1s Memphis vs 1s Kansas Game Blog :: NCAA Final :: 2.1 seconds away from immortality

My pick to win it all? Memphis. And not just because of Chicago phenom Derrick Rose. When the tournament turns straight chalk and your favorite team bows out to a Big East also-ran? The most interesting story becomes the athletic, electrifying, and still-with-a-chip-on-their-shoulders Memphis Tigers. I remember a story from 7 months ago, when back in early September John Calipari looked at his team and got goosebumps. “It's taken me eight years of ups and downs and piecing things together to get this team, the kind of team that players want it more than I want it for them.” Eight years of ups and downs, two years of Elite Eights – and all it takes is one exceptional player to bring out the best in them. The Derrick Rose Invitational. Gentlemen, start your engines!!!

The roar of the crowd soars with the ball. Rose has it! It’s begun! Oh, the electricity! The emotions! Dorsey scores immediately, a power move inside, and as the ball snuggles into the net, every Memphis fan is giddy with glee. This is the year!

Every move, every look, every pass is heightened, magnified tenfold. In the final game of the year, and in front of millions across the globe, not one thing is let go. Every turnover is howled at; a colossal mistake. Every pinpoint pass, every hard-fought rebound, is cheered and celebrated and screamed at by a mass of 42,000+ strong. AMAZING. Sizzling. Spine-tingling. Even though we know there’s still 40 minutes left to go, we are convinced that every single move right now denotes what will happen next, what will unfurl, over the entire game. I am hunched so forward on my chair that I’m almost falling off. How can the players even play? What must they be thinking – finally, meeting their equal – and getting challenged, for some of them, for the first time since – ever?

It starts out pretty even. Kansas is definitely clogging up the middle, not really playing zone but some damn good defense all their own, and daring the Tigers to drive into trees or settle for jumpshots. And Derrick Rose, the unflappable Rose, is finding this defense much stickier than in games past, almost losing the ball twice and indeed losing the ball once to those extra-grabby hands. Taking it to the rack – and BLOCKED! But OH! How can he see the whole floor??? How can he drive, with supposedly blinkers on in his determination to get to the goal – and then suddenly reverse direction and freeze the entire defense with such a pinpoint pass to a wide open Robert Dozier – not exactly offensive weapon #1 – who drains a high-arching 15 footer? And when he does drive – despite Russell Robinson sticking to that scouting report like glue that says take away his right, take away his right – he gets the bucket – AND one???? Then before you know it, Memphis is already up 9-3, handing Kansas its largest deficit of the tournament – and you’re going – what??? I thought this would be competitive! HA! Apparently, simply staying with the Tigers has become a competitive sport. Good luck.

Ack! Alley-oop dunk by Kaun? Nobody on him???? Wake up, Dorsey! Pounding the ball inside to Arthur to make it 9-9 even. I am starting to see some zone. Can we have an even game of talent, and not junk it up? Ball instantly stolen away from Dorsey by a quicker guard. UGH.

Whoa! Was that a shot???? A one-armed “heave” coming from out of nowhere by CDR – and it flies in! Amazing! Every Jayhawk was as amazed as I was, watching that ball soar over their heads and wondering where the invisible Dorsey was to guide that errant alley-oop pass in? Oh no, Sherron Collins just blew by Rose for a layup. Nice.

Uh oh – the foul trouble is already starting to pile up. Taggert with his 2nd foul, 12:17 still to go, while the ball was nowhere near him. Great. So now Dorsey comes back in. Kansas, meanwhile – and you have to hand it to them – have a much deeper and more talented frontcourt than Memphis. “So Memphis CAN get into foul trouble. Kansas almost cannot.” Swell. AAGHHH! There goes Dozier committing his second foul, 15 seconds later! And they haven’t even trotted out their super frosh yet, Cole Aldrich, still in his warm-ups on the bench looking bemusedly on. 13-11, 12:05.

What’s up with Rose? After being heralded 24/7 that this would become the Derrick Rose Invitational – and after a scintillating first 3 minutes – Rose has switched to cruise control, giving up the ball much too quickly at the start of the offense, and then shooting 3s and turnaround jumpers rather than taking it to the rack. And is that a screen I saw Dorsey set for him on an off-kelter 17 footer? I thought Memphis is the antithesis of screens? Don’t they hate conventional basketball’s guts??? Yet, here I am, starting to see flashes of the Memphis team that lost to Tennessee again – rather than the team that blew out UCLA, Texas, and MSU in a blitzkrieg run just days ago. Memphis has been trying to answer Kansas’s points in the paint with some post-up moves of their own – but Taggert and Dozier, though long, are more face-up types than back to the basket PFs, and they’re being resolutely limited to one and done by the incredible rebounding machine that is the Jayhawks.

Oh, the balance on Kansas is incredible. Incredible. Double in on the Kansas big guys – and they kick it out to Mario Chalmers, who is like a ridiculous 47% from beyond the arc, and he knocks it down. When they start shooting 3s – as Memphis has been cold so far – watch out! 13-18!

Crap! Dorsey over the back – his 2nd foul! 9:42! And the howls in the arena rain down like Judgment Day. Is this the end? Is there that much riding on one call??????

Oh, wait . . it was only his first. Ah, no big deal. They’re now saying CDR has finally met this match in the 6’6” Brandon Rush. Rose is clearly bothered by somebody. Someone needs to step up or this whole thing is going down the drain.

DORSEY with a STEAL! And cross-court layup! This senior wants to PLAY! Haha, gets right in Aldrich’s chest with a hearty thump and scream – though not AT Aldrich – letting them know that the Tigers still got some tooth. A steal! By Rose – then in the rush to beat that damn zone/man switch back upcourt – stolen again by Chalmers! Who lays it up in the blink of an eye. A flying alley-oop DUNK by Darrell Arthur! Transition basketball in its finest! And suddenly I gape: 15-22??? Has Memphis been down so much in the entire tournament???? NO! 8:18. C’mon, boys!!!

Awww, awww, Rose answers. 2 crisp assists to shooters on the wing, 3s raining down from every which direction – and we’re back in the hunt! First trip up, he spins into the lane and draws the focus of an entire nation – then kicks it out sharply to Anderson on the wing for the 3. Then – again, slashing into the paint – looking like he was taking on the entire Western Front – and kicking it out to Dozier – whom I didn’t know was a 3 point shooter? But who apparently can nail them when left wide open! 21-24 and we’re quickly within shouting distance again. 7:25.

Roy Williams with a Kansas sticker on his shirt in the stands? LOL – over our miseries so quickly, eh? OH, there’s teamwork! There’s heart!!! Dorsey with a BLOCK of Kaun’s apparent slip of the screen and wide open layup – Antonio Anderson immediately zips off the other way with it, speeding in for the transition layup with a freight train of players behind him – but NO! ROSE!!!! Flying up to the rim to save that ball! But without enough momentum to put it back – so he comes back to earth and lands right on the baseline, mere micro-inches away from the out of bounds line – and uses his butt to save his balance. For one frail second, he balanced there, frozen, too afraid to move in fear of a whistle. Everybody else freezes too. Nobody bumps him. And then – heart afire with decisiveness – Rose spins around 180 degrees into the air and snaps a quick, super-strong overhead pass out 20 feet to CDR, who is perfectly stationed on the wing, rises to meet it, and goes up for the 3, all in one smooth motion – and BAM! THERE is the LEAD! There is Memphis, with the go-ahead basket! 26-24!!!!!!!!!!!!! 6:21.

28-28 tie at 3:50, and Dorsey, CDR, and Rose are pretty damn tired. I don’t think I’ve seen Rose take a breather yet. At this point, you can no longer deny the depth of talent on the Kansas team. What worked out well for a deep rotation against C-USA is not going to cut it here, and Cal is sticking to his Thoroughbreds, Rose, CDR, and Anderson, pretty much the entire way. 3 guards against 4 – which one would you take? I’ll like to think that truly great players can overcome that . . but c’mon. Memphis is already losing the rebounding battle against Kansas’ stellar and deeper frontline. Is it possible for its guards to win the battle in the backcourt? Can talent and desire overcome fatigue?

“Where is Rose?” Packer wonders. “He has not made a field goal in 7 minutes.” He is only 1 for 4 so far . . and herein lies the problem. He’s been cut off on every drive, with a big defender and his own guard defender staying with him and clogging down the lane on every possession, and now he gets caught in mid-air trying to bail himself out – and a turnover! Pass picked off like that! Crap! And in a total reversal of previous games – it is now the Memphis guards who are slipping on the floor as the Kansas guards zoom past them – the Memphis guards who are getting beat on drives and who can’t even beat out the Kansas big men for a loose ball careening dangerously towards the wings. Kansas is not exactly playing a zone – but it seems to be some sort of hybrid – and it is potent enough to contain the most dangerous duo in backcourt history. And as the seconds tick off towards halftime – the Kansas team seems to be getting fresher and more aggressive by the minute – and their fans are standing and cheering for their Rock Chalk Jayhawks. These are the bluebloods, the revolving door of talent, the close-your-eyes-and-pick-anyone-and-they-can-be-the-leading-scorer type of club, and the lack of eye-catching wins earlier in the season notwithstanding, the weakest #1 seed notwithstanding. It doesn’t matter anymore, none of that matters. If your team can peak on championship night? Then none of the rest matters at all. 28-33, 1:02, timeout Memphis.

And they completely mess up the last possession. They kept the ball for the entire last minute before the half too. What happened? I don’t know. Rose dribbles out 25 seconds of it. Then they try something but it’s almost stolen – then Anderson has to take a hurried 3 with a hand in his face before the shot clock expires – then Taggert somehow comes up with a miraculous rebound, but still they can’t get anything. A screen? Yet another screen for Rose? All that does is make Kaun jump out at Rose and frighten him, double team him, so that he gives the ball up to someone else – and it’s scuffled out of bounds with 0.1 left on the clock. Okay . . What do you do with 0.1 left on the clock? Nothing. Buzzer. Endgame. 28-33 halftime.

So either Rose is still sick from the gummy bears – or this Kansas defense is something else. I pick the latter. If he wants to win this game – it has to start with him. That’s a little unfair, but that competitor in him has to come out and ROAR. It can’t shoot jumpshots. It can’t give the ball up. It needs to ATTACK. If I were coach Cal, I’ll use the full allotment of time at the half to get that point across – and leave everybody else alone. There’s plenty of other things that needs fixing too – but none of that matters, if we don’t have Rose.

Second half: Oh, some LIFE!!!!!!!!! Rose takes it strong to the rack – no, he intends to find Dozier waiting there in the wings – and the ultra-lengthy forward dribbles once and then lets that tiger roar with a DUNK! As Kansas turns to go back on offense – Anderson forces a turnover from Chalmers! Gets a big congratulatory slap on the back from Dorsey. Frightening moment as they almost lose it – Kansas, ticked off, applies the double trap on CDR – but Rose recovers it and hands it to Anderson – who, with the shot clock winding down to 5, 4, 3 – takes a three – and HITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TIE SCORE, 33-33! This is the bloody lowest scoring opening 2nd half I’ve ever been this excited about! It’s a game again!!! 18:52.

Oh, what a beautiful cut by Anderson to take that bounce pass from Dorsey – takes on TWO defenders! AND finishes – AND one! Gorgeous! Couldn’t be prettier! LOB to Dorsey! Who finishes with a DUNK, then pulls the ball out of the net and smiles for his Kodiak moment, flashing a wide grin and pointing his finger towards the stands. Thank you, Rose, for the assist. Oops, but then picks up his 3rd foul a couple seconds later, guarding Kaun. Cal hollers and swears along the sidelines and immediately pulls Dorsey for his mistake. 38-39, 15:15.

OH, FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Rose we’ve all come to see! Grabs the loose ball from a wild shot from Sherron Collins, flies the length of the court, and you can see it in his eyes, he’s taking it all the way – and he beats two Kansas defenders up the court for a flying layup that rims in. 42-43, and despite all kinds of shots being missed by Dozier/Taggert, being outrebounded by 8 so far, and having some trouble driving despite Kansas not playing zone, the Tigers are still, almost a bit miraculously, in the hunt. We need more plays like that from Rose. When will he take over? When will it come?

Huh. With a slim lead now, 44-47, Kansas goes to its 2nd set of zone on defense – except now it’s a box and one on CDR. Ahhhhh! Some breathing room for Rose! And say hello to Mr. Robert Dozier, the one-man zone breaker. After scoring through the heart of the defense, Rose comes up the court on the next trip and now drives into the jungle again, except this time he makes a dangerous pass to Dozier – who collects it and goes up strong for the basket – and ONE! Oooohhh . . except he can’t make the “and one”. Is free throw shooting still an issue?

ROSE FOR THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And as the place erupts in wild cheers – the whistle cuts across swiftly, sending the white flag from Self that Kansas is sinking. This damn zone isn’t working, is it??? 3 times now, and 3 times the Tigers have broken it and scored. You put a box and one on CDR? So Rose can step back and bury the 3. 49-47 now, with Memphis finally taking the lead after a loooooong time – and Kansas needs a timeout. 8:08.

