Cameron-Duke follow-up

Here are a few pictures from the past weekend:

Doesn't my nephew look like a future point guard?


K-ville is getting ready for Duke-Carolina


I couldn't believe it was already spring in North Carolina and things were blooming. It definitely isn't the same in Minneapolis:


Out of the 3 titles Duke has won, 2 of them were in Minneapolis:


DeMarcus Nelson for three.


The nice retirees next to me took the picture near the end of the game. If you notice, no one has left the game despite the fact that it was a 30 point blowout.


Cameron ater the game

Heaven is Cameron Indoor Stadium

Today was a beautiful February day in North Carolina. The sun was shinning and it was warm enough not to need a sweatshirt or jacket, but cold enough not to have to worry about sweating. The afternoon of game day started with me picking up some BBQ beef brisket, mac and cheese, and 1/2 gallon of sweet tea at Bullock's BBQ in Durham. With my stomach full of southern goodness it was time to head over to the Duck Shop to pick up some understated Duke gear. My sister might have laughed at me when I came out of the the store, but in my mind the Duke ripoff pants long sleeve blue shirt was well worth the $80.

Being that I might never see another Duke basketball game, I thought that I would have to do it right. I showed up two hours early and just walked around Cameron and Krzyzewskiville trying to soak it all in. For me it felt like a movie that should be set to a soundtrack of songs from the band Explosions in the Sky. It is rare for moments with such lofty expectations live up to them. Gameday at Duke exceeded every expectation.

Below is my best breakdown of Duke on gameday:

The Cameron Crazies:

There has been plenty of talk about the Cameron Crazies and the fans live up to the hype. They were there 2 hours before the game lined up outside the stadium waiting for entry. Once unleashed into the stadium the students ran inside to get the best seats to cheer both for Duke and against St. John's. The Crazies are both intimidating, insulting, and clever without crossing the line. For example when an small, somewhat lumpy looking (5ft 9in 155lb Sophomore Matt Duell) St. John's player was warming up the Crazies starting chanting "Umpa Lumpa" over and over. Now, I don't know if it is worst to be called an Umpa Lumpa or to be listed as a 5ft 9inch forward on espn.com. I don't know of any 5'9" players that could be forwards in women's basketball.

Cameron Indoor Stadium

The stadium itself is remarkable in how small it is. Never in your life will you be around 9,314 people (Duke's capacity) and feel like it is a small gathering of friends. The new generic box arenas (think the Target Center or Dean Dome) that are so prevalent might hold more than twice the amount of people (capacity 20,500 and 21,750 respectively), but as the saying goes bigger isn't always better. In those arena's cases bigger most definitely is worse. Basketball isn't like football or baseball where big stadiums help convey a larger than life aspect to those sports. Basketball is for lack of a better word a more intimate sport and and is something that needs to be enjoyed up close. Thankfully Cameron Indoor Stadium forces one to be close to the action.

Another great thing about Cameron is that it doesn't force anything on you. There aren't any songs playing during the game or a jumbotron telling you when to cheer. Nobody is tossing t-shirts into the stands or trying to entertain you with some inane contest at every single moment during the game experience At Cameron the game is the experience. Cameron Indoor Stadium is the way people were meant to watch basketball and if there were more places like it then there would be more true basketball fans. I truly believe people would respond to passion, enthusiasm, tradition, and quality basketball viewed up close. Strip away the fat and just give us the red meat.

Maybe, I am just being unrealistic because for every winner there is a loser? For every Duke there is a New Jersey Institute of Technology (check out their record). For those teams maybe artificial measures need to be taken to try and entertain the crowd. Thankfully Duke doesn't have to worry any time soon about fielding a bad team.

The game

Duke beat St. John's 86-56. They were down 7-0 and tied for the first 10 minutes before turning on the afterburners and blowing out the young Red Storm team. They had balanced scoring and were playing with a definite edge after two straight loses. This is the type of game that hopefully will help right the ship and be the beginning of a winning streak.

The Upper Level Fans or what I like to call the Cameron Retirees

Not to be confused with the Cameron Crazies who are students, these fans are either long-time Duke fans, Duke fans with lots of money, or more likely both. The average age of these fans is roughly 65 and that is including the age of their grandchildren that they bring along to the games.

