The Duke Blue Devils have one of the most talented teams in college basketball. There is no getting around that. However, the team is plagued by stupid mistakes, careless playing, and too much arrogance going up against bad teams.
On Saturday, Duke played a team that was supposed to be as good as them, Xavier, but Duke obliterated them, tearing them to shreds and exploiting their weaknesses.
However, a few weeks ago, Duke shot under 30 percent from the field and looked undeserving to be ranked against an amateur and impotent team, Michigan.
Duke has some likely NBA role players, like Kyle Singler, Brian Zoubek, and Jon Scheyer, as well as a certain future NBA star, Gerald Henderson. When playing to their best abilities, the Blue Devils of Duke University play belligerent basketball and make the best possible opponents look like they have never played basketball, just like the Xavier game.
Why does Duke sometimes turn into a helpless team? Each and every player is responsible.
In big games, ones that mean the most, played against ranked opponents, Duke prepares for war.
However, Duke has the most trouble playing against the powerless unranked opponents who would never be given the light of the day by college basketball spectators. This is because the players approach the teams with arrogance, feeling that they have already won the game before it has started. This slight arrogance is what will bring the team down if they get eliminated early once again in the tournament.
The 2007 game against Virginia Commonwealth University was a great example of this. Duke played carelessly and let the VCU Rams get away with dirty play.
So what does Duke need to do to solve their problem of getting beaten by bad teams? They need to play dirty back to any teams that are playing dirty against them, and approach each and every game the same: It is anybody's game.
12 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment
BabyTate 6 months ago
Tommy, what a pleasure to hear from such an informed young writer. This is a very fine article and you have spoken like a true New Yorker in pointing out the problem with Duke vs. VCU two years ago.
Keep up the great work and be sure to let me know when you have future Duke articles.
Baby Tate
Edit Comment Cancel
Tommy 6 months ago
Thanks a lot for the comment and the compliment!
Edit Comment Cancel
John Lewis 6 months ago
Tommy,
Not a bad read but you just described so many great programs out there. Every team has an off night and right now if you're not UNC or UCONN those off nights will be more often.
Coach K, in my opinion, is only recruiting players that will stay longer than 1 or 2 years so he will only get good players not great players.
If he doesn't bring in the one-and-done guys it will be a while before he sees the NCAA title game.
Good article.
Edit Comment Cancel
The Goose 6 months ago
John, I am not sure agree with you. Assuming Singler returns next season, Duke is going to be nasty, losing only Paulus and McClure...so in other words, losing nothing. With this entire squad back next season, Duke will be one of a handful of teams that have a chance at cutting down the nets in 2010.
Edit Comment Cancel
Brad Frank 6 months ago
Good article, Tommy.
I don't think the solution for Duke is to play dirty. What I think they need to do is realize that nearly every team plays really hard at the beginning of games, regardless of the quality of team Duke's opponent is. And because of that, Duke needs to match, if not exceed, that intensity in order to avoid an upset.
When Duke is able to exceed its opponent's tenacity, it leads to results like we saw versus Xavier.
Edit Comment Cancel
Mark Luscious 6 months ago
Lol is this article a joke? This is the most simplistic piece of "journalism" I have ever seen outside of a high school newspaper. I don't even know Duke well but I just looked at their schedule and they have demolished "weak" teams besides Rhode Island and Michigan. I read the Rhode Island recap and it turns out there was this one guy who was lights out with 3-point shooting for them. This is a joke.
And you put Singler as a role player in the NBA? You are a joker.
Edit Comment Cancel
Jameson Fleming 6 months ago
Before you go and trash the writer, why don't you do a little journalism of your own and just check the kid's bio. I'm not about to get into an argument over the quality of the article, but the kid is 13...if this even compares to an article in a high school newspaper in your mind, the writer should be happy considering he's 13 and probably still in middle school. Whether you agree with what he wrote, it's still a well written article, especially for someone who's 13.
Edit Comment Cancel
Daniel Damico 6 months ago
Good work Tommy - ignore this guy.
One of my biggest frustrations with Duke is that they do put so much pressure on the ball and certain players get caught with stupid fouls. There is no reason Brian Z should be guarding post players out to the arc. He is foul prone and that just makes it worse.
But as afar as playing dirty, it is dangerous ground for Duke. Duke gets a lot of calls because of it's hustle and tight defense, and while they are deep, they can not afford to lose any players.
There is a major difference on playing dirty and physical.
Edit Comment Cancel
Jayson Pratt 6 months ago
Mark,
I stand with you on this. I don't care if the kid is 3. Everybody telling him this is great when it IS terrible just reinforces bad habits. Better to learn now than to go through life with pats on the back that set him up for the harsh reality just up ahead.
Duke settled for jumpers for one night and they are somehow set-up for failure? There are useful losses in college basketball and Duke's response shows that the Michigan game served to improve this team. I love Duke but the reality is that in 2007, they were terrible. Paulus, Mcroberts and bunch of freshmen even making the tourney shows how great of a coach K really is.
Stay strong Mark, these other guys are just huge enablers.
Go Duke.
Edit Comment Cancel
D Rock 6 months ago
Did you just call that 2007 VCU squad a bad team? The same team that won 27 games that season and took 3rd seeded Pitt to overtime in the 2nd round?
Duke got owned by a fantastic, hard playing, defensive minded team, with one of the best point guards in the country..Eric Maynor. Just because VCU isn't in the BCS leagues doesn't make them or any other mid major team bad. Haven't we seen this countless times already during the last 10 years of college basketball??? Duke played a better opponent than them in 2007 and lost; period.
Edit Comment Cancel
Tommy 6 months ago
Eric Maynor is a dirty little player who got through that game by playing dirty and throwing elbows. While that is exactly what I think Duke should do, it is still ridiculous and does not mean VCU was "better" than Duke... give me a break. VCU was a solid team but Duke lost because they beat themselves, not because a team filled with dirty lowlifes came in and beat the crap out of them.
Edit Comment Cancel
D Rock 6 months ago
Most pundits had VCU beating Duke in that game. It was no surprise when it happened, but man did people all over the U.S. enjoy that game. It saved the first round that was full to dull boring games. Dirty lowlifes? Get a clue kid...you can love Duke all you want but any reason minded person saw a hard defensive match-up on both sides. It's only you Duke premaddonas fans who called those VCU players dirty/thugs/lowlifes. You got beat fair and square, so for your sake I wouldn't discredit a team you lost to because it only makes your team worse for losing.
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.