ROSE! YYYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The best play is a broken play! In the sets, Rose seems almost tentative to drive, continuously looking for holes that just aren’t there. With a loose ball in his hands? Oh, he becomes a rocket of dynamite! Rose roars up the court, grabbing that rebound and cutting straight through the scrambling defense for the climb to the rim – AND ONE! Oh, how much an open lane – any opening, any seam – can light up his eyes! He reminds me so much of Tony Parker, just a terror in the open court. He is the star attraction, and for so long tonight he’s held it in, or rather – Kansas has done a number on him to hold it in. But not anymore. He can’t. Kansas has gone cold on the offensive end – and the Tigers have taken full advantage, grabbing every opportunity by the throat. Just a little more than 5 minutes to go – and with that scintillating move – with that nonchalant turn-around-and-walk-off from the basket as the whistle comes – haha, it seems every time Rose makes a big play, Bill Self has to call a timeout to try to ground that freshman back into reality. Hear those fans screaming for you? Hear Billy Packer singing your praises? Oh, oh, how beautiful this spring blooms! And to see the Memphis-blue-clad nation waving their banners, their flags, their programs – oh, oh, Rose!!!! You carry the hopes of a city. Can you fulfill them? 53-47, 5:10, timeout Kansas.

HOW DID HE DO THAT?????????? 3 seconds on the clock – crazy inbounds play – nowhere to go – a defender right in his face – AND he’s off-kelter? But he just heaves that shot up there – and as the buzzer sounds – banks it in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY FREAKIN’ COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shot of the game???????? A near impossible lead now, 56-47, 4:16.

Crap – what a mean thing to do, pulling a 1-2-2 zone on us now? With only 3 minutes to go??? With the shot clock winding down, Rose has to take another 3, from almost the same spot as the miracle shot he’d just made earlier – but this one rattles out. OH!!!!!!!!!!! SAVED by Dozier! Then a shaky pass – again, SAVED by Rose! And they work it inside – power forward to power forward – and Taggert with the ball banks it home! Huge shot, because when Kansas rushes down the court and gets blocked – now Memphis has a 7 point lead, 58-51, with a little more than 2 minutes to go – and they have to foul.

They do. They’ve tried everything in the book. They’ve tried, even, every junk defense known to man, or at least can be covered within the last 48 hours. Now? Now they will try to make a reality of the myth that Memphis cannot shoot free throws. Rose is the one getting mugged. Oh no! That was only the 6th team foul! Now they mug Dozier. Crap . . .

He hits them BOTH! YAY! 60-51, 2:12!!!

SHIT! Ball stolen away by Kansas! Then kicked out – for the THREE??????? Deadly turnaround of 5 quick points right there, and suddenly we’re in danger???? 60-56! Nothing’s safe anymore! Still 1:43 left! Goddamn it! How can the clock tick so slow???

They foul CDR immediately, not even bothering to wait for the inbounds play. Cool Hand Luke CDR swishes both. 62-56, but now I’m frightened by Kansas’ newfound swagger at the 3. We are guarding their perimeter play like tigers. But – OH NO! Dorsey fouled out! Dorsey fouled out! 1:23 still to go! We need his rebounding strength! And Cal covers his face with his hands – but then swiftly recovers and hurries his team over. Ok, relax, guys. The lead is still yours. It’s Kansas that has its backs to the wall. Protect that lead!!!

Oh crap. They foul CDR – and though he looks up with earnest concentration and rocks his body with that rhythmical, tap-shoulder dribble, tap-shoulder dribble thing he has going on – he CAN’T HIT! It was a 1 and 1! And now the Tigers have to defend with their life, 62-58, 1:14!

Ok, so much for that. They must have the mantra in their head not to foul, because Arthur turns around on Taggert and banks home a shot that looked astoundingly easy in 15 seconds flat. The score is now a heart-pounding 62-60, and I don’t know what to think. It seems to be anybody’s ballgame now. Rose takes the inbounds ball and jogs up the court, the din of the feverish crowd in his ears, and he’s waving everyone off – forget it, it’s mine now, this lead has dwindled down to 62-60, and there’s no way I’m letting us lose. There’s still too much clock . . they will get one more possession . . so we need some points here, fast . . and Anderson, after being a shaky recipient of Rose’s pass, calls timeout. 0:44 left.

Absolutely nothing good seems to come out of these timeouts – how come? CDR gets the rock – drives – NO GOOD! Wild shot goes nowhere! And now Kansas grabs that ball and is high-tailing it to the other end as if the place was on FIRE! A tangle at the basket! NO CALL! Anderson comes away with it! Run, run, run, there is no other choice, this might be it!!! And out of the left wing guns CDR, with that long pass up from Anderson to him – meets the defender at the basket at 90mph – WHISTLE! FOUL! 2 shots coming up!

But the nightmare becomes a reality. 16 seconds left. The chance to ice the game with the entire world watching. And CDR goes for some dramatics. Missed the first. MISSED THEM BOTH??????????????? WHAT are you thinking????? But oh, oh, oh – Dozier! Saves that ball in a heart-pounding moment that could’ve killed all their chances – a lifetime of hopes. The ball lands in the hands of Rose – who’s promptly double teamed and fouled. PHEW! Now there’s only 10.8 seconds left, and I have confidence that our super frosh won’t miss.

So Derrick’s at the line. Baby – this game is in your hands now. 2 shots. 0:10 left before the celebration starts on Beale Street. You have the chance, to win this game, to win this game of all games – for your team, your city, and for yourself. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the #1 pick in the draft. But it would be infinitely sweeter if he could make these last 2 free throws to ice the game. No way does the Jayhawks deserve to win. They did some things very nicely; they have a boatload of talent; but they are not special enough, not memorable enough, not interesting enough, to deserve the win. This Memphis team – as much as you can disagree with many aspects of how they play – you cannot disagree with this kid right here. Derrick Rose. What must be going through his mind right now? All those childhood dreams, of shooting the shot that wins the game? This is it. The biggest stage. The biggest moment. The biggest 2 shots of your life.

Missed the first???????? C’MON! C’mon, Derrick. The Kansas bench is getting to its feet. They smell hope. Rose never wavers with his eyes – never gets distracted. He’s in his own cocoon now. Concentrate. Takes that ball again – raises it high over his head and flexes his muscles – then brings it down again, dribble, dribble, dribble – and then with one forward motion – shoots. Oh thank God! It’s GOOD! 63-60! We’ve got that crucial point at least! Now the onus is on Kansas!

WTF??????????????????#@&#?#!@($@&$)(@$#(%*#)!!! CHALMERS with the THREE???????? 2.1 left??????? Oh no – OVERTIME????????????

Um . . I mean, wow. Good game, Kansas. Er, really great. We have no more Dorsey for the OT! F***! How much does it hurt watching the final game of your college career – the most important one – from the bench? UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rose looks ok. Bloody pissed off, but at least physically ok with his leg/cramp. Between him and CDR, they’d lost the game for Memphis at the FT line, missing 4 of their last 5, and one of them a 1 and 1 opp. No sweat though. Let’s play.

Oh, oh, crap. Kansas is going to win. No doubt about it. Rose is damn tired. So is CDR. They cannot get by their man, thus, no driving lanes, and thus, no bloody baskets either. On the other end . . suddenly Kansas is so loose that it can get anything it wants – including a lob and a dunk. Awesome. The clock is ticking down, and now it’s not the friendly clock on your side when you have the lead, winking at you; it’s the clock of DOOM. Half of the OT is already over – and the Tigers have not yet scored???? 63-69????? What more can go wrong? Rose is walking the ball up the court – and now Cal needs to take a 2nd timeout to try to stop the bleeding. 2:29.

65-69, we’ve worked so hard to come this far – and its just heartbreaking to see Rush gambol the length of the court like a deer for a freebie dunk – oh, missed it! But Dozier had already flown by and Rush gets his own miss for the second chance shot. “We need a 3, we need a 3,” Packer begins chanting ominously, and I suddenly wonder if all those blow-out games hurt Memphis – because now Rose is doing what losing teams do – let the ball roll on the floor to save that one tenth of an extra second, before picking it up, hurriedly waving to Anderson to stop gawking at him and run back on O, when suddenly, out of the corner – a THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A rim-rattling THREE by my new hero CDR! Ah, he has all 5 of Memphis’s points so far in the OT! And suddenly, with 58.8 seconds left, we’re alive again, 68-71!

Um . . what??????? Sorry, but I agree with Packer here, and we do NOT need to foul. We just need to play 35 seconds of solid, solid defense. We’re down 68-71 already, you want to be down further, 68-73? Yes, apparently, we do. CDR fouls bloody Mario Chalmers with 45 seconds to go, and the team that does not shoot 3s particularly well is now trying their own hand at employing that dangerous strategy of trading foul shoots for 3s. Memo to Coach Cal: that only works if they miss!!! Which they do not. 68-73.

Oh, it’s over. It’s completely over. And the nightmare begins. Rose is staring at the floor as Collins walks victoriously to the free throw line, that light in his eyes as he feels the hum of the crowd . . the sun shining down from the basketball gods. What an epic game. And now – the clock doesn’t matter, all the prior 44 minutes of the game doesn’t matter – because all of that is done, and the 2 made baskets by Collins at the free throw line just iced it. CDR with a good look at a 3 – “they didn’t need a 3,” Packer insists – but as it bounces off harmlessly – I don’t know, maybe you can blame the coaching a little bit here, the decision-making a little bit there. But in the end – this was David vs Goliath. 2 superstars, Rose and CDR, got worn down in the end by the super depth and talent of Kansas. What was apparent in the beginning of the season with the preseason ratings became frustratingly true. How much hope does that give to the rest of us, stuck in this oil-crazed recession economy? None. The rich get richer. 68-75 final.

Post-game thoughts: You know, everyone is pointing to the 4 missed free throws in the final minute or so of regulation as the reason why the game was lost by Memphis. This is pretty stupid. Yes, ok, they are very important, and missing them was pretty glaring. But they’re only that way if the game becomes tight. How did the game become tight? By blowing a 9 point lead with 2:12 to go and letting Kansas score, almost at will, in about 12 seconds flat each trip down. You can’t ever relax. You can’t ever think that you have it won, because that Miracle Minute of the Duke – Maryland game in 2001 always haunts my memory whenever I see two championship-caliber teams duel it out and one has a “comfortable” lead that was never, in fact, comfortable. They’re not ever gonna quit. And when Memphis tried to lengthen the game at the end – they started playing ‘not to lose’ rather than to win. And Kansas saw the opening. Kansas wanted to win. And suddenly, it became Memphis trying to stop Kansas from winning, rather than Memphis staying on top and in control for the win. It completely flip-flopped, and it was not just because of the free throws. Kids are not machines. Memphis got out-rebounded too, and it obviously hurt a lot to lose Dorsey and not have him for the OT. Boy, those last 2 minutes were just about the longest in recent memory. Choke job? Definitely. This one hurts a lot.

Kansas was the definition of balance. It had 7 guys play 20+ minutes in the national championship game, and it’s got one of everything you could possibly want: 4 guards and 3 big men; 3 seniors, 2 juniors, and 2 sophomores. If you can’t win with that much talent and depth, how can you win? The 4 guard rotation was also able to wear down Memphis’ 3 guard rotation of Rose, CDR, and Anderson. I really don’t think CDR missed those free throws because of the Memphis “inability to shoot free throws” tagline being thrown about all year. It was fatigue, plain and simple. How many minutes did that super duo play on Monday night? 45 + 42 = 87 out of a possible 90. There you go. Add Anderson and that’s 129 out of a possible 135. Sure, Rush and Chalmers also played on exhaust fumes, combining for 82 of a possible 90 between them. But did they have to go to the line in the endgame? No.

Who knew, when Brandon Rush tore his ACL prior to the draft last summer, that he would end up leading his team to college basketball’s most coveted prize? Depth, athleticism, and talent. You can take 8 years to build that up. And all it takes, is one decision, one decision that is not even yours to make – and it all goes awry. Good luck, Derrick, in the NBA! And Duke – can I circle 2010 as our title run?

2s Duke vs 7s West Virginia Game Blog :: NCAA R2 :: My Kingdom for a Center

Just two days after we squeaked by 15 seed Belmont on a Gerald Henderson coast to coast, we face 7 seed West Virginia in round 2 of the NCAAs. My heart is racing 100 mph. After that uncharacteristic first round performance (all other 2 seeds won with relative ease), we have gotten the usual reassurances: that this is in no way indicative of how Duke will fare the rest of the way, that Belmont played out of their minds, played loose, the crowd was cheering for them, our coach was sick (104 temperature!) and at least some of the players were also coughing afterwards (DeMarcus Nelson), and that we are still hungry, fresh, and confident. All good words. Bobby Knight: “the way [Belmont] moves, cuts, they can play with anybody. They played the game of basketball very very well.” Dickie V: “Duke found a way to win. As Jimmy V would say, ‘survive and advance’. Duke needed to win 6 games in this tournament? Now they’ve only got to win 5.” Even better.

Ok, so now we’re set for round 2, we’re gonna kick some butts, and we’re gonna show everyone how Duke basketball is played. G is doing some high jumps before the jump ball, a very good omen. They get first possession – oh, a lucky roll on their first shot! On our first shot . . well, we turn it over. Nelson makes a risky baseline drive to give to Kyle on the opposite end, aaaaand . . he steps on the line. Oooo-kay? Boy, Kyle looks bewildered. Wow, they’re getting some very good looks on their possessions – taking Singler right into the lane? Just not finishing. G with a missed 3. WHAT??? Nelson turns it over??? Traveling?

Ok, calm down, calm down. We still have 39 minutes left to play. This is not exactly a 1 seed, guys . . relax, have some patience. I need some fresh air already. OH, FINALLY! SOME POINTS! And it’s our gritty point guard, Greg Paulus, who gets the screen from Lance and fires off the THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3-4, 17:36.

OH NELSON! There’s our senior leader!!! Looks to pass . . nobody open . . Singler points to a spot . . and he takes it in himself, lowering that muscular shoulder, driving, driving – then elevating strongly for beautiful right hook. And we take the lead! That is not to be taken for granted anymore. 5-4, 17:00.

