Five Most Memorable Duke Games Of 2010-11
Top 5 Most Memorable Duke Blue Devil Games Of 2010-11
1. UNC Game 3 – ACC Championship Game
After losing the final game of the regular season to UNC, which gave the ACC Regular Season Championship to the Tar Heels, Duke responded by winning the ACC Tournament for the tenth time in 13 years. Heading into the ACC Tournament is was UNC that was playing the better basketball, they had won 7 straight and 12-of-13. Duke had lost 2-of-3 and had gone from a sure 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament to a 2 seed in their conference tournament. The teams that played the final regular season weren’t the same teams that played in the ACC Tournament. It was Carolina that came out flat, needing a pair of huge comebacks wins just to get to the ACC Finals, despite being the 1 seed. Duke rolled into the Finals with a pair of double-digit wins, including one over a Virginia Tech team that had defeated Duke two weeks previous. It had been almost a decade since the Blue Devils faced the Tar Heels in the ACC Finals and this one was over by the half. Duke jumped out to an 8-0 start and had the lead as high as 18 before the half ended. Carolina got as close a 9 in the second half, but Duke put any thoughts of a third comeback away with a 10-2 run. It was a complete reversal from the game just one week ago and gave Duke fans a much better feeling heading into the NCAAs.
2. 900 – 3rd Round Game v Michigan
It ended up being the biggest individual milestone for Coach K in the season. Yes, he also passed a pair of coaching legends this season (Dean Smith & Adolph Rupp), but 900 is a special number. Its a number only two coaches have reached. With the lose to Arizona in the next game it ensured that Coach K will break the record some time in mid- to late-November, at home, in front of a raucous crowd and really there is nothing better.
3. UNC Game 1
Down by 14 points at half, Duke outscored the Tar Heels 50 to 30 in the second half to win the first meeting of the season. It had been 10 days since the blow out by St. John’s and this game was heading in the same direction, but the Blue Devils had something in their favor. The Cameron Crazies. The crowd was into the game the entire time, even when Duke was getting blown off their own floor. The building was electric and you could sense the sway they held over the game, even through the television. I wasn’t the only one to feel it. ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt talked about the crowd and how he felt that the Crazies were worth 6-8 points that game and willed Duke back into the game in the second half. I couldn’t agree more. I have never heard, or seen, Cameron as alive and electric as I did that night. The Crazies won that game that night for Duke.
4. ACC/Big 10 Challenge v Michigan State
In what was supposed to be an early season match up between two Top 10 teams turned into Kyrie Irving’s coming out party. Although Michigan State would eventually fall by the wayside in the season, this was an big time matchup for Duke and the biggest threat to the Blue Devil’s non-conference home win streak, which would eventually be stretched to 86 games at the end of the season. He became the fourth Duke freshman to score 30 or more points in a game and showed the nation just why he was being talked about as a lottery pick and number one overall pick in the NBA draft. It was also his biggest splash as a Duke player in his short time.
(tie) 5. Kyrie’s First Out & Kyrie’s First Back – Bradley Dec 8 & 2nd Round Game v Hampton
The first game after Kyrie Irving went out might not be the most memorable game of the season, but it may end up being one of the most important games. For next season. Had Irving not been injured for the majority of the season, then Duke would be heading into next season with a pair of point guards who never played a minute of ACC ball. As it stands, the toe injury is the only reason that Tyler Thornton didn’t spend the season sitting at the end of the bench. The game against Bradley displayed the look that Duke would use for the rest of the season. Nolan Smith handling the ball and running the offense. With Irving in the lineup, Smith probably wouldn’t have been a Player of the Year Candidate or ACC Player of the Year.
Irving’s first game back was nothing more than a chance to get his feet wet against Hampton. He came off the bench and led the team with 14 points in just 20 minutes. It wasn’t his play that made this game memorable, it was his appearance. Duke fans held out hope that Irving would return, but it was always with guarded optimism. It all happened so quick, on the court Sunday in street clothes, announcement was made on Tuesday, off the bench on Friday. In the end his return didn’t bring the results that Duke fans wanted, but we were able to see him in a Duke uniform three last times before he moved on to the next level.
Nolan Smith Named AP All-American
To no ones surprise, Duke Blue Devil senior guard Nolan Smith was named to the AP All-America team.
Smith finished second, with 61 of 65 votes behind BYU guard Jimmer Fredette, and became the fifth Duke player since 2000 to be named an All-American.
“It’s been a long process for me, just getting better each year and improving,” Smith said. “That’s something I hope to share with younger kids coming up. If you put the time in and get better and better and then by the time your senior year hits, you’ll start to accomplish some of those individual goals, and that’s something that I’ve done.”
