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Virginia Tech's Tourney Hopes Turn Blue

Posted: Feb 28th 2009 6:20PM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Filed under: Duke, Virginia Tech, ACC, Injuries

Virginia Tech needed a crucial win at home to solidify its NCAA tournament status with only two games remaining on its regular-season ACC schedule. But a Nolan Smith-less Blue Devil squad likely had a few points to prove as well.

And the Blue Devils' agenda won out.

That is, after a little controversy and a heckuva run by the Hokies.

Duke 72, Virginia Tech 65: Box Score | AP Recap | ACC Scores & Standings

Continue Reading Virginia Tech's Tourney Hopes Turn Blue

For Greg Paulus, Is Being the Sixth Man Better Than Starting at Quarterback?

Posted: Dec 3rd 2008 12:13PM by Shane Bacon (author feed)
Filed under: Duke, ACC

5 COMMENTS

If you turned on the Duke-Purdue game last night in the second half, you probably saw a familiar situation. Greg Paulus was running the point, getting the ball to Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer, the team's playmakers. When he wasn't doing that, Paulus was knocking down some jumpers, and finished with a respectable seven points in 22 minutes.

What you didn't catch is Paulus holding down the bench as the starters took the Mackey Arena floor to start the game. Sophomore Nolan Smith has taken the reigns at point guard for Mike Krzyzewski while Paulus, the face of Duke basketball, and a three-year starter, is coming off the bench to contribute.

If you don't know Paulus' story you don't really know what a freak this guy was. A high school product out of Syracuse, N.Y., Paulus was a star athlete in both basketball and football -- and when I say star, I mean, like, four stars. He was a specimen, a quarterback that could have picked just about any big-time football program over Duke basketball and been throwing passes before anyone realized what he'd done.

Continue Reading For Greg Paulus, Is Being the Sixth Man Better Than Starting at Quarterback?

Duke Wins 2K Sports Coaches vs Cancer Classic

Posted: Nov 21st 2008 9:58PM by Shiloh Carder (author feed)
Filed under: Duke, Michigan, ACC, Big Ten

1 COMMENT

The Duke Blue Devils are champions of the 2008 2K Sports Coaches vs Cancer Classic. They beat Michigan, 71-56, to seal the deal.

The two will meet again in two weeks at Michigan.

It was a productive trip to New York for Duke. The defense was suffocating this week and sophomore point guard Nolan Smith has started to come into his own. Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson are also turning into the stars we all thought they'd be.

This is all coming after the Blue Devils were nearly beaten at home by Rhode Island last Sunday. In that game, Duke gave up 54.7% shooting to the Rams and missed on 13 of 17 shots from behind the arc. Duke went on an 18-8 run to end the game and eek out a victory.

It still is sad that Duke wasn't able to play UCLA tonight to see how far along the Devils really are. We may find out in a couple of weeks when they head to Purdue to take on the Boilermakers.

FanHouse NCAA Hoops BlogPoll: No. 12, Duke Blue Devils

Posted: Nov 18th 2008 6:00PM by Shiloh Carder (author feed)
Filed under: Duke, ACC, NCAA Basketball BlogPoll, Fans

5 COMMENTS

This week, FanHouse is taking an early look at the top teams heading into 2008 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. To help with the team capsules, we've brought in some of the top fan bloggers around the internets to give us insights on their teams.

Today, we have enlisted JD King of Duke Basketball Report to break down the Duke Blue Devils.

There has been a perception the last couple of years that Duke is off. If so, that's over. This Duke team is going to be very good.

The only player not back on last year's size-challenged team is DeMarcus Nelson. And Duke has added freshmen Miles Plumlee (6'11) and Olek Czyz (6'8) to returnees Brian Zoubek (7'1") and Lance Thomas (6'8") to the inside rotation. Zoubek is healthier than he has been in some time and Taylor is markedly improved and much stronger than he was last year.

Czyz will play less than the other three, but no matter how you cut it, this frees up 6'8" Kyle Singler to play anywhere he's useful on the court.

Continue Reading FanHouse NCAA Hoops BlogPoll: No. 12, Duke Blue Devils

Wake Forest Beats #2 Duke, 86-73

Posted: Feb 17th 2008 10:01PM by Shiloh Carder (author feed)
Filed under: Duke Basketball, Wake Forest Basketball, ACC Basketball, Carolina

1 COMMENT

Everyone in ACC country knows that Winston-Salem is a tough place to visit. Winning at Wake ain't easy, no matter how good they are.

Duke found that out tonight, losing to the Demon Deacons, 86-73. Wake Forest (who is 14-1 at home) dominated this game in not the way you would think. Instead of riding big man Chas McFarland ... they used their guards to attack the basket. Since Duke has no one back there to challenge shots, Wake either got easy baskets or fouled.

Freshman James Johnson was a beast. Dude went for 24 points and 16 boards while Jeff Teague led all scorers with 26 points.

For all those people who say that Duke gets all the calls: Greg Paulus, DeMarcus Nelson, Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler and Lance Thomas (aka, the entire Blue Devils starting lineup) fouled out. Wake Forest shot 38 free throws, making 27 of them.

Duke, who is one of the better long range shooting teams, shot just 8-of-28 from behind the arc (28%). They also made just 13 of 25 from the line. Ugh. All that lends to the common belief of why Duke cannot win a national championship: they can't defend the paint and they are screwed if their shots don't fall.