Oh, GREAT call. Great call, officials. Wellington Smith with a solid immovable wall on Paulus, just drops him stone cold to the ground as Nichols coasts by, and the whistle comes immediately. A chorus of throaty boos descend upon Smith as the possession arrow swiftly goes the other way (at least, I hope they’re booing Smith, and NOT Greg – you can never tell with these anti-Duke crowds). So Smith gets a free pass to the bench with 2 early fouls – do not pass Go, do not collect $200 – as Huggins argues in vain. Greg nods vigorously to his teammates’ questions of ‘are you ok?’.

In the slight cloud of chaos that ensues – Greg is dribbling innocently out on the right side – eyes the basket – and somehow G is left completely alone – and you know what that means! OLE OLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALLEY-OOP FOR GERALD HENDERSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW-EEEE! “Superior athletic ability!”

Haha!!!!! DUKE IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Singler with the hand-off, and Greg just runs to his spot and fires, hand in his face and all – AND HITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bottom of the net, baby!!!! He’s excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pump ‘em up, y’all!!!!! C’mon, cheer for your Duke Blue Devils!!!! 10-0 run!!!!

Whoa. Huggy Bear with some foul words during a timeout, and is hit with a technical. Damn! Just give the game to us, why don’tcha? So Scheyer comes off the bench and enters the game, and with not a second gone by, snags 2 points. 12-4, 15:36. “Well, Bob Huggins is certainly known to be an intense coach. And maybe his team needs something to get their fire started.” Sure, alright . . bring it on.

Some teeth-gnashing, as Paulus finds a cutting Lance Thomas with a perfect threading pass – but Thomas can’t finish!!!! You’re 1 inch away, dude! FINISH! Zoubek with the alert offensive board – but can’t muscle his way against Smalligan, shuffles his feet, and it’s all over. Turnover. Can one of our guards please always be available by his side, so that he can dump it off before being whistled for the inevitable TO? Kinda like a personal assistant? Just an idea. That ball is kinda valuable.

Wow, great defense from Paulus! Nichols shakes Paulus off, but when the pass soars overhead to a cutting Nichols, Paulus sprints his way over and puts up both hands up high, using his body and his strength to push back against Nichols and stand his ground – and force the turnover! Radical!!!!!

Shoot. Scheyer drives into the lane, finds his path cut off, and gets whistled for the turnover. Nice try though. Sweet! Duke’s defense is looking SOLID. 35 seconds of solid, solid work. When Joe Alexander drives – with Singler on him – G rotates over to help, and the two of them pin him down almost on top of the baseline, with G easily blocking his shot attempt. Hell, if it worked against Hansborough, it’s gonna be fool-proof against you. Smalligan squirrels for the loose ball, but the shot clock continues to run, and though they swing it around for a 3 point shooter . . it clanks off the rim, and the clock expires. Thank you for playing – next!

The lane opens up for Nolan, and he licks his chops while taking it all the way – but gets fouled. Knocks down both free throws, for a 10 point lead! 14-4, 14:06, and we’ve held WVU scoreless for 4 full minutes now. They suddenly realize that too, and comes roaring back to life, reeling off 4 quick points, including one off an inbounds play that is quite breathtaking. But we respond right back with defense turning into offense. Singler with a great play to leap up and alter a shot, then grab the loose ball out of the air. Scheyer runs it up the court, looks to shoot, and Alexander looks overmatched, trying to guess where the quicker Scheyer will go and then jumps into the air, boxing Scheyer’s shoulder as he comes down and promptly getting the whistle. As Scheyer snickers and steps up to the free throw line, the announcers applaud that “this foul Alexander had on Scheyer was a real foul. He deserves to go to the line.” Oh, ok, thanks. Yeah, as opposed to the imaginery fouls that we so often must contend with. Unreal. 16-8, 12:35.

Oh, Paulus, Paulus, Paulus!!!! He gets elbowed in the face and drops down to the ground, but no whistle – they race the ball away from our full court pressure like a bottle rocket, gets it in the hands of the always-dangerous Alexander for 3 – nope! – but they grab the rebound too – and here comes Paulus to slap it away! A STEAL! And quick as lightening, he’s off to the other end, G running with him, ALL FIVE WVU guys chasing after him, a pack of bloodhounds chasing one lonely fleet little fox with the ball. Crap – fastbreak too fast! And the ball slips away/is slapped away and out of bounds. Grrrrrrrr.

ANOTHER STEAL! G this time, and now it’s in the backcourt, where we have more of a head start. Singler is the running mate this time, and G sends him the bounce pass – fouled! Da’Sean Butler with his 2nd. “This is going to test the creativity of Bob Huggins on the sidelines.” Yeah, I hear WVU has a thin bench? Good luck with that, dude. We are perfect on the charity stripe so far, 8 for 8, as we once again grab a 10 point lead, 18-8, 12:02.

WVU goes small, with Joe Mazzulla at the controls, and it works like heck. They make a 7-0 run to cut it down to 18-15 in a hurry, with Alexander in there making a 3 point play and a beautiful finger roll as he got past Thomas in the lane. The cheering for them gets louder and louder. Uh oh, Singler with his 2nd foul, guarding Alexander, 10:00. David McClure comes in for him. Hmm, so far, LT has been unsuccessful, Z’s still not ready for primetime, and Singler with 2 fouls. Can McClure do better?

King all alone in the corner! But no – first shot is short. Maybe too wide open? Awww, Paulus with the drive and floater! Iron will! YAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KING!!!!!!!! This time, when Paulus finds him in the corner again – he fakes the 3, takes his defender off balance, then takes 2 dribbles inside the circle and snags a difficult, 15 foot jumper from the elbow. “Mr. Greenlight!” I am liking this cushion that we have once again: 24-17, 8:01.

“I tell you what, Duke’s defense is so good. I can’t imagine the difference between Thursday and this one. They are denying the first pass . . WVU already has 2 guys in foul trouble, Smith and Butler, 2 very athletic forwards.” I tell you what, our offense is pretty darn good too. Hee hee, G with the long loping stride, has the rebound, wants to try that coast to coast thing again – but oh! Blocked? Hit the rim? Lance with a nice post-up move! AND NELSON! Just when Scheyer looked to be in trouble on the far right wing, pinned down by 1 and now 2 defenders – Nelson flashes into the paint, receives the pinpoint pass from Jon, waits calmly for his defender to excuse himself by flying out of bounds, and then easily ratchets up for the deuce.

“Look at how tired West Virginia is. 4 guys and it took 8 seconds to bring the ball upcourt.” And as Mazzulla tries to cut and trips himself up trying to reach for the pass that zips out of bounds, “when you are fatigued, you make mistakes like that. The normal rotation is off sync with Butler and Smith with 2 fouls each.” Singler, with 2 fouls, checks back into the game.

OH, pretty! Scheyer is so crafty! He knows he wants to find Singler, but he’s such a threat himself to score that they all key in on him, and as he dribbles, waits, tangles a bit with the ball on the free throw line . . he finds the opportune moment for Singler to wiggle free, and then BAM! The pass, the catch, and the release. Boom, boom, boom! Layup, and we’re done. Gorgeous.

Boy, look at Alexander work! Their 3 pointer again is off the mark – but Alexander is right under the basket, and he somehow grabs the rebound. Alarmed, both Singler and McClure front him, trying to shove him out of bounds, both hands up high – but Alexander just pushes, pushes, his eyes peering straight up for the slightest seam to get that shot off. And it goes! “He should get FIVE POINTS for that effort!” Well! He is pretty damn good, isn’t he?

Scheyer answers right back with an authoritative baseline drive and 7 footer. His first points from the floor? Wow. 34-27, 1:17 left, and Paulus with the ball dribbles casually over to Coach K for a word and a shamrock shake, some magic words, then crosses the line and lets the ball dribble by itself as he crosses his arms and yells said words to his teammates. Hmm, wonder what they are connotating? A 3 by Scheyer. No good. Ball falls right into the hands of Paulus! Who lets it fly for another 3 point try. Awww – nope, no good either. Is that 2 for 9 now on threes??? When we started off so hot? They run the other way and Scheyer fouls Butler. 34-29. Then we throw it away??? Damn! Paulus gets caught up in the air and finds no one to throw it too. They run the other way . . scramble for the loose ball . . out of bounds . . to WVU. 2.8 seconds left – and they can’t hit from 3. Phew! 34-29 halftime.

Second half: OOOOOOHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! G with another DUNK-A-THON! Way to start off the half! And this one courtesy of Lance Thomas, who feeds Gerald in the post, with just one defender on him – never, never enough – and he elevates for the DUNK! “Henderson starts the second half with a slam and a look. Did you see the look?” You mean the “how’d you like that!” look? Oh, I wish I could see it.

WVU is 0-8 when they are trailing at the half. Nice. Oh, a STEAL by Singler! Nelson grabs it and runs – but can’t finish! That’s 2 close ones now that he’s been unable to finish. Still, I like this game very much. Whoever said WVU can’t be turned over? Hmmm, and now Nelson, all alone in the corner, can’t hit the three. We’ve been having some tremendously, startlingly OPEN looks on 3s today . . just can’t knock them down! If we did, we’ll be up 12 or 15 rather than just 7 right now; our defense is that good. Wonder what’s wrong?

WOW. GREAT D by Duke! 35 seconds of running WVU in circles, trying to find openings, and they make a pass here, a look there, no one getting open even a hair – and finally they take a drive, but it is way, way too late, with the buzzer sounding as the shot is desperately heaved up. Nope. Doesn’t count. Better luck tomorrow! “Credit Duke! It looks like they’ve got 7 guys out there right now.”

Then on the other end – we do not look much better – but we do wind up with 2 offensive boards! Nelson is looking, looking, G looks too, but neither can find a clean path to the goal, and finally Nelson gets to the elbow and tries a floater – no! But Lance with the board! Henderson tries a baseline jumper – no! But Singler amongst a pack of guys grabs the board – and is bodily fouled. That’s 3 on Smith.

Uh oh. Airball three from G? Who worked so hard to get open! I mean, nobody was within 10 feet of him! Then they race down court for a transition 3, and it’s danger time. 37-34, 16:03, and the place is going bonkers. We are 2 of 11 from 3 point land, which is a nightmare. And Nelson, knowing that he must answer the call, that he must somehow find a way of penetrating into the lane no matter what the odds – finds it cut off and turns around . . turnover. Crap! You can see the frustration all over his face. 2 of 9 shooting so far for him? Bully.

SHHHIIIITTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 35 seconds of GREAT defense, and then the dagger! Ruoff is pinned down in the far corner by Scheyer almost to the point of the bench – and he has to toss up a hopeless three – but it hits! GODDAMN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 37-37 tie???????? They get a miracle shot when we can’t hit for our life, even if left WIDE OPEN????? Arrrrrgggghhhhhhh!!! At least it’s only 15:03, still plenty of time left.

Alarm bells are ringing in Gerald Henderson’s head. He takes it personally, and drives to the basket with only one goal in mind – ATTACK. Ugh, he’s fouled. But boy, when he steps up to the free throw line and misses the first – the cheers that erupt from the pro-underdog crowd now seethes at him. Taking a deep breath . . he lines up the second, and makes it. But already the announcers are turning against them, pulling now for the underdog too, calling Duke “rattled” by WVU’s transition threes. That is “three”, thank you. Singular, not plural. But now on their end, with every bit of momentum on their side – Alexander slips by Singler and gets a clear lane to the goal, and G tries to block it – but gets called for the foul instead. Count the basket! 3 point play again by their golden boy Alexander! “Boy, has the emotion in this building FLIP-FLOPPED!!” the announcers roar with glee. As the thunderous applause rains down upon the Mountaineers. Relax, Devils. Feed off that hatred. Imagine they are Carolina. We will wear them down. 38-40, 14:38.

Oh no. In the caldron of emotion right now, WVU, overeager, feeling it, hopping up and down, commits 2 fouls in a row on Singler and G to disrupt our offense. Off the 3rd reset – Nolan does a drive-by – but misses! Singler is there for the key rebound – but NO! Push-off! FOUL! Crap! 3rd on Kyle! Then on the other end – Scheyer exacts revenge, draws a charge from Ruoff – his 3rd. “Nobody wants to go home!” The announcers cry over the noise.

Singler drives on Alexander – but is BLOCKED! The cameras capture Alexander talking smack to the freshman as well – but WHY is Singler getting blocked on every drive he attempts nowadays???? Is it because he’s lost his foot speed? Oh, Scheyer with a beautiful pull-up jumper! Smooth as butter! Ties it up, 40-40, 13:25 to go. DAMN! Alexander gets free from McClure, and hits a THREE! Then – Nelson is BLOCKED! By Alexander! This dude is everywhere!

Oh, no, no, no – Singler with his fourth foul??????? 12:43 still left? C’mon! You know they’re calling every stupid little thing! Arrrrgghh!

SHIT. But the trouble does not end there. Nolan cannot hit the 1 and 1. They grab every offensive board known to man, and they make their bonus attempts too. 40-45, Scheyer is now at the point, advancing up the ball, we need to stop the bleeding – but, WTF? Whistle? LANCE?????? Awww, offensive foul? And as the ball swings quickly the other way – the crowd is just baying for blood, their throaty roars drowning out the frustrated looks on the Duke players’ faces. This cannot be it. This cannot be our last stand. If our 3s aren’t falling, then attack! attack! and attack! They are calling every single thing, WVU is in foul trouble, and you have to take advantage of that! They are not deep. If you can get Mr. Golden Boy over here in foul trouble, or get Smith off the floor too, then at least we may be able to wear them down. And Nelson. You’ve got to try harder. By that I mean less forcing shots and dropping that shoulder, and more using all your wiles and all your 4 years of experience to help us out. You know that we suck when you don’t come to play? Oh oh oh . . and then they blow right through our defense for a layup. Classic. 40-47, and Coach K has seen enough. Timeout, Duke, 11:43.

