Category Archives: Duke

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Bad toes hampering Duke’s season

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If Duke fails to defend its national championship this spring, the Blue Devils can blame bad toes and bad timing, so says NY Times Sports Blogger Viv Bernstein, referring to Kyrie Irving’s early-season toe injury and Nolan Smith’s injury during Duke’s 87-71 victory over Maryland in the ACC tournament Friday night.

It was a tough day for Duke despite the win. Irving practiced Friday for the first time since injuring his big toe Dec. 4 and it doesn’t appear he’ll be back soon. Then Smith went down with a toe injury with just less than seven minutes to go tonight. He injured the second toe on his left foot and it’s not yet known if he will be back Saturday to play Virginia Tech, who survived a final shot by Florida State that was ruled late.

“To make a run in this tournament, in the NCAA, you need your players, there’s no question,” Krzyzewski said. “Nolan’s been the player of the year in our conference. It’s not just losing a player, it’s losing an outstanding player if we don’t have him.”

As for Irving, he’s in a new phase of his rehabilitation. “He’s progressing very well. There’s no timetable on him, though. He’s not going to magically appear tomorrow or anything like that. He hasn’t done anything with the team, but it’s coming along great.”

Duke, Featured stories

Smith has the face and words of a winner, Coach K says

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Duke’s Nolan Smith has grown steadily over the years and now as a senior he’s ready to play in the NBA as a winner, Coach Mike Krzyzewski said today.

“He has the face of a winner, then he has the words that a winner should speak,” Coach K said adding that he is more of a vocal leader than teammate Kyle Singler. “He’s a guy that every day imparts some guidance to his teammates. Not just how he talks, but how he looks – he’s been pretty poised the entire year.”

Coach K says that Smith has been like a big brother to the younger players and he believes that’s one reason he has had such an outstanding senior year. Now he’s the only unanimous selection for the All-ACC First Team and is a sure-fire NBA player.

“From his freshman year to now, Nolan’s probably progressed more than any player we’ve had here,” Coach K said. “He’s a Player of the Year candidate, and rightfully so. When he came in, he was really good. He didn’t start. Then he started a little bit. Then he didn’t start. It’s not like he was this instant star. He’s done it because he continually looks for ways to improve. Nolan has become a pro player this year.”

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Duke’s Smith dominates All-ACC; No Heels selected for 1st team

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Duke’s Nolan Smith, possibly on his way to national player of the year honors, has been unanimously selected to the All-ACC team by the members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Even though the North Carolina Tar Heels finished atop the conference, no players made first team.

Three Tar Heels – Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Harrison Barnes – made the second team.

The first team consists of Smith, Jordan Williams of Maryland, Malcolm Delaney of Virginia Tech, Kyle Singler of Duke and Reggie Jackson of Boston College.

Zeller was next in line and should have beat out Jackson for the fifth slot. My first team consists of Smith, Williams, Delaney, Singler and Zeller.

The official second team consists of Zeller, Henson, Barnes, Iman Shumpert of Georgia Tech and Jeff Allen of Virginia. My second team is the same except Jackson would take Zeller’s place since he’s on the first team.

Owning up to my preseason picks, I had Singler, Smith and Delaney, who all made it, but I also had NC State’s Tracy Smith and UNC’s Harrison Barnes as the other two first teamers. I did not foresee Tracy Smith’s injury of course but I also thought State would be one of the league’s best teams. As for Barnes, had he not started so slow, he would have been a first teamer.

My preseason second team consisted of two players who were lost for the season to injury in December (VT’s Dorenzo Hudson and Duke’s Kyrie Irving) and one who was injured for much of the ACC season (FSU’s Chris Singleton). The other two were Henson, who did make the second team, and Maryland’s Williams, who made the first team.

