Devils and Heels are on a collision course
Mar 3, 2009
It appears the final week of the regular season in the Atlantic Coast Conference will come down to what it has so many times before: North Carolina and Duke. The fact that it is just a one-game difference between the two is surprise enough, considering that Carolina was such an overwhelming favorite to start the season.
The Tar Heels, at 11-3 in the ACC, have not dominated the league as expected. They've been better than anyone else, but conference losses at home to Boston College and on the road at Maryland have been puzzling, to say the least. Still, the league title is theirs to lose entering the final week.
Carolina had a week to seethe over the blown loss at Maryland, where selfishness and bone-headed plays ruled the day. Roy Williams put the time to good use, and the Tar Heels were more than ready to put it to hapless Georgia Tech last Saturday. (Has anyone in the country done as bad a coaching job as the Jackets' Paul Hewitt?)
I think the key for Carolina is to get Tyler Hansbrough his touches. He got them against Tech and responded with 28 points and 10 rebounds. He also drew the fouls, going eight for eight at the line.
In my mind, Hansbrough is still the most feared player in the league. He's always the focal point of the opposition. Mike Krzyzewski summed it up when he said, "We know Superman wears number 50."
When Carolina goes inside to him, it makes everyone else better. It opens up things. That, to me, is why he's an All-American, certainly first-team All-Conference. Against just about everybody, he's Carolina's clear advantage.
"You can't touch him. You can't do anything. If you touch him, it's a foul," lamented Techs' big guy, Alade Aminu. "He's a great player, and he's worked on his midrange game. If you don't get close, he's got that jumper. I have to give it to him, though. He never takes any plays off, he's always working hard, crashing the boards."
You don't think Roy Williams made it clear last week? Get the ball inside to the big guy and let him make it happen.
"He's always been the guy that's really focused and fired up," said Danny Green of his fellow senior. "He came out hot, he came out pushing and playing physical and getting inside and being a big presence for us inside."
And Carolina was a lot less selfish than they were at Maryland.
"We didn't go one-on-one. We set more screens," said Ty Lawson, who handed out 11 assists as opposed to just two the week before at Maryland. "Tyler inside early, he gives you a lot of assists when he's knocking down shots."
And when Hansbrough is knocking down shots, there are more opportunities for all.
Carolina's as talented as any team in the country. When they play as a team, when they decide to defend, when they get Hansbrough the ball, they are as hard to handle as any team in the country.
Roy Williams only hopes that he has their attention for good.
So Carolina has the one-game lead over the Blue Devils coming into this final week. Neither has an easy game before their finale next Sunday. Duke is at home with Florida State on Tuesday. Carolina is at Virginia Tech on Wednesday.
Duke has found its second wind. Two weeks ago, the Devils weren't a Top 10 team. They are now. Getting the athletic freshman Elliot Williams playing time was a great move. My only question is what took so long? Should it have taken three-quarters of the season to figure out the guy can play?
We all know that Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler can play.
Henderson ruled the first half at Virginia Tech with 17 of his 21 points. Singler, whose legs no longer seem tired, ruled the second with 19 of his 21 points.
After a big first-half lead, Duke let the Hokies back in the game but had enough poise on the road to win its fourth straight game.
The 72-65 win at hungry Virginia Tech was huge for the Blue Devils. It keeps them in a race that just two weeks ago looked lost.
"We want to win this league, and we needed to get this win," said Jon Scheyer, whose shift to point guard has steadied a once-jittery team.
"After we lost at Boston College (on Feb. 15) things were as low as they've been for a while for us," added Scheyer. "The one thing we knew is, this league is tough. We can't worry about other teams. We can't worry about what they do. Let's just win."
And so they have. And so the Devils are right there with a week to go. Duke still has its deficiencies as a basketball team, but confidence right now is not one of those.
Neither is character. A team without it wouldn't have come back after losing four of six. Singler says back-to-back wins at hostile Maryland and Virginia Tech show the inner toughness of the Devils.
Now, it is a good thing that Elliot Williams was brought out of moth balls, because Nolan Smith is still out with a concussion. Smith hadn't been playing that well, but he does have quickness and can defend. He appears doubtful for this final week.
What is not in doubt is that the regular season could well come down to Sunday in Chapel Hill.
Much has been made of the fact that Tyler Hansbrough is 4-0 at Cameron. Well, he's just 1 and 2 at the Smith Center against Duke.
FSU will be a big obstacle for Duke on Tuesday, and Virginia Tech lately always seems to play UNC tough. It will be no "gimme" for the Heels on Wednesday at Blacksburg. We'll see what the Tar Heels attention span is. We'll see if their poise on the road will be better than that miserable flop at College Park.
But Duke at Carolina on Sunday for Hansbrough's senior day, with the ACC title on the line, would just add to the long list of dramas that has been the Blue Devils and the Tar Heels.
It would also be a heck of a way for the madness of March to begin.
