Blue Blood 2.0

It’s a New Year. Good riddance to the horror-fest that was 2011.

Now that college basketball has been through a decent amount of games, it’s time to re-examine tobacco road. Since the last analysis, Duke was riding high, UNC was average, and 6 men on the court was still outlawed. Now, it seems it’s 2007, and the Blue Devils may not be who they think they are.

The Durham Thunder have fizzled since their thrilling triumph in Maui. After a rough pounding in Columbus, I said the team needs to wake up and realize their playing for one of the greatest teams in all of sports; not some mid-major struggling to make a name for itself. 2-1 against ranked opponents, the Blue Devils looked awful against the Temple Owls, going down 78-73. Our guards played soft defense the entire game (somewhat attributed to ridiculous foul calls), our three 6"11 posterizers were outrebounded by little boys, and Seth Curry made a case for being benched the rest of the season.

Duke committed 16 turnovers: a season high…conference play has not started yet. My living room took a beating as I watched Philadelphia referees call cheap fouls one after the other, and our guards play like frightened girls down in Bon Temps, LA. Here is the latest list of unacceptables:

UNACCEPTABLE:

• Seth Curry. This is not the guy who STUNNED UNC twice last year. Go find THAT guy!
• Only 3 Blue Devils attempted more than 5 field goals
• Out rebounded by a team with ONLY TWO forwards (6”9, 6”6)
• 16 turnovers. UN-FREAKIN-ACCEPTABLE for DUKE basketball, this is John Calipari territory!
• Losing to a mediocre team, in a mediocre atmosphere, when you are #3 in the country.
  

Last year, Seth Curry went insane and hit up North Carolina for 20 points a game (3 times). This year, Seth has looked scared, clueless, and absolutely passionless. Someone needs to bench him, and make him watch tape of Shane Battier, Wojociechowski, and Elton Brand; he’ll see what playing with heart looks like. This is not a rant because of a loss- this is a rant over being 0-2 on the road, and our second consecutive embarrassing loss to a team that matters.

8 miles south, UNC has been as good as exceptional as they should. That is to say, they’re exceptionally better than the cream puffs they've played, therefore they've won big. The only true blemish on their record is the upset loss to UNLV; the 73-72 loss to Kentucky means nothing. Two giants stood back to back, and one of them was only 1 inch taller. This is irrelevant; a complete coin-toss. With all the talent on both teams, realistically, they are as equally great as were LSU-Alabama in The Game of the Century.

The Duke Blue Devils seem to be where they were in 2007: starting off the season loaded with great, young, inexperienced talent. Assuming leadership, immediately after losing the greatest players in the country (Nolan, Kyrie, Kyle). The ’07 Devils finished with 9 losses; the most since the 1995-1996 team, who had 11 losses. On the other hand, the Tar Heels are loaded with talent, seasoning, and experience- the perfect trifecta. However, these Tar Heels lack leadership, and at times motivation. John Henson & the gang want to win and can do so in dominating fashion, but they have got to get better at going for the jugular.

Furthermore, North Carolina has taken the lead on Tobacco Road, ahead of Duke. Chapel Hill knows how to use its working parts; they’re gelling, and they play so well because they are having fun doing their thing. Duke- you have to get your heads together. Seth has to want to win, Ryan has to want to have the rock, and MP2 has to finish on the rim. That’s the game.