There it is. Smith with his 4th foul, 11:04. But we don’t capitalize. I mean – C’MON! You get two timeouts, and you come out of them with nothing better than Paulus trying back-to-back long threes? To run our tally up to 2 for 13? That’s our answer?

Nice! Nelson with the rebound, is immediately double-trapped and shrink-wrapped down against the baseline, gets so frustrated waiting for the whistle to blow that he leaps into the air and bounces that ball hard out of bounds off the WVU player. There. Now go to hell.

THERE IT IS! 3rd foul on Alexander! And it was Scheyer, doing what he’s been doing better and better nowadays, driving into the lane and then finishing despite a whack on the arm from Alexander. AND ONE! Oh, Greg hugs him! The Duke section standing up and cheering for him! That was our first bucket since – god, when? 4 min ago? 43-47, 9:23.

Whoa . . Nelson is only 3 for 16 today????? That is beyond morbid. Makes 1 of 2 at the line . . and then on the other end, picks up 2 fouls in a hurry. Shit. That Mazzulla kid too quick for him? A frustrated, shut-down Nelson is NEVER good for our team. 44-51, 8:36, and the bleeding continues. If we somehow win, with these kind of numbers? It’ll be nothing short of a miracle.

Awwww, G! G answers with a quicksilver baseline drive – and REVERSE! Awesome! Then Lance quickly reverses that smile off our face with a foul on Alexander, trying to tie him up. Uh, no – that’ll be a reach-in. Three on Lance. Shit – everything is going WVU’s way. Everything. If they’d wanted a genie in a bottle, they would get that too. Alexander only makes 1 of 2 at the line? No prob-lemo. They’ll just grab the offensive board. LANCE!!!!!!! C’MON! Foul #4 on you? Do you WANT to go home?????

So now Kyle must come back in, earlier than what Coach K wanted. Let’s hope to God that he does not foul out. This is not a good strategy. We are cold from 3 point land – woefully, bewilderingly, disgustingly so – so what do we do? Shoot some more threes?????? Oh, let’s!! Nelson with one. Cling! Scheyer with one. Cling! Singler is in there – can we please get him a touch or two before he inevitably fouls out? We have missed 13 consecutive shots from beyond the arc! Please grab a score sheet the next time you want to chat with your coach and read up!

Hey, G with a great STEAL! Tries to save it in vain but can’t, as it flies out of bounds. Great, great effort though. It’s a weird noise level right now: a mix of “Let’s Go, Duke!” commingling with boos. The Duke section behind the bench is on their feet, clapping and cheering, trying to rally the Blue Devils on, but it’s a small contingent by far.

Can we cut this s**** out????? No one wants to drive, so Paulus takes yet another long three – and once again, it’s short. “Tired legs,” the announcers say ominously. This is starting to look like Illinois in the 2005 championship final, so stymied by Carolina’s big inside presence that they prayed to God to bail them out with threes. It didn’t work then, and – despite WVU not having any kind of similar inside presence – it’s not working out now. We’ve never made a comeback without hitting our 3s. Never. And now with every tick of the clock winding down . . and with no appearance from the Blue Devils in changing their ways – I am sagging deeper and deeper into the couch. They are about to shoot themselves out of this tournament. Not just this ballgame – but this tournament, this great Madness of March, this whole season. Nelson will end his career with 3 alarmingly bad games. The whole team will end this season with 3 terrible games from beyond the arc. And it will be to a 5 seed, a 15 seed, and a 7 seed. Embarrassing. Do you not even want a crack at 3 seed Xavier? At 1 seed UCLA? . . . Kyle?

Remember how giddy everyone was when the brackets came out? Giggling with glee at the thought of sidestepping such intense 3 seeds as Louisville and Stanford, then smiling when Xavier had to fight for its life against 14 seed Georgia? Remember? That was all of 6 days ago. How can you tell me now . . that we’re already done? In none of our dreams, did we dare imagine this. Down 46-54 to a 7 seed with 5:43 left, and seeing no hope. None.

Because WVU is now laughing at us. Yet ANOTHER backdoor??????? The antidote to our pressure D!$&@#*&*$#%! Heartbreaking! Then – a backbreaking three by Ruoff! It’s over. It is clearly over. 49-60???????? And, now, finally, the notion of rescuing ourselves by our 3s are kaput. G drives!! Promptly gets fouled. WVU is very smart, fouling G every time he gets anywhere near the basket to stop our momentum and confidence. If he’s our only hope – and he starts getting frustrated at not being able to finish – then we have no hope of making a comeback. Heehee! Lance is frowning like a demon right now from the bench. Glad to see some anger from him – though why does it NEVER translate onto the court? 51-60, 4:23.

Oh Jesus Christ. Perfect timing. With such a commanding lead, WVU plays stallball, and though we defend our tails off, they grab offensive boards like they have magnetized paws, hogging an entire minute and then some of our precious clock to themselves. It is beyond over at this point. I mean – we are hopelessly being outrebounded, 26-43. No turnover advantage whatsoever. 3 point shooting down the drain. And the most frustrating thing is that it’s not like WVU is a brilliant club that’s doing anything spectacular defensively. It’s us that’s the problem. Those are WIDE OPEN shots. They’re just not going down! And then, on top of that, we take some more long jumpshots, with no offensive boards in sight if we miss. I just . . I don’t know what to say. It is so, so heartbreaking. If the team that you love goes out of the tournament . . then I could care less, frankly, what any other team does. The whole beauty of March just goes right down the tubes.

I think desperation calls for desperation, don’t you think? Zone? Full court pressure? Zoubek? We are down ELEVEN. How are we gonna get back into it without 3 point shooting? HOW????????

Oh no. Another foul on Duke. More points for them to build onto their lead. And they don’t miss a thing from the line. When he hears the whistle, G covers his face with his hands in despair. But look! Look at Kyle with a nifty spin move in the lane and a double-pump to draw the foul, the 4th on Alexander! NICE!!! Can he leave the game now, please? Singler at the line, but we’re still down 51-64, 2:50 left.

Full court pressure now – but they beat it pretty easily with high passes, looking to run away from us for an easy bucket – but OH! Ill-adviced decision to reverse it out, trying to milk the clock – and Scheyer with the STEAL! G knows what to do with it – push, push, push! – and after his heroics in the Belmont game, they are not going to let him finish one iota. Fouled, on his way to the bucket. Well, bye bye Da’Sean Butler. You’re gone.

But Gerald does not make a single free throw. Meanwhile, the shortest guy on the floor, Mazzulla, gets his mitts on his 150th rebound, and Paulus fouls him. Of course, he makes both free throws. Oh, finally. About 10 minutes too late. G with a three pointer that finally goes in. So there is no moving basket, huh? It really is there? 55-66, right back to where we started, oh, 5 min ago. But now, there’s just 1:54 left. No chance in hell. Timeout to drag out the pain a little bit more.

The crowd is on their feet. They play keep-away, and Paulus is forced to foul. And now Nelson comes off the floor from his final career game. To the stinging ring of cheers for the opponent in his ears. Terrible day. Terrible shooting. Terrible performance for him. But Greg is still on the floor, still fighting. Races up the court and drills a three from the top of the key, 25 feet out, in about 4 seconds flat. Very thankful for that, but we are still parked at 58-68, 55 seconds left.

Ok, so now the 3 point shots fall? How cruel is fate? Nolan with another one, despite a hand in his face. A forced turnover. A nice offensive put-back. But yeah, it’s over. 67-73, no quit in the end to at least close the gap a little in the score, but . . it is way, way too late. So. The Belmont scare was not an anomaly. The NC State scare was not an anomaly. The Clemson loss . . this loss . . 5 losses in our last 11. All not aberrations. The bench gave us no lift. Mazzulla had a career game for them. Kyle with some untimely fouls that really limited him . . and oh, oh – DeMarcus Nelson. The look on his face, as he walked the post-game line, was just – awful. Blank. Almost expressionless, closed off – but wrestling with monumental hurt and disbelief. I want to cry. But I can’t. I won’t. These kids played their hearts out today. They really wanted to prove something. But the shots just did not fall. And the rebounding differential: a heartbreaking 27-47. This, when the other team was not a big team at all. Not by far. O, my kingdom for a center!

Oh, you know the vultures are circling in already. The lion has fallen. Doug Goettieb on ESPN News: “Stunning? Is it really stunning? I think there’s several levels to this. Since winning the championship in 2001, Duke has yet to be a top 4 seed (talent-wise). Whether its because of recruiting, or players leaving early . . ” WVU players, as reported by The New York Times, when told there’s 8 McDonald’s All-Americans on the Duke roster: “Really? Who???” The headline on SI.com: “Down Goes Duke”. And I don’t even want to touch the boards.

I understand the concern. This is our second quick exit in 2 years now, and this year was especially puzzling because we had such a red-hot start, 22-1, 10-0 in the conference. Usually after a loss I can write an entire term paper on why we lost and what we need to do better. But, this one? Our very last game? Let me just say that no other game this year has so prepared me for the bitter result at the end than this one. I could see it from a mile away. I knew it by the 8 minute mark. And thus, I’m not as bitter/angry/sad as I usually am when we lose. I don’t feel like dissecting it too much either. I’m just going to let it go.

Watching the post-game presser . . my God, the look on G’s face . . or the 2 seconds I could see of it, he had it down for the majority of the time. Here was our hero from the Belmont game, and he could not even lift his head to face the reporters. It was so heartbreaking. And suddenly, I didn’t care anymore. I mean . . who cares how they got all those rebounds? Who cares about strategy, rotation, who should’ve played over whom . . .

Our season is over. It’s the worst feeling in the world. And I have nothing but thanks for our players. To see Gerald, with so much talent, not even look up from the podium . . C’mon. Let him go. Just – let this one go. We don’t need to dissect it to death. It’s fine. It’s a game, and it should stay that way.

My heart goes out to DeMarcus Nelson, our senior captain. Thank you for leading the team to a most memorable, 28-6 season – and good luck, on whatever you do in the future. I am sure you'll make it to the NBA!

Pitt Out-Toughs Louisville in Big East Qtr Final :: 76-69 OT

Wow. Watching Pitt and Louisville battle – it was just so reminiscent of Pitt – Duke, and the toughness that I saw there in December – at the time, loved/hated – but now, here, I suddenly loved. What a team. Individually, these are not great players. They’re not the highest recruited players, not the McDonald’s All-Americans, won’t wow you with any one thing they do. But together . . together they operate as a unit on the highest level possible. It’s a marvel, watching them. They just seem to know what’s needed to get done, and when that clock ticks down to the last 2 minutes of regulation, or the last 3 minutes of overtime, they just go about their business. Never bats an eye. Never panics. They are able to get their stops, make Louisville adjust their shots, grab all the loose balls, all the free throws that counted (9 of 9 at the end). Down 1 with 13:51 to go, they went on a run, then Louisville went on a run of their own, and the #2 seeded Cards, fresh and deep, looked confident. The announcers are saying how nobody can match up with their 6th man, Earl Clark. They appear to be able to run away from Pitt any time they chose. Louisville was up 4 with 2:40 to go, with all the momentum on their side.

But Pitt comes right back. They don’t budge. They hold Louisville to no field goal for a full 2 minutes - while they tie it up, while they get the go-ahead - and suddenly they’ve wiped that smile off the Cards’ face and made them play catch-up! Unreal! If Blair had hit his free throws at the end, they might’ve won it in regulation. Instead, Louisville tied it 62-62, and the game went into overtime.

But it was the team that had to play an extra game last night that came roaring out in OT – forcefully taking the lead, AND the game, from the higher-seeded Cardinals. Sosa, Caracter, Padgett’s back, the long, lean, explosive Earl Clark off the bench, Terrence Williams, almost any other night a triple-double threat, wasn't he supposed to be the best athlete on the floor? In fact, the whole team? Weren't they gonna wear Pitt down, down, down?

Yet, they lost. Both teams had a lot of NYC-area kids, and during one timeout it was NYC darling Edgar Sosa who had the long face, while Levance Fields on the other end was smiling. This, when Sosa and the Cards still had a great chance. But he just couldn’t see any light. Credit that, to the toughness of Pitt. This is the same Edgar Sosa that I watched last year go up against a veteran Texas A&M squad, with A.C. Law, and almost single-handedly will his team to victory. How much has changed here? Great props to Pitt. I’m glad we played them back in December, right here in the Garden. Big-time game for a young Duke squad, against a program that’s very quietly built a stellar record in the last few years. 6 Big East title games in 7 years! That’s insane! Will they do it again this year? 76-69 OT, with Marquette in the semi-final game tomorrow night.

#5 Duke vs #1 UNC Game Blog – The Fight for Number One

Epic rivalry. National Player of the Year candidates. Hall of Fame coaches. Need we say more? Duke and Carolina opens the college basketball season for fair weather fans after the Super Bowl, and now they close it out. The regular season is all but over. Louisville – Georgetown has been decided. UCLA – Stanford has been decided. Wisconsin has won the Big Ten, Kansas and Texas will share the Big 12, and Tennessee gets the SEC. All of that pales in comparison to round 2 of the fight for supremacy on Tobacco Road. Tonight, Senior Night, both teams are top 5 and 13-2 in the conference. The ACC title . . the #1 seed in the East . . and the bragging rights, are all on the line. This one, then, is for all the marbles.

