The State of the State
Here we are in December. In most parts of this great country of ours, you hear words like: Holly, jolly, football, and bowl games. But let's not kid ourselves. Holly and jolly had nothing to do with football here in the Triangle. Not to mention the only reason to talk about bowl games is to win the "Pick' em" in your office pool. I know, football in this area is on the upward climb with Butch Davis at Carolina and Tom O'Brien at N.C. State. And Duke can only hope to get better, whoever they coach will be. (They can't get any worse). But let's not fool ourselves. This is basketball country. Always has been, always will be.
Let's take the pulse of college basketball in the Triangle and start at the top:
North Carolina Tar Heels
Number 1 in the nation. Most people not wearing light blue would love to use the term "overrated," for the simple reason that you have to live in same area as "Carolina Fan." Tar Heel Nation you would have to agree, it's hard to live with you when you're considered the best of the best. With all of that said at this point, I challenge someone to find a chink in the armor. This team is as as advertised.
Everyone knew what Tyler Hansbrough could (dominating the middle) and couldn't do (hit a 10-foot jump shot). However, the three reasons this team is on the verge of being one of the best we've seen in quite some time and it doesn't have a thing to do with Tyler Hansbrough.
Those three reasons are: Tywon Lawson is playing defense, Wayne Ellington is becoming a consistent scorer and Deon Thompson is playing to his size. Of these three guys the one who I think has been the biggest factor is Thompson. Someone had to step up and take pressure off of Tyler Hansbrough. When your talking about a post player who has received as much exposure as Tyler Hansbrough, everyone's game plan has been starting with the “Close in on the Big Man.”
This has been leaving and will continue to leave a lot of open floor for Thompson and even Alex Stephenson.
Does this team have weaknesses? Not at this point. Aside from fouling out Tyler Hansbrough, Tywon Lawson, Ellington and Roy Williams.
Duke Blue Devils
Number 6 in the nation. If you would of told me that this team would be the 6th team in the nation this early in season, I would have asked," Did Laettner and Grant Hill get to come back for an extra season?" To be sure, this is not the same Duke team from a year ago. The same team that finished in the middle of the pack in the ACC. They were last in scoring.
Friends, this is NOT last year's team. Sure, Greg Paulus and DeMarcus Nelson are still there. And even solid freshman play from Kyle Singler and Taylor King is no surprise. We're talking about Mike Krzyzewski and Duke basketball. He recruits by telling the 3 or 4 top high school players, "Congratulations, your going to play for Duke." This Duke team is better than advertised.
The play on the floor is not like what we saw last season. It's been quite some time since Duke has played like, well, Duke. Duke is Duke. Defending the basketball the full length of the floor, jumping passing lanes, creating offense by creating confusion on defense, hitting three's at crucial points of the game, taking charges, and most importantly, working the refs. Don't fool yourself, the last one is as important as the others. This is the Blue Devils we're used to seeing. They don't have size and brother they don't need it. Coach K is using his speed and athleticism to beat teams. This is what we've come to expect from Duke. And I guess it took Coach K trying to get 12 over-paid prima donnas to rebound and play together to remember what Duke basketball was all about.
North Carolina State
Where do I start? Somebody told me this was the 23rd best team in the country. I slapped that dude, and now my face hurts. Yes, I was drinking the Kool-aid. I saw what this Wolfpack team did in the ACC Tournament last year, and thought that adding the likes of J.J. Hickson meant they would be unstoppable. Boy was I wrong.
That slap must have jogged my memory. Because now I remember - this is the same team that was 5-11 in the ACC mostly without Engin Atsur, their point guard. So, essentially, what you did was remove the main reason why this team looked so good down the stretch and added another big man. What was I thinking? This doesn't look good on paper. Not to mention the fact that whatever was said about this team has been driven into the players' minds and now they believe it, too.
Brandon Costner had one of the best seasons of all time for a freshman in the ACC. No question he has talent. But apparently he feels like he should already be in the NBA. Aside from poor shooting - which it is possible to slump at times - he has decided to give up on rebounding and playing defense. This guy has all the tools to be one of the greatest in school history. But one of the tools you can't teach is heart. Rebounding and defense comes from the soul. When someone decides nothing can stop you from doing those two things, nothing will.
As for the rest of the team trying to figure out their new roles with Hickson, it will have to take time. But one thing that can't take time is point guard play. Farnold Degand seems to be the guy that has to step into that role. If he can't, it will be a long season Wolfpack faithful.
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