Duke Basketball

Blowout! Duke falls to Nova

Reasons for the Loss

First, you have to give Nova credit for a game well played. Maybe it was just one of those games, maybe it was fatigue or Villanova was just tougher. Certainly Duke can't win when only one of the "big three" shows up. But maybe it simply goes back to all the things previously discussed on this page. Games in the NCAA Tournament are just different. Freshmen fade, fast breaks are few, open shots are scarce and three point shots are more difficult to hit. Experience counts. NCAA Tournament Championship teams have star players capable of creating their own shots, point guards who can penetrate and dish, post players who can get high percentage shots in the paint, NBA-level talent, and athletic wings. They are respectable from behind the arc, and they hit free throws.

At the end of last season we asked what could be expected of the 2008-2009 basketball team. Our conclusion was "A better team. A more experienced team. A more balanced team. A team we can be very proud of. A team that will be a lot of fun to watch. A team that will win a lot of games and be ranked in the top ten. But probably not a Final Four team unless Coach K can coax a superior performance from a group that is less talented than his typical squad." In many ways this team has met and even exceeded our expectations. The ACC Championship was unexpected, and it was so nice to see this group of kids win a championship. Obviously there is more work to do in the months ahead for the Duke basketball program. The most important part will be on the recruiting trail, but a significant part will be the continued development of players like Zoubek, Smith and Williams. Henderson will have decisions about his future and Coach K will need to get some rest after three long years with few breaks.

The Seniors will move on to success beyond the basketball court. The fans will actually look forward to football as Coach Cut builds his program. And in a few months it will be time to put our Scheyer faces on again.