We get the jumpball, everyone scrambles and sizes each other up, and G has already picked out his spot on the 3 point line. FOR THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “GERRR-ald HENDERSON strikes first!” His high school buddy, Wayne Ellington, being hounded by Kyle Singler, seemingly throws up a circus shot, falling away – but it hits! UGH! It’s gonna be that kind of night for them, huh? Our honored senior DeMarcus Nelson’s first shot, however, is an uncharacteristic pull-up jumper from 17 feet out. It’s short. 3-2.

Jeez, Hansbrough is a beast. Misses, but that’s not enough, he must get the loose ball back, he must fight through 2 set defenders’ arms raised up high, and somehow, no matter how forced it looks, it always goes back in. Whatever; at least we’re making him work for it. HUH????? Lance Thomas got blocked??? By who? Awww . . you’ve got to be kidding me. QT, who’s 5 inches shorter than him. Is it really gonna be that kind of night?

Basket interference! That ball was in the cylinder! No call. Singler blocked by Deon? First subs in: Lawson comes in for UNC, Zoubek for Duke. Lawson immediately draws a help defender and dishes to an open Green for the flush. His vision, certainly, has not been impaired. OH SCHEYER!!!!!!!!!!!! What a pretty, tricky, spinning move inside! But Lawson immediately snatches the spotlight back, outrunning everybody for the easy transition deuce. Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. What are we, chopped liver? As Singler looked to have sealed off his man – but gets blocked by Green! That’s the 3rd or 4th block already by UNC! C’mon! Hansbrough is off the floor! Yet we look terrible – slower, smaller, and getting our shots sent back to us right and left. 5-10, 5 minutes gone.

YAY, Zoubs!!!!!!! Paulus with the dish inside, and big Z ain’t getting blocked! An easy one for him!!!! Nolan with a jumper! Oh no. 2nd foul on Zoubek, trying to reach in on Hansbrough. 13:58 still to go, and there goes a vital part of our 5-step plan to contain and/or otherwise dispose of Psycho T. Poor Brian – he jumped up and down at that call and looked terribly disappointed. At this point, he’s just not quick enough to guard a National Player of the Year candidate. “There are a lot of guys who can’t handle {Hansbrough]”, Dickie V offers condolences as Brian heads to the bench. Thank God we’ve got someone who can at least play with him, but he’ll be very tired tonight if he doesn’t get much help: our MVP, Kyle Singler.

Nice job, Lance, to draw the offensive foul on Lawson! Awww . . now what? Lance with a foul trying to get rid of Hansbrough on his back – and that’s his 2nd. 12:28 still left to play! This sucks! Singler is the only one left standing, and he already has one foul too. Coach K nods to DeMarcus and Greg to replace LT and Nolan, who in about 2 minutes each have picked up tiny, miniscule fouls in terms of advantage gained but are, in fact, colossal to our defensive plan. This Hansbrough guy is like the chicken pox – you get anywhere near him and the whole team becomes infected. What happened to our great plan in the first game to contain him while not picking up fouls? We are already at 6 team fouls here, and the next one sends them to the line for a 1 and 1. How can we be regressing? 9-13.

Oh, Taylor King with some energy!!! Forces Tyler Hansbrough to the floor in a sandwich between him and Kyle Singler, and forces the jump ball – to Duke! Awesome!!! Or . . not. King then fouls QT, and that’s the 7th on the team. They’re in the bonus – at 11:20 in the first half. Ridiculous! This is also, unfortunately, one of the best FT shooting teams in the nation. Coach K, may I suggest – a little – zone?

They are on fire. Carolina is, I mean. 9-20???? When was the last time we scored? I can’t remember. I think its true – in the beginning, you tend to play tighter because you’re at home, you’re expected to do well, and you especially want to do well for DeMarcus, etc. And Carolina is taking full advantage. Danny Green is virtually unstoppable. The height advantage of UNC is really bothering our drives and our passes, and we have 6 turnovers already to their 2. We’ve gone through scoring droughts before, but this is not a scoring drought. This is a confidence drought. We look uncomfortable out there. Guys are in foul trouble. Shots are being resoundingly rejected. Our offense is not even recognizable to me – just a bunch of guys dribbling and trying to create something one on one but it goes awry. Kyle has so far been blocked twice, tried a spin move but lost the ball, then got double-teamed and lost the ball. His 3 point attempt also missed. D-Marc’s been quiet – unable to drive, unable to hit the jumper, or the long range 3. Greg is being guarded like a treasure chest. Let’s turn this around, guys. One possession at a time. Have some patience. Make them guard you!

Wow, we look scary – in the worst way. After a made basket by Hansbrough driving on Singler and getting him to fall down – they steal the rebound! Thank God they missed! Then on the other end – we look to have a transition opportunity – but nope, the 3 pointer is cut off – so DeMarcus tries to drive, the next best thing – and the speed of this change or the defenders coming at him makes him lose it out of bounds. Wow. Then Lawson blows by Paulus, doesn’t care about Singler trying to protect the basket, and just lays it up around him. “Are you kidding me???” Dickie V screams. I am screaming the same thing! 11-24??? In our own house??? We’re in for a loooong night. 8:20.

With nothing pretty to see out on the court, the cameras pan to the stands. Hey look! Celebrity central tonight! There’s the Manning brothers, Jay Will, Duhon, and Laettner. LeBron James wanted to come too but is stuck somewhere in a snowstorm in Ohio. OHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! G with the super drive for the DUNK! That’s exactly what we needed!!! Deon is fouled – and the Crazies go nuts! Why? Speedo Guy is doing a dance. Deon, not a great free throw shooter anyway, misses his first. Made his 2nd, though.

We trap and steal the ball – awesome! But again, the opportunity to capitalize is missed, as Nelson misses a 3 that “we need so much,” Dickie V says as it flies in the air. Singler with the offensive board! But it sails out of bounds under pressure in a pass back out. “Nelson is trying to do too much,” Dickie V surmises, as they do a close-up on DeMarcus, those eyebrows slightly furrowed, mouthing “f***” on his missed shot. 15-29, 5:18.

This game is atrocious. Duke is only shooting 21%? Thank God UNC is shooting 38%, and not 70% as NC State was a while back. PAULUS FOR THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the sudden ROAR from the crowd, you’ll think he’d won a national championship game for us on the last second shot! Cheerleaders erupt along the baseline, the students go crazy, the stands start vibrating again, and the noise level just hit 18,000 decibels out there. It was THAT important, for a shot – any shot – to fall through . . and especially this shot, with QT right in his face. Boy, I don’t think a team has paid this much attention to guarding Greg since – ever, huh? Yet he steps up when we need him the most, when we were searching for someone to ignite this fire that has gone out. Still a stunning 18-29, but at least one of our 3 point shooters is 50%, right, Greg? 5:01.

David McClure with a BLOCK! Way to go, Troy! The crowd hums with anticipation, sensing a potential turnaround for the Devils. We won’t ask you to win this game. We just ask you to keep it close, to protect our pride. Well, Carolina gets the ball back – but Hansbrough misses! McClure with the hotly contested rebound!!!! Crisp pass out – cross court – then Scheyer hits Paulus, finally with nobody in his face, free to breathe – A WIDE OPEN THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT HITS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 21-29! We have hope!!! We have life!!!! Oh, thank you, Greg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now this place has really come alive. The fans are the loudest I’ve heard them thus far. It is deafening, and a little frightening, if you’re the visiting players. It sounds like an ocean wave is about to hit you, and drown you right out of the gym. 4 minutes to the end of the half. Let’s make a little run! “Let’s Go, Duke!” “Let’s Go, Duke!” “Let’s Go, Duke!” Paulus basks in the cheers of the rocking arena, walking the ball up. WOW! What a pretty move! Singler looking like he was beaten, nowhere to turn, had to pass the ball back out to Scheyer – and then Scheyer seemingly loses it – but Kyle picks it up like a hawk to a mouse and immediately turns around – doesn’t think, all instinct, just shots – and the ball banks IN! OH! Snuggles in like a charm!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a shot! And Kyle jogs back on D with a backward look, his mouth slightly open, his eyes unwavering – it’s his first made shot, and that’s got to feel good. Our two best players in that first UNC game, Paulus and Singler, are starting to heat up. That is GREAT news. Let’s add a little G, a little Scheyer, a little LT angry on the bench, and we can make this a ballgame again! 23-29, 3:36.

PAULUS AGAIN! OH MY! He can’t miss! He’s single-handedly willing us back in the game! To hear that crowd cheer for him. How reminiscent of last year was that, when we discovered his 3 point specialty? Who knew we were getting such a shooter when we were recruiting him? As Kyle set a solid screen for him on that exchange. 26-31, we are within 5.

Ellington answers with a 3 of his own. Yeah, forget about that 4 for 24 from him and Green last time ever again. With G guarding him too. Uh oh. Here it comes. That firepower unravels. Greg with a loooong 3 that doesn’t go, and immediately, they’re pushing it, they’re 3 on 1, and poor Greg is posterized as Green dunks. Then another fastbreak – a steal – as Ellington lays it in. 26-38 in a hurry, and it is looking exactly like it was last year, when UNC would flash out for easy buckets, and Duke would bring it laboriously back. We look slow and unathletic out there, while they’re looking like they’re just having fun, a breeze through the park. This is #1 vs #5, baby. Not #1 vs #25. Shore it up. And Coach K calls a timeout. 2:05 left.

You’re goddamn kidding me. Now Dickie V is playing the sympathy card for Duke? Saying things like, “the way Carolina is playing, if Duke can go into halftime under 10, they’ve got to be feeling pretty good about themselves.” Why, so we don’t get embarrassed? 3rd foul on Zoubek, doing what I don’t know, and G walks almost exasperatingly to the scorer’s table, like “you’ve got to be kidding me, I just went out 2 seconds ago.”

We hold for the last shot. It’s D-Marc’s, and he drives in, he wants this bucket – but Deon blocks him! It catapults out of bounds, we retain possession, but there’s only 3 seconds left on the clock. All we can do is have Kyle catch, turn around, and shoot – and G can’t save it. Zzzzzzzzz! End of the most atrocious first half ever. 31-42 halftime. Not only is it the least we’ve ever scored in a half – it is the biggest halftime deficit we’ve faced – EVER.

DeMarcus has not scored. Kyle has maybe 4 points. And we have had so many shots blocked and so many turnovers that they equal the total number of field goals and free throw attempts we have – stunning! Meanwhile, our defense has not been able to turn them over, or stop their shooters Ellington and Green. Our X factors, LT and Z, are no help whatsoever. Greg Paulus is carrying us, but will he hit 75% on 3s again, like last time? Well, I guess they’re #1 for a reason, huh? I think I need a cigarette.

Second half: Assistant coach Chris Collins with some generous insights: “Emotions were getting the best of us, we were a bit wild, and our shots were a bit too quick.” Let’s see if we can turn this thing around. Lance Thomas is back in, and immediately we dish to him. He doesn’t finish, but does grab his own miss and is fouled. The foul is on Hansbrough, his 2nd, and as he goes to the free throw sidelines – he sticks out his lip a little in rebellion of that foul. LT makes 1 of 2. DeMarcus looks to drive, drive, drive – and then hits G on the perimeter for THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “Duke lives by that 3!” Dickie V grins. Oh, are we ever. How else are we gonna get back in this thing? 35-44.

Things are starting to go our way. G wrestles a rebound away from Ginyard and gets fouled. Then Singler, having dragged Hansbrough out to the perimeter, goes up for a 3 – a long one. It’s a miss – but NELSON is there for the tip-in! OH FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! “Nelson’s on the board!” The ensuing cheer that erupts out of the Crazies could probably be heard across the Atlantic.

Oh, this is interesting. Paulus is guarding Lawson? And the other way around too? Paulus decides to test that foot speed of Ty Ty’s. Blows right by him, gets no screen or nothing, then is hacked across the arm by a surprised Ellington – but Greg scoops up the shot anyways – and it hits! Count it! AND ONE! As the crowd goes nuts, Dickie V is screaming just to be heard: “This kid was under the heat! Got criticized last year! I mean, how can you criticize a kid that plays this hard, and competes as hard as he does! This kid is a WIN-NER! This kid can play for me any day of the WEEK!” To the raucous chants of “Greg Pau-lus! Greg Pau-lus!” 40-46! 16:58.

Hansbrough, BLOCKED BY SCHEYER! Oh, GREAT teamwork! Singler put up a wall in front of him, and that allowed Scheyer to come in from the back and help get that shot outta here! To the roar of the crowd as we race up the court – Paulus takes it on himself again, drives into a forest of baby blue shirts, throws up a floater that doesn’t go . . but ZOUBEK is there to clean it up! He does great defensive work on Hansbrough too, forcing him to shoot over him a couple feet out rather than get point-blank looks, not fouling, making him earn it . . though it just blows my mind how Hansbrough can hit it from seemingly anywhere.

Singler, left somewhat alone, tries a 3. His 3rd miss of the night. But LOOK AT THIS! Zoubek again with the rebound and put-back! And Hansbrough has no answer for him defensively! Is actually flummoxed! Do I challenge him? Do I foul him? Or do I just stand around hoping he’ll miss on his own? Uh, I’ll take option #3. And watch as Zoubs picks up the loose change, making it 44-48! Closest we’ve gotten in a long time!!! “Oh, they’ve found their player! They’ve found their player! Who said they don’t have big people!!” Dickie V is screaming himself hoarse with excitement! Can big Z be this round’s Lance Thomas?

Ellington quiets the celebration with a 3. But DeMarcus has had enough. He circles the defense, drives determinedly in from the top of the key – and gets right to the rim for the FLUSH! “Performance is leadership!” Dickie V applauds. And then AGAIN! For the encore! Scintillating move! This time, he drives into a forest of guys all trying to block him, challenge him, he doesn’t pay them any mind, just focuses on that rim – and take it ALL THE WAY. “I tell ya, something’s gotten into the mind of Nelson. Unbelievable drive to the goal.” I think he recognizes that there’s 14:30 left to go in his last home game, and it’s now or never. 48-51! 48-51! I can’t believe I’m that excited about the score!