First team
Nolan Smith, Duke (225 points)
Jordan Williams, Maryland (210)
Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech (202)
Kyle Singler, Duke (199)
Reggie Jackson, Boston College (190)

Second team
Tyler Zeller, North Carolina (161)
John Henson, North Carolina (148)
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina (145)
Iman Shumpert, Georgia Tech (132)
Jeff Allen, Virginia Tech (131)

Third team
Chris Singleton, Florida State (126)
Demontez Stitt, Clemson (81)
Joe Trapani, Boston College (63)
Malcolm Grant, Miami (62)
Kendall Marshall, North Carolina (45)

All-Freshman team
Harrison Barnes, North Carolina (75)
Travis McKie, Wake Forest (74)
Kendall Marshall, North Carolina (71)
Terrell Stoglin, Maryland (62)
C.J. Leslie, N.C. State (46)

All-Defensive team
John Henson, North Carolina (75)
Chris Singleton, Florida State (64)
Iman Shumpert, Georgia Tech (60)
Nolan Smith, Duke (26)
Jerai Grant, Clemson (20)

Duke, Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny, UNC

Fascinating ACC Tournament could feature tough game for UNC in semis

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A surprising final week of the ACC season sets up a fascinating tournament with fascinating subplots that include a tougher road for North Carolina than UNC fans might expect.

The Tar Heels won the regular-season title and open Friday at 9 p.m. against the Virginia-Miami winner. Carolina should prevail there but would likely face Clemson, which snatched the No. 4 seed, in the semifinal on Saturday. The Tigers played a tough game at UNC this season, falling by 10 when they could not hit a shot late, and lost to Carolina by only two at home.

The Tigers, under rookie coach Brad Brownell, are afraid of no one, as they showed at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Brownell would endear himself to Tiger fans forever if he pulls off an upset Saturday, and it certainly is possible.

Virginia Tech is the biggest loser of the week after upsetting Duke last Saturday. The Hokies followed that with a 15-point loss to Boston College at home and a nine-point loss at Clemson. Those two defeats pushed Tech to sixth in the league, which is a really nasty draw. They do not get a bye and play two straight 9 p.m. games – which really usually start at 9:30 – before the semifinal. The Hokies would likely draw Duke in the semifinals, and that is a tough assignment after two straight late games.

N.C. State, meanwhile, appears ready to limp off the stage with a losing record. The loss to Florida State dropped State to 15-15 overall and a disappointing 5-11 in ACC play. Lowe has a 25-55 record in five ACC seasons, and that will not be enough to get him a return ticket for next year.

2011 ACC Tournament Schedule

First Round – Thursday, March 10

Noon: #8 Virginia vs. #9 Miami

2:00: #5 Boston College vs. #12 Wake Forest

7:00: #7 Maryland vs. #10 NC State

9:00: #6 Virginia Tech vs. #11 Georgia Tech

Quarterfinals – Friday, March 11

Noon: #1 North Carolina vs. 8/9 winner

2:00: #4 Clemson vs. 5/12 winner

7:00: #2 Duke vs. 7/10 winner

9:00: #3 Florida State vs. 6/11 winner

Semifinals – Saturday, March 12

1:00: Game 9 (game 5 & 6 winners)

3:00: Game 10 (game 7 & 8 winners)

Finals – Sunday, March 13

1:00: Game 11 (championship game)

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Improbably, Tar Heels whip Duke for ACC regular season title

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Before the season only one basketball writer picked North Carolina to win the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and he tried to renege saying it was a mistake. Improbably, the Tar Heels whipped defending national champion Duke in Chapel Hill 81-67 to win the ACC regular season title.

The two teams came into the game with 13-2 marks and Carolina had blown a 16-point lead in the first matchup between the two teams. The game was important enough that UNC coach Roy Williams seriously considered not starting all his seniors, a school tradition. In the end, he started the three walk-on seniors along with transfer senior Justin Knox, a first for all four.

The walk-ons left the game after a minute and a half with a 3-0 Carolina lead. The Carolina fans were in a frenzy with the modest start that set the tone for the game.

The game was close and went back and forth through the first 10 minutes of the game. Kendall Marshall hit a three midway through the first half to give Carolina a 23-21 lead and remarkably the Heels never trailed again.

