Blue Devils Re-learn Annual Lesson

Duke re-learned the same lesson that they learn almost every year in March — referees from outside the ACC call better ball games and the coddling that the Blue Devils get throughout the regular season is not good for them come NCAA Tournament time.

It’s a lesson that Carolina learned last weeked when Tyler Hansbrough was suddenly treated like a human and not the second coming of Antawn Jamison. Oh yea…and they lost.

The ACC has but one team remaining in the NCAA Tournament – Boston College. But, someone will still argue that the ACC isn’t down this year.

General NCS Basketball

18 Responses to Blue Devils Re-learn Annual Lesson

  1. TPack 03/23/2006 at 10:31 PM #

    If I saw Coach K right now, I would have to punch him in the face. He killed my bracket. I guess it’s good he is in Atlanta and I’m not. I don’t need a lawsuit.

  2. Daniel 03/23/2006 at 10:36 PM #

    This was precisely my comment to my wife when we saw the final score. Nike, ESPN, Gatorade, Walmart, Footlocker, and virtually all of Madison Avenue must all be beside themselves that their two national marketing appeal glory schools are now out of it.

  3. UNCFan 03/24/2006 at 3:21 AM #

    Yeah…good point

  4. class of '74 03/24/2006 at 6:31 AM #

    The main thing I took away from last night was the NCAAT confirmed the ACC was down this year. Now let me see we are improving but we finished 4th in an undeniably weaker conference. Is the grass blue and the sky green in your world this morning?

  5. formrwolffan 03/24/2006 at 7:57 AM #

    I was there last night and fortunate enough to have connections at ESPN so I was sitting right on the floor between the Duke bench and the Duke band. Had a very knowledgable LSU fan on one side and a Duke fan on ther other and BOTH said it was one of the poorer officiated games on both sides they had seen. Players from both teams were getting killed under the basket without calls, but they seemed to be calling touch fouls in the backcourt. I wasn’t watching the TV feed, but many times I saw Reddick get his jersey nearly ripped off with no call when he did his patented cut thru the lane – and I’m not a Duke fan. I sure this won’t be popular on this site, but I really think the ACC refs do a better job. These guys walked right by me a half time on the way to their locker room, and they seemed to have a “deer-in-the-headlights” look on their faces.

  6. VTPACKFAN 03/24/2006 at 8:09 AM #

    Davis getting his missed free throw at the end when the only players left around the paint were dookies. Reddick needing 18 to tie D. Scott as all-time ACC scoring leader, and ending with 13. A subdued Dickie V. (if that’s possible) after a Duke basketball game when he couldn’t use his canned speech of how “these guys always find a way to win.” (In the ACC)

  7. ncsslim 03/24/2006 at 8:29 AM #

    There is a marked difference in NCAAT Duke and ACC Duke. I don’t dissagree on the weakness of the ACC this year (note our continual winning when we were playing like crap), but this Duke team would have beaten this LSU team 8 out of 10 in the reg season. Duke couldn’t score; JJ absolutely pitiful, but LSU not dramatically better. Thought at times (offensively speaking), I was seeing the boys in red on both ends of the court. Duke plays SOFT, and I have no clue as to why, especially given the common thought echo’d here (which I certainly subscribe to as well) that the team somewhat mirrors the personality of the coach in critical situations. Can’t wait to see what the Herbies say about this metldown (“fire K, fire K”). Absolutely pitiful, but frankly good riddance, you arrogant bunch of blue bellied pricks.

  8. VTPACKFAN 03/24/2006 at 8:31 AM #

    formrwollffan.

    Maybe the worst officiating in this years tournement. It’s the risk Duke and coach K. run anytime the step on the court with one of their two trick pony teams. His NBA mini camp disguised as a Sociology department is going to run into more bad officiated games in the future, where scoring that can come through more then two players is at a premium.

  9. choppack 03/24/2006 at 8:50 AM #

    I think Jeff’s point is spot-on though…When Duke doesn’t get an advantage – they have a hard time against teams w/ good talent. Yes, JJ was getting grabbed and held – kind of like our guys get hand-checked by Duke and Carolina and things rarely get called.

    Is it any coincidence, 3 of Duke’s losses were when officiating is more even-handed. Also, I find it terribly amusing that UNC-Ch had to struggle to beat mid-majors when facing fairer officiating. Of course, Swofford, Vitale, Bilas, et al will say we’re stupid for believing that there’s a double standard for officiating.