STEAL by Scheyer! But it’s thrown ahead to D-Marc, who has it pickpocketed away by Lawson. They score 2 quick ones, it’s 48-55, and Coach K calls a timeout.

“They need SINGLER!” And his THREE HITS! 51-55! Then SCHEYER FOR THREE! Just a phenomenal pull-up 3 in transition, with a little dagger in his eye as he backs away on D. 54-57, and it’s amazing that the players are not going deaf right now from all this noise. “Listen to this place! Unless you are here, you cannot appreciate the – “ As G BLOCKS Green! OH, returning the favor! Return to sender, thank you very much! Then, as Green gets it back – steps on the baseline! Finally, a turnover! I tell you, this Carolina club is harder to turn over than a soggy pancake. 11:41.

For 2 minutes, the pace is racehorse, with both teams either shooting terribly, or getting it blocked/stolen away from them. Guess who’s doing the latter? Nelson is forcing it a bit too much on his drives, taking it amongst 2 or 3 defenders collapsing on him. Wants to bull through desperately, but winds up losing it. Next trip, G drives, and I cringe on us losing the ball again or getting it blocked – but he recognizes the defense collapsing inward – and kicks it out to Scheyer on the wing! “This would TIE it!” Just as it SNUGGLES IN! OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT’S DUKE BALL! That’s how we’re supposed to play! We are tied at 57-57! Thank you, G! Thank you, Scheyer! 9:38.

Oh, f***. Again with the open 3 on their end. Paulus leaves QT to help out with Hansbrough, and he kicks it out immediately to good ol’ QT, who drains the killer. Playing catch-up yet again. But SINGLER ANSWERS! Oh my God! I can nearly cry as that ball whips through the net, as dead-on as ever! It’s back! His shot, in crunch time, is back! 60-60!!! And once again, it was classic Duke ball, crisp ball movement, Nelson driving baseline and looking cut off, but flashes the pass cross-court to Scheyer, who sends it to G, who sends it to Greg, all touch passes – and by the time they realize it’s intended for Singler, that shot’s gone – and IN! We live and die by the 3. If you’re gonna block us, if you’re gonna contest us, then please God, at the very least let us shoot well from 3.

Erin Andrews, reporting amongst the Crazies: “It’s 90 degrees down here! The players are tired, they’re gasping for breath, hands on their hips. They’re all exhausted, and you can just see it.” As all hell breaks loose under the basket, as it usually does with a Hansbrough miss, and a Dukie, as always, is whistled for fouling a bigger Tar Heel.

Lance Thomas with another crisp move to the basket! Much better than the first half! Kyle Singler has become Lance’s personal assistant in these UNC games, setting him up for easy baskets from the top of the key. We are again dead-locked, at 64-64. They get a put-back. Scheyer with a tremendous drive! 66-66. As they miss on their next trip down – now we can take the lead! The ball is worked to Singler in the corner – his favorite spot, the one right in front of the Duke bench! Oh, all our hopes and dreams soar with his shot . . a perfect 3, that high arc, almost completely uncontested . . but it bounces off the front iron. And the rebound, as always – comes down to UNC. 6:11.

Scheyer is a LION! That will he has shown in the Miami game, in the NC State game, is coming out in full force. Look at that DRIVE! He is challenged by a leaping Hansbrough, alters his shot and realizes its horrible, rebounds his own miss, and then weaves in between 2 huge Carolina guys for the PUT-BACK! Incredible! Let me tell you, when this kid’s game is on, he can do some superhuman things! AND we have our first LEAD of the night! Since EVER! 68-66, 5:42. Alright, guys. It is nearly the 5 minute mark. It is time now for Brian Zoubek to “outrun some of the wing players in this league”, whaddayasay?

G with an incredible rebound, instantly flying with it to the rim – but misses the dunk??? G! How can you miss that???? That could mean all the difference! OH, then astounding work defensively, as they throw the ball down low to Hansbrough, he is immediately fronted by the double team of Kyle and G, but Hansbrough tries to get a shot off anyway – right into the hands of G, who blocks it – and Scheyer is there to snatch away the turnover!

“Let’s Go, Duke!” “Let’s Go, Duke!” “Let’s Go, Duke!” The crowd is sensing a turn of the tide. Carolina now is nowhere near as scary as they were in the opening minutes of the game. We pause, spread the floor, take a look at mismatches – and the ball movement is worked around again, with Singler whipping the ball to Paulus – who, to our heartbreak, shoots an airball 3. He’s getting tired. Having chased Lawson all night long – what Erin Andrews said about exhaustion around the 8 min mark is true. Now they race the other way – but they cannot hit either, even from about 3 feet out. 68-66 still, 4:04 left.

We have a tiny, miniscule, improbable 2 point lead, there is still 4 huge minutes to be played, and as soon as we get it across the halfcourt line, Singler holds the ball while catching his breath. No one objects. Hansbrough is unsure what to do now. Should I go all the way out past the Coach K Court logo to guard this tyke? And possibly get embarrassed like John Oates did? Nope. Declines the invite. We take so much time off the clock that Scheyer basically has no choice as it winds down to 8, 7, 6, and he must drive – but loses it! Kyle cannot recover! Bowling ball pins flying everywhere! And it’s Carolina ball. 3:30.

Ellington ties it up at the 3 min mark, 68-68. Then, 1 min later, Hansbrough just somehow gets every rebound to fall to him, and gets a 2nd chance bucket off the glass. It is Carolina on top, 68-70, and Greg signals a timeout at 1:58. I can’t wait. This is much better. No matter what happened in the first 38 minutes – it comes down to this. It always comes down to this. The last 2 minutes. No matter how poorly we played . . no matter how much a gulf seemingly existed between these 2 teams’ style and strategy and execution . . it always comes down to the last plays in the last 2 minutes. Who will step up? Who will pull it out tonight? I have a hunch that when the game is on the line, the ball will go to DeMarcus. And though he didn’t play well in the first UNC game . . and he hasn’t played well here tonight . . I am almost okay, if we give it to him, and we lose. He has to be given that opportunity. He deserves it. If anything – he deserves that much.

Out of the timeout: we go to Greg – and he lets fly a long, long 3 that is just a bit too strong. Singler with a rush to recover the miss – but it flies out of bounds, just beyond his fingertips. Now we need a stop.

They move it around. Paulus is on Lawson, which is making me nervous – and now, Lawson rushes him, licking his chops at the whole right side cleared out for him – and Paulus stays glued to him, reaching in with his arms and all his QB strength to tie him up – but no! Foul! Lawson sinks both, making it 68-72, 1:31 left.

What? He traveled? Oh, that’s funny! Scheyer drove, missed the shot, they get the rebound – but we don’t give up, we harass Ginyard in a tight Dukie sandwich, and Ginyard is called for a travel. Finally, a Tar Heel is called for the travel! It is not mutually exclusive! We get the ball back!!! Aghast, Roy Williams just kneels down by the sidelines and pulls his hands speechlessly over his face. 1:07 left.

SHIT! G loses it to Lawson! And he’s gone faster than a Concorde, but – HA! He doesn’t convert! Green with the tip-in! No one boxes him out! 68-74??? 49 seconds left? Are we done??? Singler could only watch as Green beat him to that ball, but now he pulls it out of the net and sends it forward, with no second thought at all, no remorse, no regret. Next play. Focus on the next play. Scheyer races it upcourt, zeroing in on the goal, he sees nothing else – just drive, drive, drive – nobody around him – but OH! Shot is BLOCKED by Green! He is freaking bloody everywhere!

It’s over.

Our inbounds play: Scheyer looks for the 3 – Hansbrough leaps into the air – knocks Scheyer down soundly as he then jumps up – but NO CALL! WTF???? We’re still waiting for the whistle when they grab our ball, race the other way, and get in one more dunk. It’s all over. 68-76.

Where is Nelson? Where is G? How come it’s just been Scheyer the last couple of minutes? AARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! This is devastating. We miss our last 11 shots. Green with 7 blocks alone??? DAMN! They block our final 3 point attempt from Paulus, not that it makes any difference anyway, and no one stepped up in the endgame. It’s done. UNC gets the #1 seed. UNC wins the ACC title. UNC walks away with the bragging rights – again. You have to admit . . championships are often won in the final few minutes . . and if this is our endgame . . .

Post-game thoughts:
Ah! That’s why Green was so fresh! He only played 25 min, so that’s why he was so athletic and hyperactive. He got 2 baskets and 3 blocks in the last 48 seconds, while we couldn’t get anything in the last 5:42. No wonder he was able to block Greg’s final jumper, who played 32 min, and block Nelson’s drives, who played 35 min. No wonder Kyle couldn’t hit some late 3s, or look heartened enough to drive, or try to box out Green for that crucial tip-in – he played 37 min. We knew coming in that we’ll get outrebounded, and we did (44-53), and they’ll be a tough animal to turn over – but they got 15 blocks???? 6 ssteals??? That’s double our numbers! Those 15 blocks are 20% of our attempts! And though for a while we looked like we were hitting 100% 3s – we only wound up hitting 10 of 29, or 34%. Last time, we went 13 for 29; that’s 9 extra points . .

I don’t want to gripe about one foul call. I see now that because this is Duke – Carolina, they did not want to turn it into a free throw shooting contest, and their raison d’etre coming in was “let them play.” A lot of contact wasn’t called, and this hurt Duke somewhat in trying to take charges, as only 1 got called, I believe. But it’s just freakin’ hard to take when you see other teams employ this same strategy, late in the game: when you need a 3, and can’t get an open look, get the bigger guy to jump in the air and then jump into him, for the foul and 3 shots. What Scheyer did was smart. What he didn’t bank on was the double standard of the officials. If you don’t believe me, Mr. Official, just give me your address, and I’ll send you tape of All-American guard DJ Augustin doing the same thing – and promptly getting the friendly whistle, no questions asked – in the Texas – Kansas State game a while back. I know the game shouldn’t come down to 1 call, but c’mon – after watching UCLA waltz away with 2 wins this weekend because of ludicrous calls in their favor – how can you tell me that a call/no-call would not have made a difference?

I hate this. I hate this because this game was winnable. They are just cookie monsters, nothing more. But I will relent in saying this: those games, with Lawson out and QT running the show, helped them tremendously. It got them into close games that they otherwise may not have gotten into, and it tested their togetherness and their resilience. QT got comfortable running the show. Tyler made his case for POY. Ellington learned to get his own shot. When Ellington said, “We've been [in close games] before -- been there plenty of times,” it made me shiver. It’s true. They have, and they’ve proven that they can fight through it. They are older and more experienced than we are, and it shows.

So, I guess I have to admit: Carolina is kind of a good team. For the entire first half and key stretches of the second half, they made Duke’s offense become completely unrecognizable to me. Guys got frustrated, we kept getting our shots blocked, limited to one and done, and couldn’t drive and kick out as much as we wanted to. They always seemed to have 2 or 3 guys near the goal that could swat away or severely challenge shots. We dug ourselves into such a hole (15-29) – and this was in Cameron! We were playing catch-up, in Cameron! Unreal!

I mean, what happened to the crisp execution of the first UNC game in Chapel Hill? In that game, you could clearly recognize Coach K’s strategy: limit Hansbrough’s free throws, double-team him, let him get his 30 and 20 or whatever, and shut down everyone else. It didn’t work here. In the first opening minutes, we committed 4 or 5 fouls right off the bat, Green and Ellington got whatever they wanted, and that was that. They knew to expect our drives and stayed home to contest our shots, they also switched on ball screens so that someone was always on our shooters (taking a page out of our book!), and they refused to play along with our defense and commit turnovers. Ken Pomeroy is right. Just like Tennessee, when your offense feeds off of turnovers to be successful, then you’re gonna run into trouble when you face very good teams that refuse to be turned over. Last night, we got turned over, not the other way around, to the tune of 10 in the first half, while botching pretty much all of our fastbreak opportunities. No wonder our offense stalled. My hat’s off to Carolina. They made us look, at times: slow, unathletic, and unprepared. This was a very disciplined Duke team that knew what was at stake, and they made us disintegrate into chaos.

Those last 2 minutes were the longest in my life. You simply cannot go down by 14 to a team like Carolina, and expect an easy way to climb back up. Your work’s not done when you tie. Your work’s not done when you go up by 2. We spent all our energy getting back to 68-66, and then they just spurted away again. We had a great chance, and we blew it. Don’t give me “emotions drained us”. You’ve been a competitor for 4 years, Nelson. You know better than anyone how to turn emotions into deadly weapons. No, the minutes played drained you. 35 minutes? Singler with 37, Scheyer and Paulus with 32, and G with 29? Meanwhile, Lawson motoring at the end only played 23, and Green blocking 7 shots only played 25. Both were fresher at the end, and it showed. If Lawson hadn’t gotten that steal . . if Green hadn’t gotten that tip-in . . if, if, if. Sigh.

Remember the NC State game, where we were able to storm back because Nelson played a phenomenal last 8 minutes? That’s because he came in with fresh legs, having only played 19 minutes up to that point, for 27 total. We lost the LSU game in 2006 because our starters were exhausted by the end, while their starters were fresh due to foul trouble having kept them on the bench. I am not asking for McClure to play 30 minutes – but might he have kept Green in check? He only played 4 minutes, but I thought he did a great job, blocking a shot, then grabbing a hotly contested rebound and starting the offense that got a wide open 3 from Greg Paulus. I am also worried about Kyle. He has clearly hit the freshman wall, and though he won’t acknowledge it, he is clearly exhausted from having to guard big, burly opposing centers all the time. Sure, we play team defense . . but that means 80% on Kyle and 20% on the team. His 3 point shooting for the last 7 games now have been 33% or less, he is driving less and less, and getting blocked more and more. 37 minutes in big games are not helping . . especially when Lance was only good for 12. I hate playing the “if” game, but if our starters were fresher in that LSU game . . . who knows what would’ve happened?

