duke 65, Georgia Tech 61 Post-Game Thread (ACC Champs!)

[Jumbo]

Yeah!!!

[moonpie23]

AWESOME.....

gritty gritty bang bang!!! :)

[grossbus]

nice to be able to breathe again.


great, gutsy win. what a shot by scheyer!?!?

[borodevil16]

Atta boy Jon

[ReformedAggie]

anyone out there perform cardioverson? cause these guys are killing me :)
go DUKE, gthc

[miramar]

People will say that Duke won against a weak field, but in reality some unexpected teams rose to Duke's level. A great win for Duke.

[FreezingDevil]

CHAMPIONS!!!

Jon stands up when we needed him most. That's leadership, baby

[House G]

Congratulations guys! Well-deserved!

[proelitedota]

I am going to watch all close Duke games in the future with a bag popcorn and a full bottle of beta-blockers.

[Lulu]

Wow. Superb job to hang in there. Singler was clutch from the line and what a shot by Jon. Great jobs from everyone, really. Just gotta enjoy it for now. Can discuss later.

[CDu]

All I can say is, "whew." Great to be ACC champs yet again. Hopefully the team can shoot better in the NCAA tournament. But I'm glad we were able to hang on.

Glad to see Dawkins play well for a stretch in this one.

[BlueintheFace]

I refused to be discouraged by anything from today until we see the brackets. For Now... WOOOOOOHOOOOO

Way to go boys, you earned it.

[davekay1971]

Championship!

Tech played well. Duke survived. Classic shot by Scheyer. Another championship for the rafters at Cameron.

[Saratoga2]

We weren't supposed to be the ones with problems getting the ball across the line but the press bothered us today. What did hold up was our rebounding with Zoubek and Singler doing a lot and our free throw shooting in the stretch. Tournament games are tough to win, and our team had just enough to win today.

Singler had a great game, taking points where they were given at the line, rebounding and defending. Smith was a tiger early on and then made some key plays in the second half. Scheyer was off again but made the key shot when it counted and wound up with 16 points, not bad for an off day.

Then there was Dawkins who filled in well and also hit some key buckets. It took a total team effort to win the ACC tournament and this team is a together bunch.

I think they will get the one seed but time will tell.

[InSpades]

Thank you Jon Scheyer. I'm not sure my heart could have taken GA Tech ball, down 1, less than 10 seconds left. I was screaming at them to do something with the ball. Kind of an ugly game but it's great to be ACC Champions again. Bring on the brackets! #1 or #2, don't really care.

[Cell-R]

GO DUKE!

The front page says 8/11 championships but isn't it 9/12 now?

[GoingFor#5]

Great win! Also good to hear we might be heading East instead of out West...makes more sense to me that way given Syracuse's first round loss.

[hq2]

O.K., we got it done. Gutsy win by the fellas. However, folks, 35% field goal
shooting? We got to do better than that in the NCAAs!

[roywhite]

Hit our last 15 free throws....and needed them!

Great job, guys.

9 out of the last 12....

18 tournament titles!!

[arnie]

O.K., we got it done. Gutsy win by the fellas. However, folks, 35% field goal
shooting? We got to do better than that in the NCAAs!

Great game, but we got to have more from Lance and the Plumlees to advance very far: Lance -1 rebound (as time expired), 0 points, 3 TO; Plumlees total 4 points and 5 bounds. The big 3 and maybe Dawkins from the perimeter won't carry us without more help.

[El_Diablo]

GO DUKE!

The front page says 8/11 championships but isn't it 9/12 now?

Yes...9 for 12. Hopefully someone here can fix that.

[Dr. Tina]

Wow...ACC Champs for 9th time in 12 years!!! WHOOHOOO!!! We take the lead from UNC in titles and most games won, too!!!

This game was really ugly offensively. It was slow and plodding and sucking the life out of me, but we managed to win.

Nolan and Andre were HUGE for us with their offensive production.

Kyle was HUGE on being able to get to the line and nail down fts because that's how we got most of our points in the 2nd half.

Zoub and the Plumlees had some major rebounds and screens for us!

Jon, Jon, Jon....I don't know what's ailing him, but just gotta thank God that he's clutch when he needs to be! That's leadership!

GO DUKE BLUE DEVILS!!!

