Sweet 16: Duke Vs Oregon

Nothing delights me more than to watch the apoplexy of “sports experts” who pour over stat sheets, rosters, schedules, standings and won-loss records trying to analyze which men’s college basketball teams are the best in the nation.

Season after season they are flummoxed when they discover that the ACC is the best in the country.  This year has proven to be no different except this year the conference set a record by advancing six teams to the Sweet 16.

Tonight my beloved Duke Blue Devils will meet on the hardwood against the Oregon Ducks at the Honda Center in Anaheim.  After traveling cross-country to get to the Honda Center, Duke will face one of their toughest opponents yet in 6-foot-10 Dillon Brooks a shot-blocking monster and damned good 3-point shooter.

After winning their 5^th national championship last March, Duke had massive turnover when several players went pro at the end of the tourney.  It stood to reason that the Devils would be in a rebuilding mode.

Duke’s depth on the court suffered a huge blow when Amile Jefferson broke his foot in December during practice forcing him out for the remainder of the season, but you shouldn’t count them out because they still have the last of the Plumlee brothers, Marshall, and he ain’t no slouch.  Let’s also not forget about Brandon Ingram who has the skinniest “get-away sticks” in college BBall.  Take Brandon and Grayson Allen and you’ve got one helluva spread-the-floor offense and a pretty decent man and zone defense.

Allen is a beast on the floor.  His FT average is 84% and he averages 22 points per game.  He’s dominating from beyond the arc for tres.

The Ducks are hoping that the Blue Devils’ 0-4 all-time record for tournament games played in the Pacific Time Zone will be a factor tonight.  Come on, man.  You don’t think Coach K is going to let that be a factor again do you?

The Ducks are the last PAC-12 team standing in tourney play.  The pressure on them is going to be intense.

GO BLUE DEVILS!

A Coach Whose Name You Can’t Spell

Folks who visit this blog know well my devotion to the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Green Bay Packers.  I’ve said often enough that my devotion to these two teams goes all the way back to the 1960’s.  That’s a damn long time. 

For 35 years, I’ve also been a devout fan of the team America loves to hate—the Duke Blue Devils.

The Great State of North Carolina is home to some of the best men’s college basketball teams in the country—the Tarheels, Wolfpack and Demon Deacons—but Duke, now there’s a team!

A list of some of the Duke players who have gone on to the NBA include Johnny Dawkins (1987), Mike Gminksi (1991), Christian Laettner (1991), Bobby Hurley (1994), Grant Hill (1995), Cherokee Parks (1996) and J. J. Reddick (2007).

Most everyone in North Carolina is a rabid Tarheels fan. I’m a “Dookie” and damn proud of it. That makes me a target of some fierce teasing from friends who simply cannot fathom why I would root for Duke. 

While there is no championship, no conference title or Gold Medal on the line, No. 5 Duke hits the hardwoods against The Red Storm of St. John’s in Madison Square Garden.  It’s the same venue where Coach K became the winningest coach in college basketball history.

On that night his mentor and friend, Bobby Knight, was calling the game for ESPN.  When the buzzer sounded and Duke had defeated Michigan State 74-69, Coach K walked over to the broadcast table and told Knight he loved him.  It was a remarkable moment when the two switched places in the NCAA record book.

The Garden is special to Coach K. “Kids dream, and coaches dream, of playing in this place…Just the way the court is lit, the sound, how the ball bounces, there are different sounds here. The Garden sounds different; the horn sounds different and it’s all good. Those are things that people recall when they think of their playing days, so it’s a great experience for us,” he said.

A win today against 13-5 “Johnnies” would bring his record to an astonishing 1000 wins.  Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to 4 NCAA Championships, 11 Final Fours, 12 ACC regular season titles and 13 ACC Tournament Championships.

No matter the outcome of the game today, Coach Mike Krzyzewski is a legend.  I think it’s fair to say his level of achievement is otherworldly. 

GO DUKE!

Coach K: Alone At The Top

John Wooden, Bob Huggins, Jerry Tarkanian, Lute Olson, Lefty Driesell, Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith and Bobby Knight—all storied coaches with phenomenal records in men’s collegiate basketball.

Mike Krzyzewski, known as Coach K, passed his mentor Bobby Knight as the winningest coach of all time last night at Madison Square Garden.

This is Coach’s 37^th season.

With Knight sitting across the court at the ESPN broadcast table, and with several former players in the stands, Krzyzewski moved to the top of the list in front of a sellout crowd of 19,979.

At the final buzzer, Krzyzewski went right across the court to Knight.  They were cheek to cheek in a hug. Krzyzewski, tears in his eyes, broke away and Knight pulled him back, hands on his shoulders, then one final slap of the shoulder.

"I just told coach I love him," Krzyzewski said. "I wouldn't be in this position without him. It's a moment shared. I know he's very proud and I'm very proud to have been somebody who's worked under him and studied him and tried to be like him."

What a class act.