It’s Time To Say “Go To Hell Carolina”

Last night my beloved Duke Blue Devils took the court with college phenom forward Zion Williamson.  After missing the final six games of the regular season when his Nike shoe blew out causing a nasty knee sprain against the Carolina Tarheels on February 21st, Zion commanded the court.

With just two minutes having elapsed at the start of the game, Zion stole the ball from Syracuse’s Buddy Boeheim taking the length of the floor and making a thunderous dunk.

Zion back pic.twitter.com/uLajsDwIak

— Duke Basketball (@DukeMBB) March 15, 2019

A lot of folks were concerned about Williamson’s conditioning after missing a month’s worth of games, but those doubts were put to rest.  The 285-pounder played a total of 36 minutes going 13-for-13 and scoring 29 points.  He also had five steals, two assists, a block and 14 rebounds.

Tonight, Duke meets the Tarheels in the ACC Men’s Tournament Semi-Final Round.  It’s all about revenge.  Carolina swept the Blue Devils ONLY because the mighty Zion was not on the roster.  With the exception of center Marques Bolden who is recovering from a knee sprain, Duke will be at full strength.

Last night, Syracuse guard Frank Howard played dirty by trying to trip Zion by sticking his leg out as Williamson was running down the court.  That was stupid.  Zion must outweigh that popsicle stick by at least 100 pounds. 

Oh wow good catch by ESPN.

Frank Howard tries to trip Zion after his dunk earlier in the 1st half. pic.twitter.com/TXQVePlKM5

— Basketball Society (@BBallSociety_) March 15, 2019

You Say Your Brackets Are Busted Bunky?

Next to college football, the NCAA Tournament is my favorite time of the year.  Last year I rooted for my beloved Duke Blue Devils all the way to their fifth National Championship.  It was glorious.

Today’s slate of games features Duke vs Yale.  This will be the second meeting between these two teams.  The last meeting was in November when Duke was a much better defensive squad.

Duke’s title chances have hit the skids due to a right foot fracture Amile Jefferson suffered during practice in mid-December.  He cannot run fluidly and will miss the tournament altogether.  The senior forward was a vital front court piece for the Blue Devils.

The Blue Devils are vulnerable on the offensive glass but aggressive as hell when pressing up on the perimeter.

Yale is riding high after their shocker whipping of Baylor that busted everyone’s brackets, but they do not have a reputation of hurrying their offense.  That is a weakness that Duke will surely exploit.

Coupled with the experience Yale already has from facing Duke this season, the Ivy League champion is ready to prove the NCAA tournament wait was worth more than half a century.  We shall see.

GO DUKE!

If you need me, I’ll be at my local gin mill/sports bar with my crowd rooting like crazy for Duke and later this evening I’ll devote my attention to pulling for Carolina to trounce Providence.

Basketball Heaven: ACC Quarterfinals

Retirement has it perks.  Yesterday I enjoyed the second round of games in the ACC Tournament.  I slopped up on the couch and watched the afternoon matches between Clemson and Florida State followed by North Carolina and Boston College.

I jumped in the shower after the Tarheels shellacked the Eagles, fed my little furkid and headed out to my favorite watering hole to join friends to enjoy the contest between North Carolina State and the Pitt Panthers.  I stayed through the first half of the Canes/Hokies game and then headed back to Casa de Curmudgeon and turned in for the night.

The game plan today is to watch the first two quarterfinal games and then join my posse at the same watering hole to root for my beloved Duke Blue Devils.  I’m hoping for a victory so they can advance to the semi-finals and then on to the championship game on Saturday.

ESPN will carry the 12:00 PM tipoff featuring the Virginia Cavaliers and the Florida State Seminoles.  The Cavs have one the best defensives in the country so I think FSU is going to lose this game.

At 2:30 PM Louisville is set to play the North Carolina Tarheels.  This is their first ACC Tournament since joining the conference.  I’m not sure how they’re going to react to the venue of the Greensboro Coliseum which will be filled to the rafters with fans rooting for their “home” teams.  The two teams split their regular season meetings, but I’m predicting a victory for the Heels.

My evening will be spent with friends watching the two remaining games of the quarterfinals that pit my beloved Duke Blue Devils against the Wolfpack of North Carolina State.  The Pack had a really strong game against the Pitt Panthers and they knocked the Blue Devils from the ranks of the unbeaten back in January, but Duke drew a double-bye for the tourney so they are well-rested.  This game is going to be brutal, but I think Duke is hungry to win.

The final game of the quarterfinals will see the Irish of Notre Dame go up against the Miami Hurricanes.  I can’t stand either team and could care less who wins.  Wait.  No, that’s not true.  I’m going to root for the Canes in this one.  I don’t think they can pull off the win, but that doesn’t mean I can’t root for them.

GO DUKE

And because no basketball post would be complete without some pom-poms, check out the gals of the ACC.

UPDATE 2:15 PM:  Poor FSU.  They never had a chance against the Cavs.  They threw clunker after clunker and were slow running down court to defend and wound up losing 58-44.

UPDATE 4:42 PM:  For a team that can't decide which league they want to play in, they may want to consider yet another after losing pitifully to Carolina 70-60.  'Ol googly-eyed Rick Pitino told his players not to foul with 21 seconds left in the game.  Now the Tarheels face Virginia tomorrow in the semi-finals.

FINAL UPDATE:  I couldn't contain my joy watching the Blue Devils manhandle the Wolfpack.  The final score was 77-53.  NC State fell behind by double digits early in the first half and never had a chance at recovering.  Notre Dame barely escaped against the Canes.  They ran hot and cold but managed to win 70-63.