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

I just love EVERYBODY!!!!!!
Love, Ima

[Faison1]

Gutty win by everyone! Way to go guys! Gotta say that the future looks bright, as the Plumlee's and Andre all found ways to make positive contributions. Couldn't be happier with everyone on the team.

GTech was playing some inspired ball. Scheyer looked winded. But somehow the guys found a way to win. Great performance!!!!

[lmb]

That was an excruciating game to watch. It seemed to last forever and had no flow. That being said - great win!

Ecstatic for Andre. Glad for Scheyer to hit that three at the end. They really looked tired but found a way to hold on. At least in the NCAA's they get a day of rest in between and only 2 games per weekend.

ACC CHAMPS!
:D

[Georgiadevil]

Lets not forget who is in the ACC Tournament Championships lead.heals 17 DUKE 18!18 is greater than 17.Another steak in the heart to that other school.

[BlueintheFace]

Stick Jon Scheyer in a whirlpool, give him a Gatorade IV and don't let him out until next Thursday.

[Newton_14]

I just love EVERYBODY!!!!!!
Love, Ima

We love you 2 IMA!;)

It's a Duke Love Fest!!

Way to go team as all 8 guys helped out and congrats to Jon for knocking down the biggest 3 of the year so far to break Tech's back (And I think Zoubs broke Peacock's jaw. Hope he is ok). That was a Championship Shot by a WINNER!!

Go Duke!!!!!!

[JaMarcus Russell]

I'm seriously starting to think that Jon is not a morning person :D

3 awful first halves, but some decent performances later in the games, capped off by the game winner.

[dukelifer]

Duke never looked great all weekend- although had great stretches but having to win three close games in three days did a lot for this team going into the NCAA tourney. After the next game- the rest are likely to be close in the last 3 minutes and you have to learn to win close games and for great players to step up. The big 3 all had their moments and all hit big shots. Seeing Dawkins get some confidence in a critical part of the game was great. He can be explosive and even if he can give a few minutes here and there- that really helps Duke. The big guys played very hard, boarded very well and on occasion gave some offense. Duke is not a great team- but they play very hard and if they can continue to hit their throws down the stretch of games- they should be right there in every game- shooting well or not. Great championship game- great shot by Scheyer channeling his inner Redick on the curl and kudos to all three opponents who played hard and challenged Duke throughout. Time to get some well deserved rest before heading out West.

[Andre Buckner Fan]

Hats off to Georgia Tech. They came to play today. If they played like that all season they could have easily been the two seed. This was a tough game against an athletic team where the refs were doing us no favors (no pun intended).

...and we still won!!!!

Couldn't be prouder.

Dawkins and the Plumlees are starting to look alive. A great sign for the NCAAs!

[rthomas]

I thought that the full court defense by GT was brilliant. Great plan by Hewitt.

[heyman25]

Kyle didn't jump over Vitale he collided with Dan Shulman.Scheyer had a bad shooting day,but hit the shot that sealed the deal.

[CDu]

Scheyer played a lot more off the ball today than usual. That, combined with his poor shooting (overall - not at the end of course!) make me really think he had a cold this week.

Whether he did or not, hopefully he shakes off whatever ailed him.

But I'm so glad he hit that huge shot at the end. Way to step up despite a pretty tough day otherwise.

[sagegrouse]

I'm seriously starting to think that Jon is not a morning person :D

3 awful first halves, but some decent performances later in the games, capped off by the game winner.

I believe Jon is the second coming, but it would help if he arrived 30 minutes earlier.

BTW, did anyone else get a queasy feeling when Dick and Dan began talking about Duke's "Championship" with three minutes left in a seven-point game? Yikes! How horrible to be punished by the Weauf Gods because Vitale is running his mouth?!

Also BTW, Singler's aim was off by a lot today. He was three feet to the right on his attempt to take out Vitale and shut him up forever. :eek: :eek: :rolleyes:

sagegrouse

[mo.st.dukie]

It's becoming apparent that if Duke is going to win ball games in the NCAA's it's going to be winning ugly. We'll struggle to put up 70 points in just about every game after the 1st round and will need to rely heavily on defense and rebounding. It's been done before, UCLA went to 2 straight Final Fours in 06 and 07 while averaging less than 65 ppg for the tournament. I think most people are counting us out because of how poor our offense looks but what's really encouraging is the Pomeroy ratings because that removes any bias and looks solely at the efficiency numbers.