I was sitting three rows up in the Upper Level (which was an amazing seat) right across from the Duke bench and right behind the Crazies. Next to me was a retired Duke professor and his wife. She was one of the nicest ladies you could meet and with whom I had a friendly conversation. She informed me that her and husband had been sitting in those seats and going to Duke games since 1978. They go to men's and women's basketball games as well as football games. She lovingly referred to players by their first name ("DeMarcus is such a nice guy"), criticized the refs ("You see because Duke is good their are a lot of people who don't like them. That includes the refs") and spoke of the virtues of former Duke players ("Chris Duhon still comes back and runs a summer camp in Durham"). We shared stories and even a high five after a Greg Paulus three pointer. At the end of the game I shook hands with both of them and wished them and Duke luck.

In addition to these nice people I met the Cameron Retirees also include the Crazy Towel Guy and an approximately 90 year old man who brings a trumpet to play for the appreciate student section.

The Food

They serve Chick-Fil-A and Bullocks BBQ inside the stadium. It is a crime that a cardboard flavored Dome Dog at the Metrodome costs about the same as the best chicken sandwich in the southeastern United States.

The Females

Duke girls are underrated. While there weren't many knockouts, there were plenty of B pluses and A minuses. My brother-in-law disagrees, but what can you expect from a Carolina student? Of course none of the girls compare to OSU field hockey girls.

Recap

At my former job they taught me that if you don't recap it then it didn't happen. I think the above should be enough of a recap for now. There will more to come later as I look through (and post) the pictures, but for now I have written enough. Thank you to M and my family (even the Carolina section of my family) for providing a remarkable, memorable quarter century gift.

Going to Carolina

Yesterday, I went to see the Timberwolves-Spurs game (another heartbreaking loss for the Twolves) and was talking about it with my coworkers today at lunch. During this conversation the subject of former UNC and current Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Rashad McCants. I was making fun of both his ability, his "Rashad Revolution" fist pumping video graphic that comes on the Jumbotron every time McCants scores a basket, and the price one might pay for a signed Rashad McCants Black History poster. The consensus was A) McCants has accomplished more in the Nba than JJ Redick (which is unfortunately true), B) The Rashad Revolution video reminds me of a communist-era propaganda video and C) No one would pay more than $20 for that poster.

Anyway, the topic of me disliking past UNC players came up. I mentioned the McCants "can't wait till he gets out of jail" quote and Rasheed Wallace introducing the masses to the acronym CTC. My current boss started naming former UNC players (Brad Daugherty, JR Reid) and asking me to comment on what I disliked about them. I told him my reasons for disliking them and he finally acquiesced.

And then he brought up Tyler.

He said something to the affect of "well, you at least have to like Tyler Hansbrough." I replied that no, in fact I do not like Tyler Hansbrough and was thisclose to telling him my abridged version of the top 10 reasons why you should dislike Tyler Hansbrough. Then I realized that it is time to change. I am drinking the Obama kool-aid and it it is time for me to (if only briefly) make a change for the better. For that reason I am going to give up for Lent (replacing my previous sacrifice of fast food) talking poorly of Tyler Hansbrough. This will be my olive branch to the player of the year candidate from the University of North Carolina. Until Easter Sunday there will be no negative thoughts towards Psycho T and I will try to severely limit my negative thoughts on UNC.

This might be difficult especially considered that UNC at Duke and the ACC tournament will be going on during Lent, but I think it is necessary. The negative energy that has at times come out of this blog needs to stop. Duke has lost two straight to unranked teams and UNC has been doing better and better without Ty Lawson. Now Lawson is coming back and UNC looks poised to have the momentum heading into the ACC tournament. If they win that then it is all but guaranteed that they get the cushy Ralegih, Charlotte path to the Final Four, which means that they would only be two wins away from hanging up their 3rd banner during my lifetime. These 3 banners would be the same number as Duke has won during my lifetime. Also, they would put to rest the fact that Roy Williams can't win the big one (still there until he wins with his players). Finally, the national championship would make UNC fans canonize Tyler Hansbrough in a way that would make George Lynch and Sean May jealous.

I am channeling my inner Rick Pitino and stopping the negative thinking. Hopefully, by doing this I will increase the positive karma for Duke. As Stewart Mandel pointed out Duke has struggled at the end of the season in past past few years and this year looks to be no different. I guess all I am trying to say has already been said before by Rocky:

"I guess what I'm trying to say, is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change "

Tonight I leave to go to North Carolina and tomorrow I will be at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the Duke-St. John's game. I am as excited as Andy Dufresne driving his convertible down to Mexico. Stay tuned for posting on my thoughts of the greatest college basketball arena in the country.

