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Chris Duhon's struggles are a main reason for Duke's decline.
AP
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Wake Forest
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Duke
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Maryland
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Georgia Tech
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Virginia
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N.C. State
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North Carolina
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Clemson
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Florida State
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14
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Consecutive Duke wins over Wake Forest, a streak the Demon Deacons hope to end Thursday night in Winston-Salem. Duke's longest active winning streak against an ACC team is 15 over Clemson. |
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"We have not played all that scintillating on defense against Duke. They scored 100-some against our team, and 90-some here last year. They shot 65 percent and 53 percent from 3s. We might have to get Colin Powell to talk to our guys about defense. Or maybe Donald Rumsfeld. He's the Secretary of Defense, right? We haven't done very well on defense against them."
-- Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser. |
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Tim Peeler, Special to SI.com
It's an unusual season of parity in the ACC, which is shaping up to have the closest regular-season race since 1995, when four teams finished tied for first place with identical 12-4 league records.
Heading into Wednesday night's games, there are only two games separating the top six teams in the ACC standings, with nearly half a season left to play.
That's extremely refreshing for some people, after seeing Duke and
Maryland dominate the ACC standings for the last five years or so. The two most recent NCAA champions have won or shared with someone else the regular-season championship the last six years (Duke from 1997-2001, sharing one year with North Carolina, and Maryland last season).
Now, with Wake Forest leading the standings, there is something a little fresh and different about the league race. But is it good for the league?
Well, last year we were talking about how having two teams dominate the league so thoroughly was bad for the perception of the league, which has struggled in recent years to get large numbers of teams into the NCAA tournament. Only once in the last four years has the ACC sent more than four teams to the tournament.
That's because Duke and Maryland dominated everyone in the league and only a couple of teams could rise up in the standings to qualify. That turned out good for the league in the long run, since the Blue Devils and Terrapins ended up dominating the NCAA tournament, too, with Duke winning the title in 2001 and Maryland in 2002.
But that's probably not going to happen this year, as the league has been restructured because of early departures and the influx of new stars, not all of whom have gone to the power teams.
So the talent is spread around the league a little more, making for a tighter league race. Wake Forest has only two league losses at this point, but there's a good chance the ACC's regular-season champ will finish with more than four, which hasn't happened since 1985.
"I think there is more balance this year," said Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser, whose team sits atop the league standings heading into Thursday night's game against Duke.
Virginia coach Pete Gillen agreed, saying it's a better situation than the last couple of years.
"We don't have a great, great team, but I think we have some tremendous teams, a couple of top 10 teams and a couple that I think are in the top 25," Gillen said. ""I think it is a much better league this year. Before, we had some superpowers, Maryland and Duke. … They pounded everybody and won every game, they finished the season 15-1 or 14-2. I think it is much better now where anybody can beat anybody, on any given night."
The NCAA tournament selection committee might not see it that way, figuring it's not a good idea to reward what might be perceived as mediocrity, something that makes Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski spit nails.
"My feeling is that the league is incredibly balanced and really good,"
Krzyzewski said. "Our non-conference record is terrific [79-20, best of any league in the country]. …
"I believe we should get six or seven teams in the NCAA tournament, because we are beating each other up. The last few years we have been penalized because we have had a couple of dominant teams and everyone says that the other teams must not be that good. Well, they are good and they are showing it this year. I think this is one of the most exciting and interesting years in the ACC, as a result of all the balance."
It could turn out, as Prosser said earlier this week, that Maryland and Duke do rise back to the top of the standings. Both teams still have a lot of experience (Maryland has started as many as five seniors, and Duke starts two juniors and two seniors most of the time), which is a lot of players who know how to win when the postseason rolls around.
But this year, the rest of the ACC is learning a little about it too, as we grind through the regular season.
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With Rashad McCants sitting out because of a bad back and a questionable attitude, fellow freshman David Noel, a walk-on, has stepped into his starting spot and building confidence.
Noel was more widely known as a wide receiver at Southern High School in Durham, N.C. He had several offers to play Division I-A football, including for John Bunting's team at UNC.
But he opted to play basketball instead, and the 6-foot-6 swing player is starting to contribute in McCants' place.
He's been in the starting lineup the past three games, averaging 14.7 points and 6.3 rebounds. In the previous 19, Noel averaged only 3.1 points and 1.8 rebounds, and scored in double figures only once.
The athletic Noel has played exceptional defense in his time on the court, and he had a great game when he returned to his hometown last week to play Duke, playing 37 minutes and scoring a season-high 19 points with seven rebounds and two steals.