Smith averaged 21.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists for the Blue Devils who were ranked number 1 for 10 weeks this season. After super freshman Kyrie Irving went down in December with an injury, Smith took over the majority of the ball handling duties and led Duke to an ACC Championship.
Besides Smith and Fredette, the other members of the AP All-American team were JaJuan Johnson (Purdue), Kemba Walker (UConn) and Jared Sullinger (Ohio State). The three seniors (Smith, Fredette & Johnson) mark the first time since 2006 that more than half of the AP list was made up of seniors.
Duke Blitzed By Arizona, Season Ends In Sweet 16
Four minutes and 28 seconds.
That’s all it took to end the season for Duke.
During those 268 seconds a six-point lead turned into an 11-point deficit as Arizona went on a 19-2 run and killed the will of Duke. After being punched in the face with a 17-point swing the Blue Devils looked lost and never really played hard enough to get back into the game.
“They just got on a real roll. When you get on a roll, you have more energy than the other guy,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We had no stop for them, and you kind of get overwhelmed there for a little bit. They knocked us back and got that double-digit lead.”
In that stretch Arizona shot 7-of-10, including three lay-ups and a dunk. They also pulled down every rebound on both ends of the floor. The Wildcats had eight (5 defensive, 3 offensive) and the Blue Devils had zero. Duke also lost the game battle of the boards, 40-27.
“After we lost the lead, I think everyone got a little rattled,” Kyrie Irving said. “We tried to settle down, but by then it was too late.”
It was too late, even though there was still 12 minutes left in the game when the Arizona run ended. Duke had no answer for the quickness of Arizona, who shot 54% from the floor, including 9-of-15 from 3-point land. The last 10 minutes of the game it looked like Arizona was running a practice, lay-up followed lay-up, with the occasional dunk thrown in to ignite the Wildcats fans.
The loss in the Sweet 16 was not the way seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith wanted to end their careers. Especially Smith, who was held to just 8 points (3-of-14) and turned the ball over six times.
“The way they played in the second half, they should win it all,” Smith said. “Williams is a monster. They hit us full force, and kept hitting. They did everything right, and we did a ton of things wrong.”
Without the ball in his hands Smith looked lost on the offensive end and went 16 minutes in the second half between field goals. During that scoreless stretch Smith went 0-for-6 with four turnovers.
Not all of Smith’s problems can be blamed on the fact that the offensive was running through Irving, some of it was the way Arizona played defense against him. Smith was harried all game and joins the list of Duke players who went out with a whimper, instead of a bang in their final game.
Singler, on the other hand, hit his season average of 18 in his final game and leaves Duke with a 125-23 record and a National Championship. The Blue Devils were led by Irving who scored 28 points in what might be his final game in a Duke uniform, but he did leave the door open.
“I could definitely see myself wearing a Duke uniform again,” he said. “I don’t want to take it off right now.”
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 Plays A Perfect Game
The Duke Blue Devils may have played the perfect game against the Hampton Pirates.
To be sure, it wasn’t perfect in the conventional sense, but it was perfect in the sense that it was the game that Duke needed to play.
Any #1 seed in the NCAA wants to use their opening round game as a warm up, a place to work on their game, to get their younger players over their NCAA jitters and keep everyone healthy. Finally, no #1 seed wants to be involved in a close game, where the starters need to play hard for 30-35 minutes.
Duke did all of that, and, most importantly, got Kyrie Irving re-intergrated into the offense.
It was clear from the outset of the game that Duke wanted to continue to get their big men involved. Ever since Miles Plumlee was reinserted into the starting lineup, Duke has made it a point of emphasis to get the ball inside early and often.
They responded Friday like they have since the ACC Tournament started, with strong play inside and accurate shooting. The Plumlees were 8-of-11 (20 points) and 18 rebounds in limited minutes.
Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler played just long enough to keep the rust from forming, as did the other starters. As a team, they were more interested in getting the others involved. They had 17 assists on 32 made field goals, with Smith leading the way with seven. They only had 9 turnovers, while forcing 17 from the Pirates.
Coach K also got his freshmen involved, with Tyler Thornton and Josh Hairston seeing what was probably the majority of their time during this tournament.
The biggest concern coming into the game was Kyrie Irving and how he would handle playing again.
People were worried that putting Irving back into the line up would disrupt the balance, throw off what Duke had worked three months to perfect. During Irving’s first minutes on the court, it appeared that those people were right. He was pressing too much, trying to throw it into overdrive right away. He committed some silly offensive fouls and took crazy shots.
Then, in the second half, Irving looked more like the player from December, culminating with the two 3-pointers he hit late in the game. He ended up leading all Duke scorers with 14 points.
It was the exact kind of game that Duke needed. Everyone was involved, Irving was comfortable with his teammates and no one played too many minutes. It was the perfect game.