Something is foul

In the wake of Duke's loss last night in which every starter fouled out lets revisit an age old passion of mine of questioning the refs.   You see Duke gets a lot of press about always getting all the calls, but in my mind they are the wrong team from North Carolina being singled out.  I know I am a Duke fan and I am biased against UNC, but while watching UNC games I find myself wondering if the referees are seeing the same game that I am seeing.   Every time Tyler Hansbrough trips over his feet it seems like UNC always gets the call.   This is obviously a subjective view, so I thought I would try and find some objective evidence for my theory that UNC gets all the calls.

Before the evidence let me make some key points:

1. Just because one team shoots a ton more free throws than the other team doesn't mean it wasn't a correctly officiated game.  There are some teams that foul more often (think 1980s Detroit Pistons), which would obviously result in more free throws for the opponent.   Also, there are also some teams that rarely take the ball inside which is where more fouls occur.
2. UNC rarely shoots three pointers (which a foul rarely occurs on) because they normally takes the ball inside with their post players.   That is one possible reason why UNC would be a team that shot a decent amount of free throws.
3. Another reason that UNC shoots a lot of free throws is that they are a good (not great) team.   Being a good team they are usually are ahead at the end of the game, which can result in a team fouling on purpose at the end of the game in order to try and extend the game.

Now that those 3 clarifying points are out in the open one might expect North Carolina to have an advantage from the foul line.   Now what kind of advantage would a team expect from those points above?   That is hard (not impossible) to quantity, but I can imagine (ie guess) that it might result in an increase in free throws of upwards of 20-30%.  Now lets look at the statistics that I found:

1. In 26 out of North Carolina's 28 games they have shot more free throws than their opponent.   Just in case you don't have a calculator handy that means that in 92% of their games they have an advantage at the foul line.   If you are curious the two games were the Maryland home loss and a victory at Rutgers.  
2. UNC has played 5 really close games in the ACC that if you would have changed one possession UNC would have lost.   There were the two Clemson games that combined included 3 overtimes.   Also, there two 1 point victories on the road against Georgia Tech and Virginia.  The fifth and final one I am referring to is the 11 point overtime victory over Florida St.   If you look at the foul differences in those 5 games it goes something like this:  
3. In UNC's two point OT victory over Clemson: 30-27 in favor of UNC
4. In UNC's one point victory over Georgia Tech: 26-10 in favor of UNC
5. In UNC's eleven point OT victory over Florida St: 33-15 in favor of UNC
6. In UNC's ten point double OT victory over Clemson: 36-7 in favor of UNC
7. In UNC's one point victory over Virginia: 12-11 in favor of UNC.
8. In total for those five games UNC shot 137 free throws compared to their opponents only shooting 60.   

Now I wasn't a math major (even though stats is pretty close) in college, but I can calculate that means UNC has a better than two to one advantage at the foul line in their close ACC games.   If I had a unlimited amount of time I would report the foul difference in all the ACC games, all the non-conference games, and analyze game tape to produce a Youtube video. Unfortunately I have a job counting widgets that I actually really like and definitely want to keep. 

It is hard not to read the above stats and at least question the validity of some of UNC's victories and think that maybe UNC does get the majority of the calls.  It has gotten to the point that you might as well add an A to the acronym, so that UNC could stand for University of No Calls Against.  

The Usual

This past week I went to my favorite downtown Minneapolis quick service skyway food option (Zen Box) to have the Creamy Potato Croquette. I used to be able to eat this all the time because I used to work downtown. Now that I work out in the 'burbs I still make an effort to drive downtown at least once a month to get my fix. Anyway, when I was there the owner saw me, smiled and said "Hi, do you want the usual?" All my live I have wanted to go to a restaurant or bar and have someone ask me if I wanted the usual. Now I have finally been granted that wish and I can tell you that it is a sweet as it sounds.

Other quick points:

• I didn't see the game, but how did UNC shoot 36 free throws to Clemson's 7 in this past Saturday's game in which UNC won in double OT. Michael Wilbon mentioned in PTI how bad the officiating was in that game and I will only have to take his word for it.
• I'm only a week away from Cameron Indoor Stadium for a Duke home game.
• If Kobe is out for the All-Star game his replacement should be Deron Williams.
• How does Minnesota lose to Boston again? It was a great game, but it would be nice if the Timberwolves could win a few more times.
• Here is a great article on sandwichs in America.
• Going to Mystic Lake tonight to play a little blackjack. It almost feels like Christmas in Mississippi.
• Big Love Season 2 wasn't as good as Season 1 in my opinion.
• Stewart Mandel's book is worth a read if you are in intersted in college football.
• Three people close to me (A Mom, a Brother-in-law, and a girlfriend have given me seperate copies of this Duke-Carolina book.