  10. BJD95 03/24/2006 at 9:21 AM #

    I actually thought that the mid-season “Duke crackdown” by the ACC refs would help Duke this season, and told some Duke friends so at lunch yesterday. But they still have an Achilees’ heel – they faced a physical defensive team with refs who didn’t blow the whistle alot (this did go both ways – numerous times, Duke players would bump LSU players near the sideline with no call, especially in rebounding situations).

  11. Craig Robertson 03/24/2006 at 9:28 AM #

    OK, so you guys have your final shot at Duke for this season….Great, hope youenjoyed rooting against a fellow ACC team that’s only a few miles from you. BUT, what I’d really like to hear is what happened to State?? I guess you can’t blame the refs…b/c they are all pro Duke and UNC. As many have stated Duke’s early exits in the last few years of the tourney…again what about State. I can remember the days when State was always a contender…where have those days gone? If you want to examine a season or seasons, let’s look at State for the last 8 years under Sendek. Good in the pre-season, decent in ACC competition, fade out in February (see this season especially) and then early exit in the NCAA. I”m not quite sure how you can be excited about continuous mediocre seasons. How do you guys fix this? I think the answer is obvious….just ask Tommy Burleson. By the way let me add that I’m a State Grad and pull for all of the Big 4 (it is a free country you know). If Lee Fowler continues to accept mediocrity in basketball (and football for that matter) then we will be seeing these same types of posts for years to come. Oh and by the way….the officials bias thing….please get over it…it’s really beating a dead horse at this point. Does Duke get a lot of calls……yes. Does UNC….yes. But that’s b/c their coaches are good at working the refs. Maybe if Sendek spoke above a whisper every now and then……State might get some calls too….and according to you that’s what allows you to win in the ACC…right????

  12. BJD95 03/24/2006 at 9:35 AM #

    Oh, and no doubt the ACC was weak. I thought it was kind of funny how K was arguing that the ACC getting 2 teams to the Sweet Sixteen was “proof” that the conference deserved more bids. Huh? Given that the teams were seeded 1, 3, and 4, just playing to seed would result in THREE Sweet Sixteen teams, where is his logic? Hell, the MVC had seeds of 7, 10, 11, and 13 – and did the very same thing. Presumably, K thinks their performance means they should have received fewer bids?

    No ACC teams in the NIT “Final 66-69”, either. Only Miami even made the not-so-elite 8.

  13. ncsslim 03/24/2006 at 9:55 AM #

    Craig, this was a post about Duke’ that’s kind of why Duke was being discussed. That’s how it works. That “State stuff” you speak of just has no interest nor air time on this particular website…. We’re all really very happy with the status quo. That’s why we come here, to revel in our vast success. First time by?

    By the way, if you’re Who said anything about pulling against Duke (whether true or not), it’s just I’m personally not going to lose any sleep over what seems to be an annual demise come NCAAT time. Agreed, we certainly have enough problems of our own.

  14. Heelsfan 03/24/2006 at 10:07 AM #

    I think the lack of premier (and experienced) point guards in the ACC had more to do with ACC weakness and NCAAT losses than the refs.

  15. TigerFan 03/24/2006 at 12:26 PM #

    As an LSU fan, I can tell you today is a great day. Major props to the Tigers who took down Duke using three freshmen starters.

    The officiating was consistent, consistently bad. They seemed to allow bumps just about everywhere, except for Glen Davis and Tyrus Thomas. Davis got called for a foul anytime he looked at Sheldon Williams.

    Here is a great commentary from an (self-proclaimed) unbiased source referring to the officiating.
    http://www.sportsfanmagazine.com/sfm/articles.html?id=2541

  16. BJD95 03/24/2006 at 1:48 PM #

    ^ TigerFan, do you actually care about hoops at all? This has been your first post in quite a while. 🙂

  17. Keith Harper 03/25/2006 at 5:51 PM #

    you are right on here. I think if you were to view the final moments of Duke v Georgetown and Duke v LSU you could find mistakes by Paulus that cost Duke the w.

  18. TigerFan 03/26/2006 at 8:19 AM #

    ^ BJD95, All LSU fans are Hoops fans right now:)

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