[BigZ]

Great win boys. Jon proving how clutch he is, any really good player can make a big shot when they are having a great game but when you aren't shooting well is when the real test of how clutch a player is.

Hope Duke plays Friday, they could use the extra day.

[Starter]

Very encouraging victory. I thought Scheyer looked as active as I've seen him in quite some time -- on defense, without the ball, setting up the offense. The Duke offensive attack looked far crisper today, which is no coincidence. I would have liked to see Dawkins for more time early in the second half to build on a VERY exciting first half, but I can't criticize going with your experienced players late in a championship game. It was terrific to see the team rallying around Andre, though. He's had as difficult a year as you can have, but I hope he comes to regard these guys (and us) as his family. I thought they played very well against a very physical and talented Georgia Tech group that will either be a serious problem or turn themselves over right out of the NCAA's.

Let's go Duke!

[weezie]

Holy smokes!!! It was stupendous!!!
I really thought I was going to faint when that last gt three rolled around and out.
Our defense stopped time, we went into another dimension.

Duke Blue colored the arena today. Lots of support....good job Devil fans.
Plenty of haters, too,but they live miserable lives of despair.

Our freshmen took the leap into real maturity today.

We are going to be a much tougher team to beat than any talking head realizes.

Thank you K, coaches, support staff, team,fans! WOW!!!!!!

[ndkjr70]

Awesome, awesome, awesome. A big congrats to all of the Dukies, that was one heck of a fun game to watch. I'm concerned beyond words about Scheyer... forgetting that he made the clutch shot at the end, he played atrocious. If he gets back into form and Singler hits some FG's with all of those FT's, we're pretty scary man. Especially if Andre can keep this confidence up.

[Delaware]

Also BTW, Singler's aim was off by a lot today. He was three feet to the right on his attempt to take out Vitale and shut him up forever. :eek: :eek: :rolleyes:

sagegrouse

Best line of the day!

[buzz]

Very solid tournament from Mason all around. Aggressive, very few mistakes, and some huge plays at key moments. He's really starting to get it. The Dawkins dunk already made my day, and then Stone-Cold Scheyer puts the dagger in. Love it.

[Kedsy]

Whoever said two days ago that we wouldn't win any more games if Jon shot as poorly as he did on Friday was wrong.

Great win for Duke today.

[Cockabeau]

One would think that the two major plays late in the game by Jon and Kyle would carry over into the upcoming tournement

[Duke Mom]

Congrats Dukies! Hope our guys get some badly needed rest. Nolan had a beauty of a first half and Singler is fearrrlessss. That kid will jump, fly, fling, crash, do whatever it takes! His collision with ESPN was really an attempt to put a muzzle on Vitale's mouth. The guy can be entertaining and he's got years of history behind him, but... what a motor mouth!

[strawbs]

anyone know who was tourney mvp? all tournament team?
I'm assuming singler was mvp.

[DukeMom]

I was on a flight from CA and missed the game.:mad: Is there a replay anywhere of the whole game? From the sounds of it, I probably couldn't have watched without a defrib nearby, so it would be great to watch it, relaxed, knowing that they win in the end!!

[Channing]

i had the raycom feed. can anyone post the ESPN audio when kyle flew into
Dan Shulman?

[marinbobbyduhon]

anyone know who was tourney mvp? all tournament team?
I'm assuming singler was mvp.

All Tournament first team - Scheyer, Smith, Singler of Duke - Scott, Miami and Favors, Georgia Tech - Singler named ACCTourney MVP

[miramar]

I was on a flight from CA and missed the game.:mad: Is there a replay anywhere of the whole game? From the sounds of it, I probably couldn't have watched without a defrib nearby, so it would be great to watch it, relaxed, knowing that they win in the end!!

I'm not sure how long the game will stay up, so I would watch it tonight just in case.

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/scoreboard

[grepinbee]

The defensive effort was consistently great throughout the game, but the offensive execution must improve if we are to get past the sweet sixteen. We were fortunate that Kyle was hitting FTs, and that GT turned the ball over as much as they did. We cannot get as deep into the shot clock and settle for "lob and hope" shots at the end of the shot clock. If this team added the "drive and dish" to its offensive repertoire, they would be unstoppable. Both Plumlees and Zoubek can catch and finish, and it is available all night long.

