Tourney Is All About Getting Hot

Let's face it.....every year the pundits and fans make their picks only to be shocked when a George Mason or a Weber State make noise in the Tourney.

To be honest who thought Florida would win (actually dominate) the Tourney last year as a 3 seed? Especially with stacked UCONN and Duke teams?

Furthermore, it's vitually a gurantee that most of the 1 seeds and 2 seeds WON'T make the final 4.

So what's the key to Tourney success?

Getting hot and playing with confidence.

With that said there is every reason to believe that this Duke team can make a deep run in this years Tourney.

Part of getting on a roll and playig with confidence is playing without pressure and with Duke being a 6 seed as opposed to the traditional 1-2 seed I would say the pressure is off....let's face it no one really expects much out of this team.

Another part of getting on a roll is having players "emerge" in the tourney.

Joe Noah and Tyrus Thompson are two good examples of players that really blossomed once the Tourney rolled around. Both flashed ability throughout the season but both turned into lottery picks in the Tourney.

A similar player for Duke? How bout Gerald Henderson?

Hendo has had 2 mini breakout games and seems poised to have agreat Tourney run. It appears K has given him the green light to shoot and he has the potential to be a 20 ppg guy in the Tourney especially considering the fact that we'll be playing small ball for the majority of our tourney stay.

And how bout McRoberts becoming a consistent low post threat? If he plays a full 40 minutes like he did against State then this team will be a very tough out for anybody.

Defense is the last key and I honestly think the time off helped them get back to basics and that they'll come out with defensive intensity against VCU.

All in all my gut feeling tells me we are going to make a run. Not saying Final 4 or anything but a run that will restore some of Duke's pride and luster after a difficult season, thereby setting us up for next year.

You are right, that whether teams are "hot" or playing well and with confidence is a huge factor. Unfortunately, it is hard to look at Duke as a hot team. They've lost 3 in a row, and haven't been playing defense the way that they were at the start of the season. I know that many looked at the way the team played early and said that we needed more offense, but it was the defense that won all those games. Getting that defensive intensity back is the key for the coming weekend, not hoping that all of a sudden the team gets hot. We can work on defense, we can't guarantee that things will suddenly roll our way.

Your point about Gerald Henderson having a breakout tournament is a definite possibility. This year's Duke team has four solid offensive players: Nelson, Paulus, Scheyer, & McRoberts. If Henderson catches fire and the big four play solid ball a good showing is a real possibility. A healthy productive Gerald Henderson could be what has been missing all along. He started the year injured and has battled asthma as well. Henderson could turn the big four into the big five.

We will still need support off the bench. McClure will need to play tough defense and rebound. Pocius will need to score points like he did against State. Thomas and Zoubek must contribute.

Basicly, I believe a run is a real possibility but we will need all nine scholarship players contributing for it to happen.

Go Duke!

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan

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Originally Posted by Bob Green

Your point about Gerald Henderson having a breakout tournament is a definite possibility. This year's Duke team has four solid offensive players: Nelson, Paulus, Scheyer, & McRoberts. If Henderson catches fire and the big four play solid ball a good showing is a real possibility. A healthy productive Gerald Henderson could be what has been missing all along. He started the year injured and has battled asthma as well. Henderson could turn the big four into the big five.

We will still need support off the bench. McClure will need to play tough defense and rebound. Pocius will need to score points like he did against State. Thomas and Zoubek must contribute.

Basicly, I believe a run is a real possibility but we will need all nine scholarship players contributing for it to happen.

Go Duke!

Bob Green
Yokosuka, Japan

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I think the problem with Gerald being the 5th scorer is something which K has talked about, namely that our best players at the moment are guards. I think that we can get away with 4 guards against VCU, given their lack of size, but a 4 guard lineup won't work all that well against Pitt etc. I also think that we have to consider the defensive end, and McClure is one of our best defenders. I know I've said this too many times, but we need to go back to winning with defense.