Stick A Fork In 'Em: The Duke Blue Devils Are DONE!

I have not been on here in a while, but Johnathon Austin's insightful and well constructed piece is just the RX the Dr. ordered!  (NICELY DONE!)

Who would dare argue that the 2009-2010 Blue Devils are one of their storied programs most cohesive teams?  Coach K is in the midst of yet another under-appreciated coaching job, and is maximizing the talents at his disposal.  This squad is on pace for the first ACC regular season title for every player on the roster.  In all likelihood, this squad will continue Duke’s dominance in ACC Tournament play.  They are also likely to continue Duke’s run of securing a top 2 seed in the NCAA Tourny, with the East Region a likely destination.

Duke’s 14 win’s versus the RPI Top 100, with 4 coming against the Top 50, helps explain their Top 10 strength of schedule (even with the ACC being “down” this year).  Despite lacking a marquee win, their non-conference schedule ranks right up there with the best in the country.  Who could argue that Duke’s performance to date demonstrates that they have just as good a shot at winning the whole thing and anyone else?

That said, their performance on the road last night against an inspired Maryland team cements the reality that Duke is incapable of beating quality teams in hostile environments.  Sure their undefeated mark at home and on neutral courts (heading into their showdown against UNC this weekend) is worth noting, and will likely cause some to (yet again) predict a deep post-season run. 

Duke "hate," however, is sure to guarantee them a second or third round match-up that mirrors the Comcast Center last night; an environment all too familiar to these Blue Devils, and one neither Scheyer, Smith nor Singler is able to conquer. 

For the record, it should be noted that in no way am I suggesting that this team “lacks heart” (arguably the most common scapegoat for Duke “haters”).  They are also much more athletic than given credit for (the second most common scapegoat for Duke “haters”).  Despite being deficient of the type of NBA Draft Lottery talent that has been a staple of past NCAA Championship teams, what Duke truly lacks is a legitimate "go to"/“crunch time” player; the type of play they know they can count on to come through when it matters most (i.e. Jason Williams). 

Make no mistake, Coach K has given each member of his scoring trifecta the opportunity to step up and fill the role, yet each time their efforts have fallen short outside of Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

As much as it pains me to admit this, we can pretty much chalk up the season for these Blue Devils right now.  I predict another Sweet-16 exit, against a lower seeded team no less, despite the fact that this Duke team is one of only a handful that can actually win the NCAA Championship this year.

(Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Michigan St., Ohio St. and Villanova are the others: you can write it down right now, one of the 6 teams from this group will be cutting down the nets in Indy in April). 

No worries, though.  Provided Singler returns for his senior season, next year's squad will be scary good!  If they remain healthy, anything less than a 2011 Final Four run to Houston will officially signal the end of Duke as the standard against which all others are judged.