[BleedsP287]

Nice bench play. It was really good to see Andre get a couple of nice buckets and a board.

Not a good shooting day, but our D won the day (again). Some nice clutch free throws by Kyle and I came out of my chair on Jon's 3 pointer.

Nine of the last twelve!!!

[Kedsy]

If this team added the "drive and dish" to its offensive repertoire, they would be unstoppable.

And if pigs had wings...

[Eckster]

Yes there were a few haters but I was sitting in the UNC section and only saw one dude in carolina gear surrounded by lots of Duke fans. The "Lets go Tech..." cheers quickly turned to "Let's go Duke..." cheers and the "Zoo!" cheers came from all around when Zoubs had a big play. :D Overall, great crowd, great win, great Championship!

[mehmattski]

Yes there were a few haters but I was sitting in the UNC section and only saw one dude in carolina gear surrounded by lots of Duke fans. The "Lets go Tech..." cheers quickly turned to "Let's go Duke..." cheers and the "Zoo!" cheers came from all around when Zoubs had a big play. :D Overall, great crowd, great win, great Championship!

Agreed! Just got back from G-boro and the atmosphere inside was great! Walking around the concourse before the game I think I spotted more Virginia Tech fans than Yellow Jacket fans. Mostly it was a sea of Duke blue.

[watzone]

Nate Dogg James post game - http://bluedevilnation.net/2010/03/bdn-talks-with-duke-assistant-nate-dogg-james-about-winning-the-acc-title/

Brian Zoubek post game - http://bluedevilnation.net/2010/03/bdn-post-game-interview-with-brian-zoubek/

[Chitowndevil]

Was reflecting after the game today: How in the world could there be talk about Duke being "down" as a program? Duke has just won 9 out of the last 12 ACC Championships. In arguably the majority of those seasons the ACC was the best conference in the country. I'd challenge anyone to go and find me a run of dominance like that in any major conference since UCLA.

We're in an era where Florida, after winning back to back national titles, hasn't made the NCAA tournament since. Two of last year's final four teams will not be in the NCAA tournament this year. It's not easy to MAKE the NCAA tournament, much less win games in the tournament. Judging Duke as a "down program" because it "only" had two Final Fours and one national title in the past decade is absolutely ridiculous.

[YourLandlord]

Was reflecting after the game today: How in the world could there be talk about Duke being "down" as a program? Duke has just won 9 out of the last 12 ACC Championships. In arguably the majority of those seasons the ACC was the best conference in the country. I'd challenge anyone to go and find me a run of dominance like that in any major conference since UCLA.

We're in an era where Florida, after winning back to back national titles, hasn't made the NCAA tournament since. Two of last year's final four teams will not be in the NCAA tournament this year. It's not easy to MAKE the NCAA tournament, much less win games in the tournament. Judging Duke as a "down program" because it "only" had two Final Fours and one national title in the past decade is absolutely ridiculous.
Well, that's "down" from 7 Final Fours in 9 years. But yes, I agree with you overall.

[Troublemaker]

Congratulations to the team and the coaches for another ACC championship! We didn't play our best throughout the tournament; in all 3 games, Duke fell short of what the computer projections (and, therefore, the point spreads, too) would've predicted. But, what matters is that the team made enough clutch shots and free throws to pull out a win each time. Hopefully, getting away from the grind of these ACC games and the 3-games-in-3-days format will get the team back to playing its best basketball, which I felt it was doing prior to the ACC tourney. I think the team may be sick of playing ACC games and is ready to see some unfamiliar opponents.

[CDu]

Was reflecting after the game today: How in the world could there be talk about Duke being "down" as a program? Duke has just won 9 out of the last 12 ACC Championships. In arguably the majority of those seasons the ACC was the best conference in the country. I'd challenge anyone to go and find me a run of dominance like that in any major conference since UCLA.

The answer to your question is that the national media doesn't get as excited about the conference success as we do. They are more interested in national tournament success. And on that front, we're most certainly down.

Of course, it's hard to maintain a pace of 7 Final Fours in 9 years. And it's hard to beat 3 championships and 5 championship games in 11 years.


