Duke v Arizona Preview

First up for the Duke Blue Devils are the Arizona Wildcats.

To move on to the Elite Eight Duke must stop Derrick WIlliams, the best player in the country you’ve never heard of. If it wasn’t for Jimmer, he would have been the talk of the West coast and a reason to watch a college basketball game AFTER SportsCenter during the year.

The problem for Duke is that they have no one inside who matches up with WIlliams. He is too quick and has too much range to be guarded by Ryan Kelly or the Plumlees, so that means the job of defending him will fall to Kyle Singler.

It will be Singler’s toughest job of the season, even tougher than when he had to guard Harrison Barnes.

Williams is bigger and stronger than Barnes, and he may be bigger and stronger than Singler. It should be easy for Singler to cover him out on the perimeter, but when he goes inside, Duke will most likely double-team him and force him to give up the ball.

The Arizona sophomore averages over 19 points a game and is the only Wildcat who scores in double digits, he also has twice as many turnovers than assists. So Duke will look to try to contain him and force him to give up the ball, if they do then they have a real good shot at moving on to the Elite 8.

Another test for Duke will be making threes against Arizona. The Wildcats rank nationally in the top 10 of 3-point field gold percentage allowed and for Duke to move on, they need to make their threes. Something they had trouble with against Michigan in the round of 32 as they shot just 5-of-20.

The good news for Duke is that they present plenty of problems for Arizona, namely the back court of Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving. Coach K has said that Irving will see ‘significantly more minutes’ going forward in the NCAA Tournament, something that many Duke fans, myself included, thought was near impossible just a month ago.

Smith was his normal spectacular self, dropping 24 on Michigan, after playing barely more than a half in their opening round game. The ACC Player of the Year will need to continue the strong play against Arizona. Irving, on the other hand, didn’t score from the field until the last two minutes of Michigan game, yet he was still effective. His basket may have been the most important of the game.

Duke also has the experience factor in their corner. The defending National Champions have two seniors in the starting lineup, while Arizona didn’t even make the NIT last year. There is also the coach factor. Coach K has four rings, while Sean Miller is the only coach in this bracket without a National Championship.

Another stat that shouldn’t be over looked is that Arizona was 5-6 against teams in the NCAA Tournament, while Duke was 10-3. Arizona is 0-2 against teams still alive, while Duke is 4-2.

If Duke is able to contain Williams and they make their threes than the Blue Devils will move on and play again on Saturday. Duke by 12.

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Duke v UNC Preview

First place in the ACC is on the line tonight when the #5 Duke Blue Devils (20-2) take on the #21 North Carolina Tar Heels (17-5) at Cameron Indoor at 9 pm. Duke sits atop the ACC with an 8-1 conference record, Carolina is a half game back at 7-1.

Duke is 7-2 over the past month and Carolina is 7-1. Both teams have a bad loss in that stretch, Duke got blown out at St Johns and Carolina was crushed at Georgia Tech.

Carolina is playing better right now. They have solved many of their problems from the early part of the season. Kendall Marshall has taken over at the point and fueled the offense, Harrison Barnes seems to have found his shooting touch and their big men, Tyler Zeller and John Henson, might be the best big man duo in the ACC.

Duke on the other hand is just two games removed from its worst lost in three years and has played two good -but not great- games. Against Maryland, Duke never really put the Terps away and allowed them to hang around for most of the game. Then, last Saturday against NC State the Blue Devils played their best half of the season and had a 29 point half time lead. But in the second half Duke shot just 19 percent and were outscored by the Wolfpack.

The keys for a Duke victory start with stopping Zeller and Henson inside. The Tar Heel duo average 25 points, 15 rebounds and 4 blocks a game. The Plumlees will need to step up big and keep the Carolina big men out of the scoring column and off the boards. Look for Carolina to try to get the ball inside often as this is where they have a big advantage over Duke.