Still, we are an amazing 26-4 . . #7 in the country . . a consensus 2 seed. Astonishingly cool, especially when you consider how we finished last year. Now for the good stuff!

1. Defense by Kyle and G. Although both had bad shooting nights, they didn’t let that affect their defense on Hansbrough, as this super duo teamed up for a tremendous containment job: not letting him get to the foul line even once! And limiting him to 8 of 21 from the field!
2. Greg Paulus stepped up HUGE when Nelson couldn’t. I think if there’s anyone who can turn emotion into positive dagger-like energy offensively, its Greg. His four 3-pointers in the first half single-handedly saved us from getting embarrassed, and he even burned Lawson for a floater in the lane – and one! I loved that play. 15 points, 2 assists and 0 turnovers in 32 minutes – great stats. He always seems to show up in tough environments, especially late in the season, and I hope he continues this trend into the post-season!
3. Jon Scheyer is a gamer, and he has a heart as big as a lion. He scored on a variety of drives and 3 pointers, and it was he who tried to get the last shot for us, a 3 on the perimeter against a bigger Hansbrough whom he got to bite on his head fake – but just couldn’t sell it as well to the officials, who, frankly, weren’t buying anything that night. He’s improved so much from last year . . can’t wait to see more!
4. Another guy who is improving by leaps and bounds: Brian Zoubek! He put a huge smile on my face with those put-backs – oh, to see the look on Hansbrough’s face when he did that! Classic! He looked out of his league in the first few minutes, picking up 3 quick fouls – but then adjusted and made up for it in the second half, when he played solid, smothering D on Tyler, plus grabbing those bonus buckets. Big Z is gonna make some noise next year, but if he can continue to give us a solid 10 or 15 minutes this year, even if it’s just to keep the opponents honest . . we can go far.
5. I do hope that the rocking, celebrity-packed atmosphere, and the stellar teamwork and energy we had to expand on locking down Hansbrough, screamed to Greg E on how much we need him in 2009. You’ll have a senior Zoubek to help you, but you’ll also get plenty of playing time and TV exposure. Ditto to Josh Hairston from 2010!

Nolan Smith, post-game interview:
“Who knows what would’ve happened if we’d played our game for the full 40 minutes?” Then, he finally cracks into a big smile when a reporter asks about a possible rematch with UNC in the ACC tournament finale: “Yeah, of course! You know, somebody beats you, of course you want a rematch.”

Bring it on, Carolina! This ain’t over!

Duke at NC State Game Blog - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, yet Memorable 800th Win

Is it March yet???? Is it the final stretch before the Madness?? All around the nation, games were being decided by 2 points, by overtime, bubble teams scrambling for marquee wins, underdog teams pulling out all kinds of monumental individual career highs (Rice! Singletary!). But in Raleigh, we’re not going to need a miracle. We’re back on the right track. After 2 road losses, we buckled down and came up with a fantastic defensive effort in the GT game to get back in the race for the ACC title. No, this game won’t come down to a must-win for some post-season tournament hope – it is for something far greater. It’s a must-win, for one extraordinary coach – and the team that he’s put together that defies all preseason expectations. For a team, one year removed from a 22-11 season, to be talking #1 seed possibilities – is just mind-boggling. How many of us had dared to dream this big when this season began? How many of us still remember arguing on the boards about how Duke could possibly beat UNC (“that is why the games are played”), or the difference between believing we can go to the Final Four (far-fetched, but allowed) to actually thinking we can go (unthinkable)?

One man did: Mike Krzyzewski. He has taken Duke this year – and actually made them underrated! No small feat! And today, he is going for his 800th career win. Whichever Wolfpack we will see today – the team that gave us hell in the first half back on Jan 31, or the one that’s lost 6 straight since, getting no closer than 10 points in any of them? Doesn’t matter. We will be ready. If college basketball is a game of emotions – hey, just look at what Indiana did to Michigan State when told they might lose their coach, Kelvin Sampson. We will be ready. Senior Day or not.

Courtney Fells attacks Kyle Singler on the very first possession and draws a blocking foul in 14 seconds flat. UGH! They go ZONE on Duke, a 2-3 eerily similar to what Miami employed so well, and now let’s see if Duke had learned anything from that game? We pass the ball around, set some screens, Paulus draws 2 defenders because of his ability to drill the 3, and then he sends it to Singler at the top of the key for a long 3 – too hard – but the rebound bounces off to Thomas, who gives it to Nelson for the point-blank layup – missed! but Henderson grabs the rebound and goes right into attack mode! Fouled. 2-2.

Oh my – HEY! Son of a bitch! Greg is bleeding under his right eye. The blood is quickly spilling over the wound, and he wipes it off without a word, getting up in a maelstrom of hate. The NC State crowd is booing him, loudly – are they blind, or heartless, or both? And as he jogs back to the bench, he turns around to say something, or react to something, with a withering look that all but screams “Hey! Back off! Let me know how you feel after you get socked in the face.” As they show the replay: it is the same old trick, and the kid should be tossed for this second attempt. In the first NC State game, Javier Gonzales swings a vicious forearm to dislodge Greg from his side – right in front of the Duke bench. No call. Greg goes to the bench with a groggy look, but later comes back to scorch them with 5 three-pointers. In this game, barely 2 minutes in, Gonzales pulls the exact same kind of crap. Sick of Duke’s full-court pressure, he swings his elbow right into Greg’s face – and again, this foul does not get called what it rightfully is – intentional. Maybe even flagrant. The announcers agree that it’s way out of line. “That looked like an intentional foul.” “Sure was.” But of course, as we go back to the game, no such foul is called. Play on. 2-4, 18:40.

Off the inbounds play, Nelson is promptly fouled by Tracy Smith, a guy I didn’t even know was on the team, much less in the starting lineup. That’s 4 fouls on 4 possessions, not even counting Gonzales’ on Paulus. Nelson knocks down the first . . and the second! Hurray, Nelson! They show Greg being patched up on the bench, and the announcers give him props for wanting to get back into the game, saying “It hurts Mom more than anyone! I assure you.” Sure . . go tell that to Singler, who has an ACC-high of 21 stitches so far.

5th foul on 5 possessions now, as Courtney Fells gets loose and Gerald Henderson flies in to swat the ball away, but gets his hands too, and Fells goes down hard onto the floor. For a brief second I’m afraid that he’ll get a bloody nose or something, and then Henderson’s “reputation” from last year will wrongly influence the officials to . . never mind. Thank God Fells is fine as he gets up. Sinks both free throws.

Oh, that’s crazy. Absolutely insane. Nolan Smith runs with Gonzales trying to pressure him, and I can’t even see nothing, but they call a foul. Coach K is understandably livid – throwing an elbow to demonstrate the injustice of the foul on Paulus being equated the same as this tiny cheap foul by our freshman. Play goes on. Wow, Gavin Grant under all kinds of pressure by Nelson buries an off-kilter 15 footer! Then Gonzales trips Nolan, sending him flat onto the floor, and finally we get rid of him with 2 fouls to the bench. 4-8, 17:39.

I hate this zone. It’s so hard to play against, we can’t drive and kick, and it sure ain’t pretty to watch. It will contain us to the low 70s in the score, if that. But Greg answers back emphatically with a THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let’s get that heated up!!! A looong 3, with a hand flying in his face too! Then Kyle, having missed his first 3, is not going to go 1 for 6 anymore, and, zone or not, bullies his way inside, gets the ball, doesn’t want to settle for some turnaround jumper, and continues to attack the basket against the 6’7” svelte Grant all the way in before drawing the foul. As he’s shooting his free throws . . huh. A huge round of applause erupts, and I’m looking around for the celebrity that must’ve just stepped into the game. Ah ha – Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter movies is on the squad! That’s definitely someone we didn’t scout! As Ron, under the moniker “Trevor Ferguson”, with a head full of moppy-red hair, steps to the free throw sidelines, Kyle sinks his second free throw. We’re perfect at the line so far! 9-10.

Brandon Costner is in, and immediately swipes the ball away from Paulus, 20 feet in front of their goal. S***! But we dish it right back and draw the offensive charge. Paulus then gets too aggressive with 2 consecutive misses – both too early in the shot clock and too hard, bouncing off the back iron each time. We are air-tight defensively, though, with Zoubek scaring the heck out of a NC State guy and then Greg taking a charge from their backup PG, Marques Johnson, who now also collects 2 fouls and goes to the bench. Holy cow, did Fells just block Zoubek?

Nelson is whistled for an offensive foul, his second, and must sit at the 13:01 mark. This is not good; they are getting anything they want, while we are . . 1 of 10??? Is that right? As Nolan misses . . we’re taking shots too fast, too hurried, and too many long jump shots. Have some patience! Let’s get some ball movement and exploit this zone! As big Z finally ends the drought with a put-back. Henderson with that great loping stride coming up the court, is determined to right the ship – and attacks the heart of the zone defense, throwing up a last-minute runner as the whistle is blown that goes IN! Awwww – NO BASKET??? Why the hell not? Oh, whatever, foul before the shot. I’ll rather have the shot. But G erases my worries with 2 great free throws. 13-15.

JJ Hickson gets free for an easy deuce, but Jon Scheyer penetrates and single-handedly folds the zone defense from a 2-3 into a 0-5, herding almost everyone back into the low block, before sending a breathless pass out to Henderson, who fires – and HITS!!!!!!!!!!!!! THREE-BALL! “Mm-mm!” The announcer says, because there are no words to describe this – hilarious!

G loved that trick by Scheyer, and emulates him the next trip down, driving right into the heart of the defense and folding them like an accordion to finish at the rim. 20-21, 10:17. D-Marc now comes in for G, and immediately, he makes his presence felt with a deadly THREE! Transition basket, before that damn defense is set! For the LEAD, Markie! “You leave that guy alone and you can say good night!’ 23-21, our first lead of the day, 9:51.

The offense is finally starting to come alive. First, Kyle Singler does a great defensive job on Hickson, putting up a wall in front of him and making him lose the ball out of bounds. Then Paulus with a snap pass to Nelson underneath the basket for a layup – our 6’4” guard, posting up! Kyle misses a soft 6-footer, but the next time down takes it more aggressively to the hoop and draws the foul on Hickson, sinking both free throws. This is an astounding statistic: both teams are hitting free throws at a 100% clip! Duke: 12 of 12. NC State: 10 of 10. As Thomas draws the offensive charge from Hickson to help out Zoubek with the double team – great job, Lance! – he’s wearing a black bandage around his right wrist? Oh no – is this another unannounced injury? That’s now 2 fouls on JJ Hickson as well, 8:01 remaining, and he sits.

Oh, great overhead pass from Nolan to Zoubek, who almost cannot believe it – he’s wide open! – and he does a double take before putting it up there, almost disappointed that he isn’t challenged more! Yo, Brian! Hickson’s out! No one’s gonna block you anymore if you go up there strong – and fast! 29-26!!!

Ugh, I spoke too fast. Gonzales takes a 3 and nails it – right in Nolan’s face! Then – he blows by Nolan and no one rotates over??? We are one and done at the other end, Thomas can’t make a zero-range put-back, and it’s 29-31 in a heartbeat. Nolan with a tough pass up high to Zoubek, who can’t handle it, and that’s another 35-second shot clock wasted in about 2. They get a slam at the other end. This is alarming: Duke has only made 7 of 22 field goals??? While NC State only needs 14 to make 10. Wow. Utterly unreal. In that light, being down 29-33 is almost miraculous. 6:29.

McCauley with a 3 point play – man, he’s showboatin’ and stompin’ like he’s never gotten a 3 point play before! – and now the deficit is a dangerous 31-38 with 4:49 left. They are hitting 71% - yes, 71%! I’m aware that we usually allow a high percentage of 2s around the basket, due to our lack of interior defense – but where is our trump card? Where is the havoc we generally wreck on opposing backcourts to negate that high percentage allowed? This is not exactly a name-brand backcourt we’re facing, guys! Ah, Scheyer! Who comes to the rescue by drawing the 3rd foul on Fells and stops the bleeding with a pair of free throws. 33-38, 3:47. Is that a piped-in wolf howl in the RBC Center I hear?

Duke is now trying a 2-3 zone ourselves. Give you a little taste of your own medicine! Well, what do you know, they hit a 3. Way to go. 33-41?? Henderson spins, shoots, it doesn’t work, but King grabs the offensive board and kicks it out to Scheyer, who drains the THREE! 36-41. Paulus then tries a 3, but his shot has been awful all night. OH, HENDERSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! REJECTION CITY! From what looked like a surefire dunk – G is there to send that out of the gym – and as we pick it up and go the other way – Paulus finally hits with a good-looking THREE from the top of the circle! 39-41!!!!

We go back to zone, but King is called for a foul trying to get the steal. Then he draws one on the other end from Horner, but . . wow. Poor kid can’t buy one. First miss at the line by either team tonight. Misses BOTH?? Scheyer draws a foul and gives us 2 more, but now we go to a 1-2-2 press, and they beat it with ease, getting an uncontested layup at the other end. It is now 41-47, and the crowd is just going berserk. Is an upset of the #6 team in the country in the offing? Can a 4-10 team beat a 11-2 team? Can it???? Timeout, Duke, 47 seconds left.

KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH, SWEET JESUS! He FINALLY gets one! A deep three from the corner from a Henderson kick-out, and Taylor King is on the board! 44-47. 22 seconds left, they hold for the last shot, and our zone forces a 3 from Ron Weasley, who can’t hit. Halftime, and that wolf howl is sounding a little better and better with each glance at the score.

Second half: First possession for Duke, Paulus comes out on fire and a great drive into the paint, gets the runner – but crap, offensive foul? Greg claps his hands in frustration. They get a put-back at the other end, but we don’t care, we’re running the floor, G sees the zone defense nowhere to be found and cackles with delight, zeroing in like a cat to a mouse for the DUNK – OH! But fouled!!! UGHHHHH! Yet he won’t be denied, sinking both free throws despite all those waving flag balloons in the endzone. 46-49.

OHHHHHH, SINGLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just taps that ball out of Fells’ hands and out in front of him, one smooth motion, no look back, no scramble, no sweat even, just blazing up the court and then the emphatic DUNK! OOWWWHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Duke is flexing its muscle! 48-49.

Nelson picks up his 3rd foul, over the back, 18:35. Singler wants the ball. Claps his hands for it from Henderson, but gives it back when he doesn’t see anything. Next trip – he drives right inside, spins, handles, gets the mop-haired kid all kinds of confused and gets right up to the backboard and kisses it off the glass. “The handle! The delivery! The smooch!” Awww, beautiful pass from Paulus to Nelson threading through the running defense – but Nelson can’t finish!

Oh, s***. They make us pay on the double team, hitting 2 consecutive threes from either corner, and suddenly the deficit is 53-61 with 5 minutes gone. Can’t believe it. Who are these people? Aren’t they supposed to be 4-10???? Did they just decide to roll all their energy into one against us?? As the wolf howl permeates the gym, the crowd goes nuts, baying for an upset. C’mon, Devils. Shore up. Take them off the dribble. Attack that zone! C’mon, Nelson! This is March now! You gonna let them walk all over you?

Ron – sorry, Ferguson – with the put-back? “He’s not supposed to do that!” Seconds after they show Gonzales having reached his career high with 13 points despite there still being 15 minutes left in the half . . what has this game become? 55-61 already, on track to the 90s? And we can’t keep up! As they kill us with another transition 3 from Gonzales – it is 55-66. The deficit is the largest of the game so far, at ELEVEN. WOW. I am speechless. What’s going on? Do we not want to win number 800 for Coach K? Do we not care about winning the ACC conference outright?

Oh, we care. We care very much. Singler runs the floor and raises his hand to show he’s wide open, and Henderson gets him the ball low in the paint, where all he has to do is eye the basket and put it up. 57-66. Off a deadball, Coach K immediately sends in 3 fresh bodies: Nolan, DeMarcus, and Taylor. It doesn’t help though. McCauley burns our interior defense twice, once with a step-through and layup, and once with an uncontested jumper. Meanwhile, we keep up our brick-fest. 57-70 now, with every tick of the clock threatening to turn this into another Miami road loss. And now Ben McCauley has hit his season high, with 15 points. Ridiculous. Meanwhile, all our players are looking to hit their season lows. 12 minutes left.

Scheyer lets Gonzales fly by him and then calmly steps over a smidgen for the three. 60-70. Nelson attacks the rim and gets the whistle – awww, the ball rims out. 2 free throws – great job, D! – 62-72. King gets fouled on a 3 pointer, as 2 kids jump out at him as if in a back-alley – and he hits all 3 free throws! Nice! 65-72. But they come right back, with McCauley getting Zoubek called for a foul – and the bucket! No more stompin’ this time? K immediately pulls Zoubek and sends in Kyle. 65-75.

Paulus fouls Johnson 30 feet out from the basket, and I throw up my hands. We’re done. We’re beat. Our defense sucks, we are being forced into a halfcourt game, and we just can’t do anything for some reason against a 2-3 zone. No finishes around the rim. No three-point prowess. No steals or run-outs or anything fun. We are making our living at the free throw line, and thank god we’re quite good there, but they are equally lethal, so that cancels itself out. I squeeze my eyes shut. I have to come to terms with it. We are going to lose. We will finish 2nd in the league. We’ll get a #2 seed. And that’s going to be fine. We have overachieved all year anyway. 7:53.

Do we have a window of opportunity? Do we? They are in foul trouble, with 2 guys having 4 fouls each, Fells and Grant. Gonzales and Johnson each with 3. Let’s attack them! No more threes! They’re obviously not falling, and we’re being out-rebounded terribly to boot. And just as I say that – Greg “never say die” Paulus with a ridiculously long 3, just catches and shoots – FOR THREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 70-75!!!

We trap, make the big guy handle the ball and make the decision – and off the hand-off – Thomas with a STEAL! Taps it out and runs off – but “jog” is maybe a better word – and just as he’s going up for what is seemingly an uncontested layup – in flies Costner to throw him to the floor! INTENTIONAL FOUL! YES SIR! Singler grabs him immediately as he gets up to avoid any Ts, and the officials are quickly talking to them, explaining the situation, not wanting any confrontations. On the replay – oh yeah, Costner was going for his hands, his head, actually, rather than any part of the ball – but you know what? The announcers are right. Off that steal, Thomas should’ve been sprinting like hellfire down there to make the dunk, not half jogging. C’mon, Lance – we need all the points we can get, and whatever happened to aggressive Lance from the UNC game? But, to be fair, I think it was his first steal in the open court like that, and he just got too excited.

So now he’s going to shoot two. Thank God it’s two and the ball – otherwise, we get no good out of this. And I’m right. Look, I want to believe – really, I do. Nelson has been soooo solid at the line, making ALL his free throws. But Lance? “You know he’s not a good free throw shooter.” Yeah, I know. His teammates know. We all know. And though Lance tries, and tries hard – thumping his chest, nodding vigorously to the encouraging words of Greg and Kyle and Nelson – he just can’t hit it. First one, short. Second one, short. You just can’t leave a 50% FT shooter all alone down there for the intentional foul, and then expect him to make it in that raucous din. It’s okay, Lance, still 7 minutes left in the game. We get the ball, and what do we do? Drive and kick, baby!!!!! Nelson with the THREEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aww, perfect!!! 73-75, we’re making a comeback!

Or, um, not so much. They reel off 6 straight, we can’t get our 3s to fall, and now it’s under 5 minutes to play. 73-81, all our hard work has vanished. And I’m really having a problem with Paulus today – what is up with him? A shoot-first PG now more and more – yes, we needed your scoring last year, but how about finding some other people now before launching a long three from about 30 feet out, 5 seconds into the shot clock? Have you looked at your box score today?

Singler with another 3 – and miss. “They’re taking a LOT of 3 point shots,” the announcers say, shaking their heads. No kidding. Nelson agrees, and goes to his specialty – attack the rim! – and gets the foul. Pleading the case for the basket too – no. 4 for 4 from the line today! But no go on this one. The roar of the crowd as the Wolfpack pull it off the front iron is just chilling to the bone. 4:10 left, and we’re still down a miserable 8 points. No one is stepping up. No Nolan going coast to coast. No Scheyer stealing and trapping and firing off 3-bombs from all over the court. Ah, but here is Scheyer – with a STEAL! And the subsequent THREE! by Paulus in transition! 76-81, 3:47 left. Henderson is fouled on the way to the basket and makes 1 of 2, 77-83. 3 minutes left.

DeMarcus Nelson grabs the loose ball and tears up the court, zip-zagging right, left, then going all the way to the basket! And fouled! By Gavin Grant, who’s GONE. Wow, poor Gavin. He only nets 6 points today before fouling out. On Senior Day, no less. But his team is up, aren’t they? He goes to the bench with a dazed look on his face, so disappointed. Their lone senior leader. Meanwhile, our lone senior leader is at the line shooting free throws . . and willing to do whatever it takes . . even defy his normal 60% free throw shooting percentage, to get us the win. First one . . good. Second one . . GOOD! 79-83!

Awwwwww – NO! Singler with such a cheap, cheap foul away from the basket that the announcers call it from “Finley’s Basement.” Oh, nice, Gonzales misses his first. Makes the 2nd. 79-84.

Nelson takes it up the court, and everyone has that look in their eye, glancing at each other – this is it, it’s crunch time. We better win this one, guys, if we have any hope of surviving tournament games. We are so close! We can’t let these ones get away! Think Sweet 16. You’re 2 minutes away from the Elite 8 – or going home. Which one do you want? Do you want it???? That damn zone again. But we are patient. And we run the classic Duke offense – crisp passes around the perimeter, move the ball around, screen, Henderson, Paulus drives, Scheyer spins, someone on defense falls down, and that leaves a wide open DeMarcus Nelson, who has the luxury of pausing and realizing he’s not beyond the arc, then stepping back, before jumping and launching – and it’s the MONEY BALL! Oh, NELSON!!! 82-84, 2:04 and we’ve got a shot! We’re alive! We can come back!!!

Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me! Kid-ding!!! Greg Paulus for THREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that’s courtesy of G Henderson with the scissor-kick in the lane to give up that 2, in order to trade for 3, and Greg Paulus rewards him big by being wide open on the perimeter. Classic, classic, classic Duke shot. TIE GAME, 85-85, 1:30 to go! Goddamn! Have we ever led by more than a few seconds? Or ever, in the 2nd half???

“F***.” Damn. Fourth foul on Singler, 1:11 away from the ball. McCauley on the line, but like Gonzales before him, he can only make 1 of 2. Watching that ball bounce out – Kyle yells to his teammates to get in position, get ready, box out for this crucial rebound, and bends down in warrior stance. His hands on his knees, he’s ready to use his muscle and his remaining strength to keep #23 out of the lane for the rebound. His 3s are not falling – due to some mystical ailment – but he’ll help out, he’ll continue to contribute, in any way possible. There is so much fight in him that I want to leap out into the TV and help him rebound. Just one more minute! One minute, between victory – or defeat.

Nelson is our go-to guy. He’s gonna take it. With the bigger McCauley on him – he drives right away, no hesitation, no fake, just drives, and the whistle cuts across the raucous din of the arena like a knife. McCauley looks exasperated – throws up his hands, complaining about Nelson with the hook afterwards. Hey, you fouled first, buddy. Speed trumps size! 85-86, 1:01 remaining, and Nelson . . my God, how solid has he been? His free throws, long a hole in his game, is as air-tight as his defense today. With so much imperfection everywhere else – this perfection, no matter how small it might seem to the casual bystander, is HUGE to me. It speaks volumes about his attitude . . his emotions . . his will. And as he hits the first one – phew! TIES IT, 86-86. Second one, as Singler prepares to fight for the rebound – GOES! AWWWWW! 87-86!!! It’s a ballgame! Our FIRST LEAD of the half!

They go twice to McCauley in the post. The first one is tipped out by Singler, but they don’t learn, and try again, with the second one erratic and too high and sails harmlessly out of bounds. Turnover, Duke ball. 40 ticks left. If we can hold onto this possession . . .

4 corners. Paulus dribbling. This familiar sight when we have the lead is suddenly so alien that I have to come out of my seat and remember to breathe. How can they be so calm??? Singler making small moves to keep them honest. 40 seconds left . . 30 . . 20 . . 19, with 14 on the shot clock, and Coach K calls a timeout. Who will take the last shot?

Out of the timeout – Scheyer now handles the ball off the inbounds – Nelson tries to drive but finds no seams – their defense is suddenly air-tight – and with the clock running down, it’s Scheyer, with a desperation three at the buzzer – NO GOOD! Damn! But they only have 5 seconds left, and their shot – goes nowhere! DUKE WINS! DUKE WINS! OH MY GOD! 87-86??????

And the first thing Scheyer does is go hug Coach K. Then the entire team is on him, surrounding him, congratulating him on his 800th victory, and K is smiling, knowing that it was his kids that pulled it out. Extraordinary. What a game, huh? The Wolfpack played gangbusters, Gonzales stepping up big – but they couldn’t keep their composure in the heat of the fire, and they lost. Now they’re on the court with dazed looks in their eyes, like they can’t believe it – I can’t believe it – how did it happen?? Our 3s weren’t falling all night – and then suddenly we make back to back threes for the tie? DeMarcus Nelson, whose free throws have been suspect all year long – suddenly makes everything they give him, for the lead? WOW. Just . . wow. I still can’t believe that we’ve won. It’s almost illogical. I still feel like, somehow, we’d lost. We played poorly all game long. There was no sustained run to get us back in the ballgame. We NEVER LED after the 7:52 mark in the first half – until now, until deep, deep in the second half when the game is nearly done – and then suddenly, with 1 minute left to go, and the clock stopped, on the free throw line – we get it back. Our senior leader gets it back for us. Our poise. Our fight. Our cohesion.

CONGRATS, COACH K, ON WIN #800!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Post-game thoughts:

Scheyer is so funny: “[We] definitely [made] it as memorable as possible.” Oh, did you ever! You gave him every type of suspense you could!

This game had it all: there was blood within the first 2 minutes, a surprise 2-3 zone that would frustrate us all game long, full court pressure, amazing 100% FT shooting for a long while, a Singler dunk, a King three, a lot of NC State players that apparently weren’t on the scouting report but wound up with career highs, 9 guys who played 8 minutes or more, an intentional foul, a couple comeback bids snuffed out, a litany of insanely gut-wrenching wolf howls piped into the arena, a late barrage of threes, a last critical defensive stop, two nail-biting Nelson free throws, one last possession running down the clock to perfection, and:

One sweet victory on the first day of March that signifies this team’s willingness and poise to fight through a brick wall to get this win. Did I miss anything? 87-86. We wouldn’t have had it any other way.