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HOT: ACC balance
Only two games separate the top six teams. After a couple of years of
domination by Duke and Maryland, it's good to see a real race in the league
again.
NOT: Maryland
How quickly it changes. After being called "hot" last week, the Terps went out and lost twice, to Virginia and Georgia Tech, and became the first of the league's top six teams to lose a home game.
HOT: Virginia center Travis Watson
Has had double-figure points and rebounds in the past five games, and is leading the ACC in rebounding with 10.6 boards per game; his play has helped the once-struggling Cavs win four of their last five games.
NOT: North Carolina's Rashad McCants
The one-time leading scorer in the ACC has scored two points in the Tar
Heels' last two games, going 1-for-15 from the field and 0-for-6 from
3-point range and dropping to 17th in the league in scoring.
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Did North Carolina State even try to figure out some way to get a shot off in the final seconds against Virginia?
The Wolfpack, who twice led by as many as nine points in the second half, were trailing 61-58 late in the game and had the ball for the final half minute.
Never mind that the Wolfpack went for a 3-pointer early in that possession, instead of trying to get an easy basket inside and forcing the Cavaliers to hit free throws. State junior Marcus Melvin took a 3-pointer to tie with 20 seconds remaining.
His shot missed, but was rebounded by teammate Julius Hodge, the team's leading scorer. The Pack called timeout with 12.4 seconds to play.
Sendek drew up a play for a sidelines inbounds pass, but when his team went onto the floor, the ball was inbounded on the baseline. That left the Wolfpack players confused, and no one seemed to want to take a potential game-tying shot.
Hodge finally did. His off-balanced, running 3-pointer as time expired came close, but missed the mark.
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 Virginia's Travis Watson
With 14 rebounds against North Carolina State, Watson became the second player in
Virginia history and the 26th player in ACC history to reach 1,000 career rebounds; he's on pace to finish his career in the league's top 15 all time.
North Carolina's Jawad Williams
The sophomore forward has taken over as the team's leading scorer, averaging 21.0 points and 6.5 rebounds in the Tar Heels' last three games.
Florida State freshman Benson Callier
After scoring a total of 15 points in 19 games, the freshman shooter
came in for Tim Pickett and scored 13 points in 20 minutes of action against
North Carolina, as the Seminoles came within a point of winning in Chapel
Hill.
Duke's Casey Sanders
Grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds against Clemson, breaking his personal best of eight.
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Duke has a tough week coming up, playing at Wake Forest on Thursday night, then traveling to Virginia for a 9 p.m. game on Saturday. That's a fast turnaround for a team that has only won once on the road this year.
Thursday's game could determine who is in first place in the ACC. If Wake Forest prevails and Maryland manages to win at Florida State, the Demon Deacons would have a full game advantage on the rest of the league.
If Duke wins -- and it has beaten Wake Forest 14 straight times in this
series -- and the Terps beat the Seminoles, then the Blue Devils and
Terrapins would be tied for first place in the league.
But that could all change in just a few hours since the Blue Devils have to turn around immediately and play in Charlottesville, where they have lost the last two years.
"It's a little tougher," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Hopefully, our kids can do a good job with that situation."
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Wake Forest freshman Justin Gray returned to practice Tuesday wearing a protective face mask for his broken jaw. He has been cleared to play by team doctors in Thursday night's game against Duke. Gray has been out of action since breaking the jaw late in the Deacons' 74-55 loss to the Blue Devils on Jan. 12. "I have no idea whether he will be able to play Thursday," Wake coach Skip Prosser said. "It will be a matter of how he practices Tuesday and Wednesday." He will likely have to wear the protective mask if he does play against Duke. … North Carolina freshman Sean May will be re-examined Friday to see if he is about ready to return from the broken left foot that has kept him out since late December. … If Virginia can beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill Wednesday night, it will give the Cavaliers a four-game winning streak over the Tar Heels, the longest for Virginia over UNC since the Cavs won five straight from 1918-1920. … Virginia point guard Majestic Mapp, back after a nearly three-year absence for knee injuries, played a season-high 21 minutes against N.C. State and has seen more and more action with the suspension of sophomore guard Keith Jenifer. … Georgia Tech has won three of its last four games and seven of its last 10 to move into a three-way tie for fourth place in the league. But don't call the Yellow Jackets a contender just yet: Four of their next six games are on the road, and Paul Hewitt's team hasn't won on an opposing team's court so far this season. … Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski named senior Dahntay Jones and redshirt junior Nick Horvath as team captains on Tuesday, joining junior point guard Chris Duhon, who had been the Blue Devils' only captain.
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