We're in an era where Florida, after winning back to back national titles, hasn't made the NCAA tournament since. Two of last year's final four teams will not be in the NCAA tournament this year. It's not easy to MAKE the NCAA tournament, much less win games in the tournament. Judging Duke as a "down program" because it "only" had two Final Fours and one national title in the past decade is absolutely ridiculous.

Take it as a compliment. People don't talk about UF nearly as much because they haven't been great for nearly the length of time as Duke has been great. So it isn't reallly news for UF to not be in the tourney.

[Lulu]

Whoever made that comment about the need for a drive and dish is right on. I made that comment a few times this game. Don't think we did it once.

Of course, I was also thinking about how our bigs like to hang in the air with the ball, just that extra bit of time that allows the other team a chance for a block. Want to tell them to put that ball back up against the glass as quickly as possible - no reason to hang there in the air and wait. I was wondering if it wasn't because we're waiting for the foul. Not applying this to Zoubek.

[GoingFor#5]

Of course, it's hard to maintain a pace of 7 Final Fours in 9 years. And it's hard to beat 3 championships and 5 championship games in 11 years.


6 championship games in 12 years

[BD80]

... (And I think Zoubs broke Peacock's jaw. Hope he is ok). ...

Peacock broke his jaw slamming it against Z's elbow held in box-out position :D


And if pigs had wings...

Duke's genetic research program is doing pretty well!


... it's hard to maintain a pace of 7 Final Fours in 9 years. ...

Really? You sir have a gift for understatement. In the modern era (post UCLA, play two home games against crappy west teams to get to the final four), who has come close to this feat?


Why did we go to stall ball with 11:00 to go in the FIRST HALF? We had a 35 second violation, so we must have been playing stall ball. Right?

[Classof06]

I just wanna commend Coach K on not only winning the ACC Tournament, but taking advantage of opportunities to get Andre Dawkins and Mason Plumlee solid minutes over what were 3 relatively close games.

All seasons, my biggest concern as a Duke fan was how would Dawkins and the Brothers Plumlee be, confidence-wise, headed into the tournament. If today is any indication, this was exactly where I wanted them to be on this day.

Krzyzewski could've shortened the bench and stuck with his veterans but he did not. And he deserves praise for this.

[hq2]

They did help. Whether they will be doing enough to get us past the sweet 16 remains to be seen. They'll be needed. We'll see.

[Indoor66]

I just wanna commend Coach K on not only winning the ACC Tournament, but taking advantage of opportunities to get Andre Dawkins and Mason Plumlee solid minutes over what were 3 relatively close games.

All seasons, my biggest concern as a Duke fan was how would Dawkins and the Brothers Plumlee be, confidence-wise, headed into the tournament. If today is any indication, this was exactly where I wanted them to be on this day.

Krzyzewski could've shortened the bench and stuck with his veterans but he did not. And he deserves praise for this.

I believe they got playing time because they earned it through good practice time. Nothing magical about that.

[chrisheery]

Just went through the thread quickly, but I am surprised to only see one post (might have missed one or two) about Dre's play today. It was just awesome to see him make a few shots, get a dunk (first in ACC play?) and just look completely confident. What a huge step for him. If the season were just a few weeks longer, I think this team would find a whole other gear. I hope they can do it during the tournament. There is still a ton of potential for improvement with these guys mostly revolving around consistency for Plumlees and Dre.

[greybeard]

Great game, but we got to have more from Lance and the Plumlees to advance very far: Lance -1 rebound (as time expired), 0 points, 3 TO; Plumlees total 4 points and 5 bounds. The big 3 and maybe Dawkins from the perimeter won't carry us without more help.

I agree and from Zoubek too. Their captain was playing hurt and the team did look inside to them. Zoubek had a couple of chances to angle toward the baseline for the high catch and just squared his body. He needs to want it going toward the basket.

Miles, take it to the rim, can the fakes and go quick not fast. No 7 foot jump hooks. A bounce to the middle, bring it up high as you're turning and shoot a little 3 footer or up and under.

Everyone who catches it in the box has to be catching with the intent to go, that is when it is clear that that is what the team needs from you.

