Some teams overachieve. It’s amazing how some teams can sternly defy the odds for such a long period of time, but logic always seems to catch up at some point. Just when you start to think that the impossible is possible, fate comes out of nowhere to knock the wind out of the dream, as if it were some perverse joke to begin with. The Arizona Diamondbacks fit the bill last summer as they marched into the playoffs despite giving up more runs than they had scored. Before them, it was the 2006 Saints, who are certainly the feel good story of the decade, but we all know they had no business making such an impassioned run when you consider their skill level. This year it is, errr, was, the Duke Blue Devils Men’s Basketball team.
Call it what you want to call it, but if you ask me, Duke losing to West Virginia was to expected. Ok, expected may be to strong of a word, but it wasn’t shocking by any means. By terms of the definition, this qualifies as an upset, Duke shouldn’t have been on the wrong end of the 73-67 result. They were the 2 seed, Bob Huggins boys were seeded seventh. By those terms, yes Duke never should have lost. Although, when you factor in little things like talent, rosters, sheer athletic ability, and all the other attributes that make up a good basketball team, Duke never should have been in this position to begin with. So, yes, I fully expected to get knocked off by a lower seeded team, it was just matter of when and who would do it.
I have to tip my hat to Coach K for getting his team to such a high level. By all accounts, they never were supposed to achieve the things they did this season. ESPN even wrote a pre-season obituary announcing the death of a dynasty. Everyone expected them to have some marginal success, get into the tournament, and fizzle out by the second or third round, which is exactly what happened. But, three pointer, by three pointer, they raised the bar, which is why the state of North Carolina sits in shock right now, wondering how this ever happened, even though it’s not hard to figure out. When you live by the three, you die by the three.
Way back in February, after Duke beat North Carolina, I told everyone not to take much stock in what had transpired. Not just because Ty Lawson was out, but because after playing against a premier team it was evident that the Devil’s just didn’t have what it took to make a deep tournament run.
“Duke’s lack of size is eventually going to catch up to them; even a team like Kansas State could cause serious problems. At times, they don’t have a man that stands taller than 6-5. Look at what Tyler Hansbrough was able to do against them. Now imagine Michael Beasley posting on the lanky Singler, and if Bill Walker decided to show up, it’d be a wrap. Basically, if Duke is up against a team with a true inside presence, and the rims are unforgiving that night, it’s a formula for disaster.”
Fate finally caught up to them. West Virginia didn’t have an imposing inside presence, Duke just doesn’t have anyone that can defend in the post. Joe Alexander played a great game, scoring 22 points and pulling in 11 boards, but he isn’t exactly Beasley. We’re talking about a guy that’s 6-7 and averaged 16 and 6 all season. This wouldn’t have been a major problem on most nights when Paulus and co. are shooting the lights out of the gym, but there were no shooters bounces tonight. They got good looks, ran their offense well, the rim just wouldn’t give in. It rejected shot after shot, 15 three pointers in a row to be exact, until finally Gerald Henderson sank one with 1:56 to go in the second half.
By then their fate was sealed, making the graduating class of 2008 forever unique. For the first time since 1985 this class won’t make a trip to the Final Four. It just wasn’t meant to be.
RSS Updates
Email Updates
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I am not saying they were going to make to the final four or anything like that. And I am not going to make excuses. first off i woulnt call it a huge upset, West virginia is a alot tougher team then people give them credit for. I watched alot of big east basketball, and i wouldnt think twice when i tell you that any of the eight big east teams in the tourney this year has a good chance at the final four. the big east is just that good. The thing that hurt duke was being worn down. as the regular season came to the end you could see that they did not have any wind left. thats a big problem when your a 3 point shooting team. in the beginning of the season duke could of hung with anyone, they were that good of a team.
I concur with the sentiments of this statement, Mr. Truitt. I’m not devaluing Duke’s body of work, they had an impressive year. They played out of the their minds, far above the curve, but I think everyone was sitting back waiting for the other shoe to drop, which is what happened today. Or at the end of the season, when they finished up 5-4, or when they narrowly escaped Bellmont. Like the Diamondbacks, they beat the odds, played behind the percentages, yet still somehow continued to succeed. Duke just didn’t have the proper make-up to succeed in tournament play. You can’t just give up the inside every night and compensate for it behind the arc. Well, I guess you can, because Duke rode that formula to a number one ranking back in February, but we all knew, even the Duke fans, that eventually they were going to fall off.
West Virginia is soft, and Duke is even softer. I don’t know what planet Truitt is living on, but Duke was tough at the beginning of the season when they beat Wisconsin and Davidson, but what else did they do? They got lucky Wayne was out, got whooped by a Lavence Fields-less Pittsburgh team, and squeaked by Marquette. The team was garbage, of course they wore down, they ride three skinny whiteboys like they are sea-biscuit, but conditioning is everything, and when you got a couple wussy boys holding the reigns things are going to fall apart when the little teenieboppers got to play with the men.
