The NC State – Duke game last night was a slugfest. As I wrote yesterday, it was a very important game for State. They’d lost three in a row and the next game is against Georgia Tech. If they are going to compete in the upper tier of the ACC, they need to beat one of the elite teams at home. Duke is presumably the weakest of the four elite teams and right now, Duke is thin with Shavlik Randolph and Reggie Love out.
But State couldn’t do it. They played great early and built a little lead, but they couldn’t put the Blue Devils away. It was like trying to kill Mike Myers. Duke kept coming back and coming back and eventually they overwhelmed the Pack.
NC State had the best all-around player on the floor in Julius Hodge. They had the most athletic player on the floor in Cameron Bennerman (and man did he have a nice dunk!). They had the greater number of three-point shooters (although Duke has better ones in Redick and Ewing). State had the deeper bench (or so it seemed). But none of that mattered, because Duke was tougher. Much tougher.
I think that’s one aspect of Duke that people around the country just don’t get. ACC folks know it, but much of the country doesn’t. The stereotype of Duke is that it’s a snooty private school with pampered, talented players. They are pretty and skilled, but they are soft, like the bad guys in so many teen movies – Duke is Billy Zabka. But that’s wrong. One of the main reasons that Duke always wins is toughness – mental toughness. It’s something that Krzyzewski instills from the moment freshmen step on campus. They learn to expect to win and it shows in games like last night. State wanted desperately to win, but Duke couldn’t imagine losing. When things went poorly for Duke, they fought back harder. When things went poorly for State, they panicked and pressed.
BTW, I think State fans can stop talking about the refs protecting Duke. Julius Hodge was extremely lucky to not get a technical foul for hitting Daniel Ewing in the face with the ball. I can’t remember ever seeing a play like that, where the player with the ball used it as a weapon while the ball was still in play! It should have been at least a technical, and an ejection was not unwarranted. It really was no different than throwing a punch, and that would have been an ejection. If nothing else, it showed that Ewing had beaten Hodge. The game wasn’t over yet, far from it, but Hodge was already beaten.
All that said, I don’t think it’s the end of the world for State. It’s a long season and there are many games left. They may not be able to finish in the top four of the conference, but they can still make the NCAA tourney, and that’s really not a bad goal this year.
Funky Weather
I haven’t seen much mention of it on the news, but there is some really strange weather on the Eastern Seaboard these days. It seems that the sky is falling in locations as far apart as Tallahassee, Florida and College Park, Maryland. The phenomenon has been reported in Charlottesville, Virginia and Raleigh, North Carolina as well.