Darn, great game though guys, everybody competed like champs. Hey, that's what you are, CHAMPIONS! Congrats to them and the rest of you Dukies! I think it was and is great. :D

[greybeard]

I would like to say a word about Zoubek. If you take the second half of the season, I think that he is an All ACC player. Perhaps not first team, who can speak about such things, but All ACC.

And, right now, there is no question in my mind who the best player in the ACC is. That would be Mr. Singler.

[jipops]

Chances of Favors coming back... zero. If this guy played with passion he would be an absolute beast.

[Devilsfan]

One added bonus. How 'bout them heels. They get to sit at home with their whine and brie and watch us play the game the way it is suppose to be played. It doesn't get much better.

[tele]

Great Game! Played like the Champs you are!

[camion]

Congrats to the team. As expected it was a tough, gritty game. Both Shumpert and Favors showed me more than I expected before and Ga Tech played very well as a whole. Nolan and Andre were a two headed monster in the first half. Major kudos to Kyle for his diving exhibition and to Jon for the killer three at the end. Boy did we need that shot.

Way to go CHAMPS!!

[Saratoga2]

It would still be great if we could get more offense from our front line. A greater threat there would make us even more formidable in the tourney. Zoubek had an excellent game but no one expects much scoring from him and Thomas is limited in that regard as well. Our best hope is for Mason to get it going with perhaps something coming from Miles.

[greybeard]

Chances of Favors coming back... zero. If this guy played with passion he would be an absolute beast.

He might well go one/one.

Which in my mind makes Zoubek's performance, especially on the defensive boards and stopping the guy at times, pretty remarkable.

Zoubek presents as a force whose intensity is unmatched by any big man in college ball.

As a defender who alters shots, and a defensive rebounder, he really is up there among the best in college ball. This unusual role as a screener (the same type role that McClure played last year but Z does it much better probably because of size) and his commitment to the offensive board are difficult to quantify but make playing with a Big Three as scorers much, much more potent and plain wear people out.

Wish he'd leave a little in the tank for a couple of basket attacks. Yeah, greedy, why not!

[Richard Berg]

Anyone know what happened to Scheyer yesterday? In the post-game interview with Erin Andrews, she asked him what Collins said on the bench when he sat down looking frustrated. Jon started to mention something about having to look past the previous day and just make it thru the rest of the game. I assume he could've been talking about plain old poor shooting, but I'm worried that there's more to this injury situation than the staff are letting on -- Jon caught himself quickly and didn't finish that thought.

Not to mention Nolan playing point for 2/3 of the game. How the heck did Dan & Dick not mention this even once?! Nolan hasn't been the primary PG for over a year, K changes that change up @ the very first play of the game and continues for most of the 1st half, but not a peep? They really do seem like senile old men.

Needless to say I wasn't excited about Lance's wrist landing either.

Get healthy guys!

[NSDukeFan]

Congratulations on a great tournament win. I was really pleased to see Andre, Mason and Miles all make significant contributions this weekend. Andre's dunk was awesome! I hope this game helps his confidence even more heading into the NCAAs. What can you say about the clutch shot by Jon? Great, clutch shot. Nolan was fantastic to start the game and gave us a great start. Favors is such a beast. Tech did a much better job of getting him involved and he really showed something this tournament. Our big guys did a very solid job defending him, as well as Lawal and Peacock, who were non-factors. Another solid rebounding and defending effort from Zoubs. And Kyle, obviously was the MOTT.

[CDu]

I would like to say a word about Zoubek. If you take the second half of the season, I think that he is an All ACC player. Perhaps not first team, who can speak about such things, but All ACC.

And, right now, there is no question in my mind who the best player in the ACC is. That would be Mr. Singler.

From his breakout game against Maryland on (the last 10 games), Zoubs has averaged 24.1 mpg, 6.2 ppg, 10.1 rpg, and 1.1 bpg. Those are fabulous numbers. I would definitely put him as ACC 3rd Team with numbers like that. I don't think he would quite have enough to make 2nd team, but that's nothing to sneeze at. He's been huge for us.

And I agree - Singler is the best player in the ACC as of right now. Hopefully, Scheyer gets right and challenges for that honor again in the coming weeks.