Duke vs. UNC

Congrats to my brother-in-law for getting a ticket and going to the game tonight at the Dean Dome.  For some reason (maybe the score 89-78) I think I would have had a better time in his seat.

• Overall it was a sloppy game and not something I would want to watch on ESPN Classic.
• As you are reading this Ty Hansbrough just fouled another Duke player thinking that the game wasn't over.
• Good job by the refs for calling Psycho T whenever he traveled.  Most refs are afraid of calling a foul on Hansbrough at Carolina.
• Why did I get flashbacks to the 2005 when Duke went up 8 with about 3 minutes?   I was glad that ESPN didn't show a shot of Marvin Williams.
• However, I wasn't happy that ESPN didn't show any shots of ugly Carolina girls crying after the game.
• Greg Paulus is such a frustrating player, but those 3 points shots were clutch.
• Welcome to UNC-Duke Taylor King.  Hopefully, King will play more than 3 minutes and not airball one of his 3s in his next game against the Tar Heels.
• Alex Van Pelt just said that Carolina has "obscene depth" expect at the point guard position.  I know that it is just slang, but I kind of like thinking of Carolina's team as being disgusting and repulsive.  
• At one point in the 2nd half Duke was shooting the same percentage from 3 pointers as from the free throw line.  They ended up the game still shooting under 60% from the free throw line and over 40% from the 3pt line.   On some free throws I felt like they should just have stepped back.
• UNC without Lawson isn't a top 10 ten team.  He makes Ellington, Green, and everyone else much better and without him you could see those players struggle.   The wrong player from UNC is being considered a National Player of the Year candidate. 
• During the first half I wondered if Carolina knew that shots behind the line on the permitter were worth three points.  They guarded Duke as if Duke had a front line of Carlos Boozer and Elton Brand.
• Great game Lance Thomas.   The block on Danny Green briefly reminded me of the Battier block on Joe Forte.
• Has there been a better sports week than Giants over Patriots and Duke over UNC?

I will leave you with this picture (no caption needed) which is currently on the home page of espn.com:

Current Duke compared to past Duke

Last night while watching the Duke-Maryland game I couldn't help but think to myself that the current group of Duke players remind me of former Duke players. Here are the comparisons:

• DeMarcus Nelson - Chris Carawell:
• 
  Carawell was an ACC player of the year who was a tough, physical player. He could shoot the ball well from beyond the arc, rebound well, and he improved year after year. Nelson has all of those qualities and has definitely shown a ton of improvement this year. He doesn't stand a chance of being named ACC player of the year (because Psycho T has it already has that locked up), but he is the leader of the team in a way that reminds me of Carawell in 2000. Both players are what scouts would call "tweeners" in the fact that they lack the height and/or speed to project out to the Nba.
• Kyle Singler - Mike Dunleavy:
• 
• It was difficult for me to come up with a comparison for Singler, but now thinking about it is almost too easy. Both Singler and Dunleavy are tall forwards from Oregon who are more comfortable on the perimeter than in the paint.
• Jon Scheyer - Chris Collins
• 
• While most people would want to compare Scheyer to JJ Redick it is not the best comparison. Redick was a star as a freshmen for Duke and went on to be one of the best players in ACC history. Scheyer is a good player, but not in Redick's tier. As for Collins comparison, both Collins and Scheyer are undersized (Collins is 6'3" and Scheyer is 6'3"), streaky shooters, who need good players around them to be successful. Collins was a career 38.8% three point shooter and so far in his career Scheyer is a 37.7% three point shooter. Both are very intelligent players who routinely made/make the correct read.
  
• Gerald Henderson - Ricky Price mixed with Grant Hill
• 
• I know this is kind of like writing a "Kia mixed with a Lexus", but let me try to justify my selections. All three players listed are the type of athletes that are tall, strong, fast, and not to be cliche can jump out of the gym. The sophomore year numbers for Henderson aren't too dissimilar to Price's sophomore year numbers. The points per game and assists per game are very similar. After his sophomore year though Price was a disaster. Because of Henderson's abilities and lineage, I can't imagine the same situation. The closer the comparison gets to Grant Hill and the farther away from Ricky Price, will ultimately determine how Henderson's career is remembered.
• Nolan Smith - William Avery:
• 
• After watching the Maryland game it is getting tough for me to reign in the optimism I have for Nolan Smith. If you guard him too close he will blow by you for a lay-up. If you don't guard him close enough he will knock down the outside shot. He is a 48% field goal shooter, who also shoots 80% from the line. With time I can see his 28% 3pt percentage going up since his shooting form looks above-average. Those freshmen year numbers are similar to Avery who shot 43% from the field, 74% from the line, and 30% from the 3 pt line during his freshmen year. Avery really made the leap his sophomore year where his numbers improved to 48%, 81%, and 41% respectively. I could definitely see the same type of leap next year for Smith. Lets just hope if that does happen that he doesn't turn pro like Avery did. My advice (which is worth next to nothing) is for Smith to stay in school and work on having a career like Daniel Ewing.
• Taylor King - a rich man's Lee Melchionni:
  