UNC worked the lead up to 14 late in the half after an 11-2 run with the last five straight points coming from Leslie McDonald.

Carolina led 51-39 at the break but Duke came out hot in the second half and Carolina turned the ball over a couple of times and missed a couple of open shots. After two minutes, the Blue Devils had cut the margin to five at 51-46.

A Harrison Barnes steal and layup, followed by a pair of free throws pushed the margin up to nine and then five minutes in he drilled a three to push the lead back up to 12 at 60-48.

Curry’s sixth three pointer of the game pulled the Devils to within six at 64-58 but it never got closer. A Barnes dunk follow of his own miss got the margin back up to 12 with less than eight minutes to play. The lead stayed between 9 and 15 points the rest of the way.

For more on the game, please click here.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Barnes shuts down Singler, makes a mark in Duke-UNC rivalry

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That moment when Harrison Barnes went to Skype to tell Roy Williams he was coming to Chapel Hill loomed large on Saturday, when North Carolina captured a stunning ACC title with 81-67 victory over Duke.

This season swung on two critical points. The first, of course, was Barnes’ remarkable decision to attend UNC after many insiders thought he would head to Durham. The second, of course, was the toe injury to Duke freshman Kyrie Irving.

But who could have thought Barnes would draw the assignment of covering Kyle Singler – a preseason national player of the year candidate  – and outplay Singler so decisively?

Singler’s perplexing slump continued with a three of 14 shooting effort and only eight points. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has touted Singler as one of Duke’s best defensive players in his tenure, perhaps a way to keep Singler’s confidence high, but Barnes got off good shots against him and hit 7 of 17 from the field for 18 points.

Barnes hit big shots and gained confidence as the game continued. Duke never got on a roll late, and Nolan Smith and Seth Curry couldn’t find a third scorer to get the offense untracked.

You would think that Singler would be that guy, but the touch again was missing. Part of that was certainly Barnes, whose decision to attend Carolina had an enormous impact on Saturday’s game. Think of it like this – can you imagine how great Duke would be with a healthy Irving and Barnes in the lineup?

Duke, UNC

Duke women wrap up top seed with win over UNC

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The Duke women’s basketball team has clinched the top seeding in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and they did it against one of their favorite teams to beat, North Carolina. The Blue Devils, behind seniors Jasmine Thomas (17 points) and Karima Christmas (14 points), beat UNC 66-58 today in Durham.

The Blue Devils (26-3, 12-2) got out to a big lead and withstood a comeback by the Tar Heels (22-7, 8-6). Going into the game, Duke was the No. 9 team in the nation while Carolina was No. 13.

Italee Lucas scored 15 points and Chay Shegog added 14 for the Heels who enter the conference tourney in Greensboro later this week as the No. 6 seed. (22-7, 8-6), the No. 6 seed for the league tournament later this week in Greensboro.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Duke reaches No. 1 despite Singler slump

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Duke ascended to the No. 1 spot in the polls again Monday, a move that reflects the carnage of the top at last week and the fact that the Blue Devils have steadied themselves after the loss of Kyrie Irving.

The Devils are continuing to win despite an odd shooting slump by senior star Kyle Singler. Coach Mike Krzyzewski continues to praise Singler for his defense, which you can take as a way of boosting Singler’s confidence, but there’s no doubt Singler’s shooting woes are puzzling.

Singler scored 24 at Wake Forest on Jan. 22, 14 against Boston College Jan. 27, 20 vs. St. John’s Jan. 30 and then 22 at Maryland on Feb. 2. So he was pretty much rolling along to a year worthy of national honors.

Then suddenly, he skidded. Here are his last five games, with shooting from the field and three-point range:

Feb. 5, N.C. State 5-13 (1-2) 14 points
Feb. 9, Carolina 3-17 (1-6) 10 points
Feb. 13, at Miami 6-12 (2-6) 14 points
Feb. 16, at Virginia 1-5 (0-2) 2 points
Feb. 20, Georgia Tech 5-14 (0-1) 15 points.