[UrinalCake]

I thought the Plumlees played pretty well the whole tournament. Dawkins' slam was awesome, we were really working to get him shots and just when the defense thought all he does is shoot threes, he takes advantage over the overplay and drives right by his defender. Scheyer looked gassed to me and the whole team seemed to be running on fumes by the end of the game. Fortunately, they're accustomed to playing tired. Lance didn't score but keyed a number of defensive stops late in the game, which is just as valuable as scoring.

I was at the game, great showing by the Duke faithful. The coliseum was probably 85% Duke fans, 5% Tech, and 10% everyone else. Whenever the GT fans tried to start a cheer, we'd just cheer right over them, often with their own band playing. Fantastic.

[Troublemaker]

From his breakout game against Maryland on (the last 10 games), Zoubs has averaged 24.1 mpg, 6.2 ppg, 10.1 rpg, and 1.1 bpg. Those are fabulous numbers. I would definitely put him as ACC 3rd Team with numbers like that. I don't think he would quite have enough to make 2nd team, but that's nothing to sneeze at. He's been huge for us.

And I agree - Singler is the best player in the ACC as of right now. Hopefully, Scheyer gets right and challenges for that honor again in the coming weeks.

It's nice to see Singler's surge at the end of the season happening. During the season, when he was struggling, he and Coach K spent a lot of time together working on his shot. Extra individual time after practice. Kyle busted his butt to get better and now he, and Duke fans everywhere, are reaping the rewards. His shot has become silk. It falls through the net so softly. Everything he puts up from outside, I think could go in. So, kudos to Kyle and Coach K for working so hard on Kyle's shot during the season. When you get two ultra-successful people like Coach and Kyle working together on a common goal, positive things usually result.

Jon carried us for half a season, and, while I think he still has plenty of bullets left, the baton has been passed to Kyle, who is carrying the team now. This situation is similar to the 2000 team in which Cwell playing like ACC POY for the first half of the season (and eventually won the award), but by the second half of the season, the best player was Shane. Kyle is not as good as Shane but his late season surge reminds me of that situation.

Of course, I can't neglect to mention Nolan as well, who has just turned into a very good scorer for us. I gain more confidence every game in his series of crossovers to get in the lane and his ability to hit runners and bankers off the glass. He just has to ensure that he makes the extra pass when it's available. But yeah, that kid's been balling.

I love our Big 3.

[ChrisP]

I live in Greensboro and in our paper today, the main write-up about yesterday's ACC Championship game was all about how Duke basically stole the game with a lot of help from the refs. D'Andre Bell and Favors were both quoted as saying basically that they thought they'd played great defense and "the refs bailed them (Duke) out".

I was at the game, I had a great view of the court, and GT is full of it. The reason Duke went to the line so much is because THEY put us there. Yes, they played some good "D" and sure, there were probably some questionable calls, as always, but I cannot believe that the players were whining about it like that. I complain about the refs - a lot sometimes - but I'm a fan. If I were Hewitt, I'd be embarrassed and tell my guys to shut the h*ll up!

The author of the article is someone who's name I don't recognize and under the by-line it says, "Special to the News & Record". From the overall tone of the piece, I'm assuming he's an Atlanta-based writer, but he clearly had an agenda for the article and sought out quotes to support his bias. It happens. Whatever. But, any thoughts I had of pulling for GT in the NCAA's are gone. I hope those punks lose their first game!

[wilko]

Well, that is unfortunate, but it is what it is..
They are young and have a right to be disappointed and mope about it if they want to... I don't begrudge them.

With UNC out, I can honestly say, I hope every team in the ACC has a nice run and takes some folks out.

The ACC has had an odd year. Not many ranked teams, The tourney winner and Season champ gets respect with a high seed... otherwise not much respect, so

I'd like to see strong showings from our ACC brethren.

[BlueintheFace]

I could watch this 100 times

http://www.twitvid.com/BFF28

[roywhite]

I live in Greensboro and in our paper today, the main write-up about yesterday's ACC Championship game was all about how Duke basically stole the game with a lot of help from the refs. D'Andre Bell and Favors were both quoted as saying basically that they thought they'd played great defense and "the refs bailed them (Duke) out".

I was at the game, I had a great view of the court, and GT is full of it. The reason Duke went to the line so much is because THEY put us there. Yes, they played some good "D" and sure, there were probably some questionable calls, as always, but I cannot believe that the players were whining about it like that. I complain about the refs - a lot sometimes - but I'm a fan. If I were Hewitt, I'd be embarrassed and tell my guys to shut the h*ll up!

