Don't Doubt Duke: Five Reasons the Blue Devils Are Final Four Contenders

You would be hard-pressed to find a Top 5 team that just won one of the toughest conference tournaments in the nation who is looked upon as skeptically as the Duke Blue Devils.

But if there was one lesson learned from the ACC tournament, it was to respect Duke's ability to win.

Duke showed a variety of ways to earn a "W" in the three games it played in Atlanta's Georgia Dome.

They won with poise when they overcame a horrific first half against Boston College to turn in a brilliant performance in the second, hitting clutch shot after clutch shot on their way to a one-point win. They won with toughness when they outlasted a Maryland team that simply refused to lose in the ACC tournament. They won convincingly when they handled a hot Florida State team that had just beaten the North Carolina Tar Heels.

The point is that they won, and winning is what the Duke program is all about.

It's not that difficult to understand why the Devils are so highly doubted, given the fact they haven't made it past the Sweet 16 in five years despite being lower than a No. 2 seed only once in that stretch, and they haven't made it past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since J.J. Redick and company graduated in 2006.

The faces of the current Blue Devil team are not synonymous with winning, even though they have won at least 20 games in each of the last three seasons.  

At Duke, it's all about what you do in March, and this junior-led squad was 4-6 in March over the past two years.

They have already matched the last two year's March wins this season.

This season, Duke finds itself in one of the toughest regions the NCAA tournament has to offer, with teams like Pittsburgh, Villanova, Florida State, Xavier, Texas and UCLA standing in the Blue Devils' way to the Final Four.

No wonder so many are skeptical of the Blue Devils chances to make a deep run in March.

Will they do it?  Can they do it?

In March, there are no guarantees, but here are five reasons not to doubt the Blue Devils in the NCAA tournament.

5.  They can win without the three-pointer.

One of the biggest myths about this Duke team is that they are reliant on the three-pointer to win.

While their hot shooting from downtown in the ACC tournament may have solidified that commonly held opinion, nothing could be further from the truth.

The Blue Devils simply are not a great three-point shooting team.  They haven't been all season, and they've continued to win nonetheless.

In the regular season, they shot approximately 33 percent from behind the arc, yet managed to win 25 games despite having one of the toughest schedules in the country.

This is a Duke team that is insanely difficult to beat when they are accurate from long range, but they have still won all season long amidst the three-point shooting troubles.

4.  They have a lineup that creates serious mismatches.

After losing four out of six games coming into mid-February, including back-to-back losses to UNC and Boston College, coach Mike Krzyzewski made a gutsy lineup change.

He moved a struggling Jon Scheyer to the point and inserted rarely-used freshman reserve Elliot Williams into the starting lineup.

Since that time, the Blue Devils are 8-1.

What Duke lacks in size with their front-court (Kyle Singler and Lance Thomas are both just 6'8"—not exactly an intimidating front line) they make up for in the backcourt. None of their starting guards are under 6'4".

Essentially, Duke starts four forwards, reminiscent of Illinois' Final Four "Flying Illini" of 1989.

They can switch on every screen, pass over presses (a weakness Clemson had exposed before the lineup change) and create defensive fits for opposing guards with their length and athleticism.

The starting five for Duke doesn't look like the championship lineups of years past, but don't be fooled—they are as tough of a matchup as you'll find in college basketball.

3.  They are tough.

Despite lacking the inside presence of a dominant post player, and being a perimeter-oriented team (you won't see the Blue Devils run their offense through the post very often), Duke has a +3.0 rebounding margin on the season.

They don't rebound with size, they rebound with toughness.

Kyle Singler is one of the toughest players to play college basketball in a long time.  In the ACC tournament, he averaged 18 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks per game.  

He also played every single minute of every game.

Singler embodies the attitude that coach Krzyzewski wants this Duke team to play with.

Last season, Krzyzewski likened his team to a boxer who, despite having the right technique, didn't have the toughness to withstand a punch.

This season, they've looked like the Rocky Balboa of college basketball, being close to knocked out in mid-February, only to get back up and win.

Never was that so apparent than when Gerald Henderson threw down a monstrous dunk on three Maryland players on Duke's first possession after Nolan Smith received a concussion compliments of Maryland's Dave Neal when the Blue Devils played at Maryland.

That play sent a message to Maryland and everyone else in the country—the Blue Devils will not be bullied.

This Duke team plays with a chip on it's shoulder, and they have the toughness to beat teams that overpower them with size and strength.

Just ask Florida State.

2.  They finally have a point guard.

Sure, Gerald Henderson has been playing out of his mind since ACC play started, emerging as a solid go-to guy in the mold of Grant Hill.

But Jon Scheyer, the ACC's most underrated player who just so happened to win the ACC tournament MVP, is the biggest reason why Duke is the ACC champion.

Before moving to the point guard spot in mid-February, two things were crippling the Blue Devils—Jon Scheyer was struggling and Duke couldn't find anyone (not Nolan Smith or Greg Paulus) to run the point effectively.

Both of those issues were solved when Scheyer was moved to the point.

Since the St. John's game on Feb. 19 (his first game at the point), Scheyer is averaging over 20 points per game (five more than his season average) and only 1.1 turnovers per game.

He's one of the primary reasons why Duke has a +4.15 turnover margin going into the NCAA tournament.  

He takes care of the ball and keeps defenses honest with his ability to score inside and out.

The Blue Devils may still lack a low-post presence, but their point guard issues are solved.

1.  They have momentum.

Say what you will about the importance of conference tournaments, but momentum is a priceless commodity in sports.

After winning the ACC tournament, the Blue Devils have momentum.

In the last two seasons, Duke has come into the NCAA tournament losing at least two of its final three games.  That doesn't bode well for NCAA tournament success.

This season, they come in winning three straight (all against NCAA tournament teams no less).

Furthermore, seven of their last eight games have been against NCAA tournament teams (the eighth was a win against bubble team Virginia Tech).  The Blue Devils won six of those seven games, losing only to North Carolina in a hard-fought game.

If that doesn't convince skeptics of Duke's ability to win against NCAA tournament competition, nothing will.

It's March Madness and anything goes.

If the tournament proves to be as unpredictable as the season has been, few brackets will look respectable going into the Final Four.

But do yourself (and your bracket) a favor—don't doubt Duke in the NCAA tournament this season.