“I don’t know if there’s any one thing,” Krzyzewski said Monday. “Sometimes you just don’t shoot as well. Sometimes when you don’t shoot as well you don’t play as well. To me what’s remarkable about that kid is every other part of his game is terrific.

“At Virginia, he let that, for one of the few times in his career, affect how he played. And he can’t do that. He’s so important for us, whether he goes 2 for 12 or 8 for 12.
We won’t win a really important game unless Kyle plays with that spirit. And when he hits that shot, he’s a lot better.”

Krzyzewski compared Singler to a .320 hitter who is suddenly hitting .250.

“We think that he will hit .320 and balance out for the season. But I’m proud of him. He’s handling all his other responsibilities well.”

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Williams more comfortable with this UNC team

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North Carolina might be coming off a big win over Florida State and UNC may have found a solid point guard but now the Tar Heels have a week where they play at Duke and at Clemson, two teams that beat them by a combined 51 points on their home floors last year.

The Heels, who play at Cameron Indoor Stadium Wednesday night, were embarrassed 82-50 at Duke last year. While the Tar Heels weren’t playing with their full complement of players a year ago, they just weren’t very good. Carolina was 16-15 and 5-11 in the ACC after that game.

This time the Tar Heels are 17-5 and 7-1 in the ACC as the teams meet in Durham. Coach Roy Williams, during his weekly media teleconference today, said he was “scared to death” but feels more comfortable with the team he is taking over to Duke this year, especially considering the way they are playing.

He said it would be a “monumental task” to beat the Blue Devils but he is confident that his team will try extremely hard and will play together.

Some have marveled at how quickly the Tar Heels seem to have gotten over the loss of point guard Larry Drew II. Freshman Kendall Marshall, who had won the starting job from Drew four games earlier, had 16 assists in Carolina’s impressive 89-69 win over Florida State.

“Kids get over things so much easier and quicker,” Williams said adding that coaches have a harder time with adversity. “But it was a tough 48 hours for all of us.”

Earlier Dexter Strickland seemed to indicate that Drew along with the Wear twins and Will Graves – four players no longer on the team – were not “all in” when he came to being a part of the Carolina team.

For his part, Williams said that the team practiced really well the two days after learning that Drew had left the team. He said that team chemistry is built throughout the course of the entire season and that adversity, within reason, tends to bring a team together.

“I love coaching the guys we have left,” Williams said.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Harrison Barnes: UNC alumni game swung his thoughts to Carolina

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Duke was quietly confident it would sign Harrison Barnes. North Carolina didn’t come on until late, but once it did, the Heels made a huge impression. Barnes, now a UNC freshman, had a long one-on-one interview with Dan Wiederer of the Fayetteville Observer that was published this week, and in it, he told Wiederer that a trip to the Smith Center for the UNC alumni game changed his perception.

“I’ve never seen or felt anything like it,” Barnes said. “Not only to walk in as a recruit and see all the guys here, all the coaches, but to see how Carolina basketball came to be. Seeing Dean Smith talk to Roy Williams, that was the man he learned everything from. To see the 2005 championship team, to see the ’09 championship team. To have Michael Jordan come back. Vince Carter. Antawn Jamison. Rasheed Wallace. All of those guys are back.

“All of a sudden Carolina basketball and all of the history and legends that they talk about? It’s all literally right in front of you. I wouldn’t say it was an out-of-body experience. But there was definitely something surreal about that. It was like a live and in-person history lesson. The history of the program was playing right in front of me. …

“For any recruit that was there, I don’t know how you could say no after that. For me, it seemed like Carolina was the place to go.”

Duke had recruited Barnes hard, and he was close to Mike Krzyzewski and the staff. His final decision was closely guarded, and many were shocked when he went on Skype and told UNC he was headed to Chapel Hill.

Wiederer asked Barnes if he spoke with Duke after that announcement.

“We went our separate ways after that,” he said.