Wussy Boys? UNC Fanboy huh? Ask Physcho-T’s nose how wussy Gerald Henderson’s elbow is. “Wayne, waaahhh, wayne waaaa.” I’m sick of hearing it. You lost the first game, health is all part of the game. If you can’t stay on the court, and your team loses, it’s still a loss. If Paulus or someone else would have been out, and we lost, we wouldn’t be crying about it. But then again, that’s the UNC way.
Duke was bound to fall, they barely got by Bellmont for god sakes. West Virginia is like the Celtics compared to them.
First off mike, what did duke do? We were only in the top five rankings for the better part of the year! Gave it to unc in their own home, and dont start crying injuries like old Roy always does when he takes a loss. Old roy is lucky coach K doesnt take out the baby powder and and give him a slap across the face like he almost did when old Roy was at Kansas. The thing is we didnt have any allstars on our team this year, but when you have great coaching like we do, you can make great runs like we did during the season. I dont know how you can call WVU soft. They can match up well with anyone. Oh yeah can you tell me the I.Q. level of most the players on UNC. Physcho-T looks like he has down syndrome, wonder what his major is.
Oh yeah mike, you need to get your facts straight. You mentioned us getting whooped by a Lavence Fields-less Pittsburgh team. He was the one who hit the game winning shot! Which means two things, we couldnt of gottin whooped on if it was a game winning shot, and he must of been playing in the game. Maybe you belong on the Tar heels with the rest of those bums.
Mr. Truitt did you see Greg Paulus in the stands today as UNC put up 108 against Arkansas? Maybe you can get tickets to sit with him next week when we march on into the Elite 8, and then Final Four. I might belong with the Tar Heels, which I take as you calling me a winner, but you already are with Blue Devils. You are all sitting at home in your recliner, feeling sorry for yourself, because maybe you just shoulda did this different, or if you would have done this maybe taht would have been different. In other words you lost, I won, so go ahead and cry yourself to sleep tonight because either way, the loser never gets none.
And to elaborate, Mr. Truitt, Fields, no Fields, it’s all moot, because at the end of the day, Duke doesn’t matter. The program hasn’t been relevant in what did Nick say, four, five years, while UNC has been raising banners, placing NBA caliber players in the league, and just cleaning up all around. What is Coach K’s big contribution to the world? JJ Reddick? Sheldon? Let’s be real here, JJ was outplayed by a guy that looks like he fell out of a bad 1970’s porno movie, and he cried like a punk. No All-Stars, who’s fault is that? Coach K needs to go out there and get some players, he’s out of touch, no one wants to play for him. Not everyone is like you, Mr. Truitt.
It was clear that the Devils were going to go down at some point, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say it wasn’t shocking. West Virginia is a solid team, but it’s pretty easy to forget that Duke was the top team in the nation at one point, their 5-4 regular season/confrence tourney finish seems to have given everyone a short memory.
@Truitt- that’s a classic reference to the slap. I just saw the YouTube video from the 1991 tourney when K had to be held back. Good stuff.
@Mike- Thanks for the support, as always. You got some good points buried in there. As Truitt, or should I say ‘Mr. Truitt’, pointed out, Fields was out in that game against Duke, which makes that loss look a whole lot better. Without Fields that loss makes them look weak, pitt is a whole different team when he isn’t on the court.
I do, however, agree that Duke is a falling empire. It used to be that everyone wanted to play for K. Singler is a top level recruit, even though he is no where near the level that Beasley, Rose, Mayo, and Love are. I think they can get back on that top level, they just need to land a difference maker. The landscape of the game has changed with the age-rule, those that don’t adapt will be left behind. I think Memphis could easily emerge as the face of college hoops, if they haven’t already. Calipari’s willingness to routinely recruit one and done players is going to allow this happen. Those that don’t, and feel that these guys will be a detrement to their universities, will be forced to be handicapped.
My dearest mikey, is it ok if I call you that, because after all I do feel as if I am talking to a little kid! Maybe I should take out the powder and bust one across your face, so then maybe I could knock some sense in to you. You say our empire is falling but look at the numbers. We have owned you in the 2000’s. We just about always win the acc championship. It is not that coach k cant get players, or people dont want to play for him, its he just doesnt take any bum off the street. Duke is a prestigious school, which means you have to have more than just a high school diploma! He doesnt take the one year diaper dandys. roy williams isnt even on his level of coaching. I cant wait until physco-t gets to the nba and really finds out what playing in the post really means. So dont even talk all stars, when your winning in college, what does it matter to coach k what they do in the nba. He puts great teams together, its not all about the individual, which is all the nba is about anyway. So mikey, go get your tissue box out and get ready for Kansas.
I wasn’t expected Duke to be successful in this NCAA Tournament, and seeing them lose to West Virginia wasn’t surprising. It was bound to happen!!
Mike, i just wanted to say i told you so! Kansas, WOW was it beautiful! I would rather go home in the second round then get embarrassed like that in the final four. And whats up with roy supporting the jayhawk shirt? Kansas hates him, and he wants to try and support him after getting his A## kicked! What a sellout!
Leave a Comment