Next, Duke will have to contend with Marshall running the show. He is coming off a 16-assist game against Florida State and has the Tar Heel offense clicking on all cylinders. Part of that offense includes Barnes who is looking like the ACC Rookie of the Year. He has both of his 20-point games in his last three.

On the offensive end, look for Duke to attack the Carolina guards whose depth was weakened by the loss of Larry Drew II when he decided to transfer last week. Expect Tyler Thornton to be all over Marshall, pressuring the freshman who is going to be playing in the most hostile environment he’s ever seen.

Also, expect the Crazies to be in top form tonight, only Zeller has seen any success at Cameron. The rest of the starters were part of last years team that got blown out or they are freshmen, never a good combination for a team entering Cameron. Expect an extra special welcome and chants for Harrison Barnes.

Outlook: Duke by 12, but it will be closer than that for most of the game as the Blue Devils pull away at the free throw line at the end.

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Kyrie Irving Looks To Make A Big Splash

On Wednesday night, Kyrie Irving has the chance to throw his hat into the Player of the Year ring.

The Duke freshman point guard has more than lived up to the hype that surrounded him before he came to Durham. Unlike Harrison Barnes, the other hyped freshman on Tobacco Road, Irving has produced consistently in the early part of the season.
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The game against Michigan State is his chance to prove that he is deserving of POY talk, but it is not going to be easy.

First, Kalin Lucas is the best opposing point guard Irving will face all season. The Spartan senior is averaging 17.5 points per game and shooting almost 48% from three. Lucas is more than capable of taking over a game offensively, twice this season he has just missed scoring 30 points and has made plenty of opposing guards look silly. Having to stop a player of his caliber would not be easy for anyone, but like against K-State, Irving won’t be the only one playing defense against Lucas. Expect all the Duke guards to take a stab at defending the Spartan point guard.

Second, Michigan State is the best team Duke has faced all season, even if early season ranking say differently. They were a little flat out in Hawaii, barely defeating Division II Chaminade, then getting cut down by the buzz-saw that was the Kemba Walker and the UConn Huskies. But, you can count on Michigan State being higher ranked than Kansas State at the end of the regular season, barring major injuries. On Wednesday, they will show why they were pre-season #2 and one of the few teams that was picked to cut down the nets in Houston.

Third, Tom Izzo. The Spartan coach is one of the top three coaches in all of college basketball and he is a major reason that Michigan State has been to six Final Fours in the past 12 seasons. Last season I was glad that Butler defeated Michigan State in the Final Four. Not because I was scared of Michigan State, but because I was scared of facing Izzo. If there was one coach that could come up with a plan to defeat Duke and Coach K in just two days, it would be Izzo.
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Fourth, Michigan State isn’t going to be scared about playing in Cameron. They have four players who have played in multiple Final Fours -it would be five, but Lucas got hurt during last year’s NCAA tournament- so a road game in a hostile environment isn’t going to shake them. Like Duke, Michigan State always gets the other teams best and that includes getting the best from opposing fans when on the road. The noise may get them off their game for a little while, but don’t expect them to wilt in the face of all those Crazies.

Finally, Irving can’t play like a freshman. At times he has played like a runaway train, trying to drive and make shots that would win him a game of H-O-R-S-E, while ignoring his teammates. Against good teams like Michigan State, playing selfishly will end up with your team behind on the scoreboard and you on the bench.
Irving will need to play smart when he is directing the team from the point. Understanding that he has four other really good players on the court with him, including two potential All-Americans. As the quickest player on the floor, he will need to chose his spots; when to drive and when to find the open man.

It is not going to be his scoring lines that determine whether or not Irving is deserving of POY talk, its going to be how he handles himself on the biggest stages, under the brightest lights, and tomorrow is his first chance to show what he’s got.

Final outlook
5-11 field goals; 7-8 free throws; 1-4 from three; 18 points; 3 rebounds; 8 assists; 4 turnovers; 3 steals in a Duke 83-75 victory.