  
• Taylor King is a cocky shooter, whose goal in life seems to be to shoot as many 3 pointers as possible. I have compared him in the past to Kyle Korver and I still think that comparison is the best. Still if I had to pick a former Duke player I would pick the senior version of Lee Melchionni. Melchionni was an emotional left handed shooter (like King) who became a key player his senior year at Duke. He averaged 7.7 ppg, made 3 pointers at a 40% rate, and the majority of his shots (73%) were 3 pointers. King is averaging 8.6 ppg, makes 3 pointers at a 43.5% rate, and the majority of his shots (75%) have been 3 pointers. Also, both players average or did average less than 1 assist per game. When they are in the game they are supposed to take advantage of their strength and shoot the ball. Here is one more stat to show Taylor King's ability to score: If Taylor King played as many minutes (31.4 min/game) as Duke's leading scorer DeMarcus Nelson and scored at the same rate that he currently does then he would average 21.3 ppg or 44% more than Nelson's 14.8 ppg.


• Greg Paulus - Steve Wojciechowski, but he thinks he is Bobby Hurley
  
  
• I don't know if there has been a more frustrating player in Duke history than Greg Paulus. He could be a good point guard in the mold of his current assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski (career numbers: 5.4ppg, 38% - FG, 36% - 3pt), but unfortunately for him the hype had placed him at a Bobby Hurley level before he even played a game. He is inconsistent (not to sound like Joe Morgan) from play to play, game to game, and even season to season. If you check out his stats you will see a player who averaged the most points his sophomore year, the most assists his freshmen year, and the best assist/turnover ratio this year. The year he had his highest 3 pt % (last year) was also strangely the year he had his worst free throw percentage. His play of late (especially the Maryland game) makes me wonder if I am the only one who thinks the team would be off with Nolan Smith as the starting point guard? Still I have hope that the enigmatic Paulus will eventually live up to the hype.
• Lance Thomas - Antonio Lang: The FSN announcers from last night's game made this comparison, so I will give them credit. I don't remember much of Antonio Lang's career (I was only 11 when he graduated from college), but I can only hope that Thomas follows the same career path as Lang. Lang averaged 4.3, 6.4, 6.9 ppg before breaking out his senior year by averaging 12.5 ppg. Thomas averaged 4.0 ppg his freshmen year and so far has upped that slightly to 4.3 ppg.
• Brian Zoubek - Casey Saunders: They are both tall (Zoubek is 7'1" and Saunders is 6'11") and they both play UNC post players surprisingly well. Other than that there isn't much else to write.
• David McClure - Nick Horvath: This might be a poor comparison, but it is hard to find someone who is like McClure.
• Overall team - 2000 Duke basketball team: After the mass exodus of stars like Elton Brand, William Avery, Corey Maggette, and Trajan Langdon from the 1999 National runner up team, the 2000 Duke team had much lower expectations (think Florida this year) than normal Duke teams. They were lead by senior leader Chris Carawell, junior star Shane Battier, and a bunch of freshmen like Jason Williams, Mike Duneleavy Jr, and Carlos Boozer. The 2000 Duke team exceeded expectations by finishing 29-5 (15-1 in the ACC), winning the ACC tournament, and finishing the regular season ranked #1 overall. Unfortunately the year ended with the team losing in the Sweet Sixteen. The following year's team was able to win Duke's 3rd national title.
• The good news is that I could see this year's team finishing with a similar record and it isn't inconceivable to see them win the ACC tournament It is hard however to imagine them taking over the #1 ranking because Memphis and Kansas are playing so well right now, but a #1 seed is a possibility.
• The bad news is that I could see this Duke team losing in a Sweet Sixteen game to a team with an athletic front line. I am hoping to be proven wrong on this point since this team has been extremely fun to watch and have played better that preseason predictions. This team gives me the feeling that they are one year (and one Elton Brand/Carlos Boozer type post player) away from being special. Lets hope that if this team does suffer a disappointment like a Sweet Sixteen loss, that they are able to come back next year and win the national title like the 2001 Duke team.

Final note: Don't worry about me doing a UNC comparison mainly because I don't want to try and find a player like Tyler Hansbrough in UNC's history.