The author of the article is someone who's name I don't recognize and under the by-line it says, "Special to the News & Record". From the overall tone of the piece, I'm assuming he's an Atlanta-based writer, but he clearly had an agenda for the article and sought out quotes to support his bias. It happens. Whatever. But, any thoughts I had of pulling for GT in the NCAA's are gone. I hope those punks lose their first game!

http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/03/15/article/yellow_jackets_cry_foul_after_loss_to_blue_devils

Here's the article.

I like the reader comments at the end of the article.

[hq2]

In recent years, the rest of the conference besides the big 2 (us and the holes) hasn't fared that well in the NCAAs. Maryland won it all in '02, and as I recall, Tech made the finals in '04 (promptly dispatched by UConn) and that's about it. All the other teams have been mostly one-and-done with a few somehow surviving into the sweet 16. Overall, the ACC has not done much to prove recently that we're the best conference. It would be nice to see the other teams make our season look a little better by winning a few NCAA games; but right now, I'm not counting on it.

[weezie]

Favors: stomp stomp whine, go hide in bedroom and pout. Is he hoping the NBA will be kinder and gentler towards his bruised feelings?


I was just remembering that sweetheart butterfly kiss high off the backboard shot of Nolan's late in the 2nd half. After seeing that all season from behind the backboard, seeing it in Gboro from midcourt, it is simply breathtaking.
Nolan has developed an incredible ability there, such finesse. It barely grazes the glass and goes in with a whisper. w-o-w.

[Indoor66]

The foul totals were 20 for GT and 17 for Duke and GT fouled at the end! Where is the problem?

[jimsumner]

You may recall that Nolan Smith scored 11 of Duke's first 15 points, before going to the bench in the middle of the first half with two fouls.

The day before, against Miami, both Smith and Scheyer had two fouls by the middle of the first half.

Then, there was that bizarre sequence against GT when Lance Thomas picked up three fouls in one possession. I wonder how he felt about that? But somehow, it didn't seem to occur to any of the numerous writers in Greensboro to frame an article about that.

[Newton_14]

You may recall that Nolan Smith scored 11 of Duke's first 15 points, before going to the bench in the middle of the first half with two fouls.

The day before, against Miami, both Smith and Scheyer had two fouls by the middle of the first half.

Then, there was that bizarre sequence against GT when Lance Thomas picked up three fouls in one possession. I wonder how he felt about that? But somehow, it didn't seem to occur to any of the numerous writers in Greensboro to frame an article about that.

Jim,
Thanks for your daily write ups on the tourney. They were great and I enjoyed reading them. Regarding LT, wasn't the 3 fouls on one possession in the Miami game? I thought it was. And the 3rd foul was definitely a charge against the Miami player. LT got jobbed on that one.

I too hate to see the whining about the refs. That is normal from Hewitt though, so don't blame the kids, they likely got it from their coach. Hewitt complained wildly about the 5th foul on Oliver against Zoub's and felt that Zoub's travelled on the play. The replay clearly showed the ref got it right. The pivot foot never moved on the pumpfake. On the ensuing Tech possession, there was a foul and then the Zoub's elbow against Peacock jaw and Hewitt was screaming for a foul call on that as well. I really think Hewitt would have gotten T'd up had it not been the title game..

[devildeac]

You may recall that Nolan Smith scored 11 of Duke's first 15 points, before going to the bench in the middle of the first half with two fouls.

The day before, against Miami, both Smith and Scheyer had two fouls by the middle of the first half.

Then, there was that bizarre sequence against GT when Lance Thomas picked up three fouls in one possession. I wonder how he felt about that? But somehow, it didn't seem to occur to any of the numerous writers in Greensboro to frame an article about that.

That's YOUR problem, Jim. You confuse facts with myths WAY too often.
;):rolleyes:

[jimsumner]

Boozer's right about LT. Three fouls in 15 seconds against Miami.

He did have two fouls in one possession against GT.

[1 24 90]

ESPNU is re-airing the ACC Title Game, Wednesday June 23rd, at 6:30 p.m. It is an edited, hour and a half version of the game. Relive Andre's first half monster dunk and Scheyer's clutch 3 at the end of the game!