This article has been submitted by The Seven Foot Punjabi Giant Stu Wilkinson.
Super Bowl XLII was pretty awesome (Eli! Plex!), but if you’re like me, two things are true. First, you’re really really good looking. Second, you know the real pinnacle of athletic competition didn’t happen this past Sunday in Arizona, but will take place this Wednesday in the Dean Dome. That’s right folks, it’s Duke against North Carolina in another instalment of the best rivalry in sports. My world will shut down for two hours on Wednesday night for this battle, and I hope yours will too. If the high poll spots that both teams currently occupy can’t convince you to tune into the game (it’s on The Score) don’t worry – by the end of this fairly well-written piece you’ll be ready to run through a wall just to see this game.
Below are, in my eyes, five of the most important storylines or “things to watch” for the game. Once you’ve read this, you’ll be ready to watch Duke travel to North Carolina for what’s sure to be another memorable game in the rivalry that makes Yankees – Red Sox look like Bill Simmons – Gregg Easterbrook.
1. Either Duke or UNC will win the ACC
Duke and UNC are almost always at the top of their conference, but usually another couple teams can be looked at as contenders for the crown. This season that is not the case at all – teams like Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and Boston College have all faded from the ACC Championship picture. Maryland gave Duke a good game and UNC a tough home loss, but the Terps are just too inconsistent (losses to Ohio and American, overtime with Northeastern) to be labelled as serious contenders. I wouldn’t want to play them in the ACC Tournament in March, but their regular season title hopes are practically non-existent. The moral of this story is that while others come and go, Duke and UNC aren’t going to be leaving their thrones anytime soon, which is why their games are always so intense. Neither side can afford to lose any ground to the other in the standings.
2. Ty Lawson (Starting PG, UNC) may not play
That’s right, the heir to Ray Felton’s throne is doubtful with an ankle. Although I haven’t seen him play a lot this year, I know from experience that Lawson is a key cog in the UNC machine. This season he’s averaging 14 points and 6 assists per game while shooting 54%, despite hitting at a disappointing 36% clip from three. His value to the team is even greater now that Bobby Frasor, the backup point guard for the Heels, is out for the year with a knee. With their top two point guards out, the Heels may be in trouble when they run up against Duke’s hand-check-happy pressure defence. Senior Quentin Thomas, who was last seen turning the ball over at every given opportunity in the Carrier Dome during UNC’s title run in 2005, may start at point guard by default. Maybe he’s gotten better since then. Then again, maybe not.
3. Duke’s back
I hate to see it happen, but Duke’s back, and they don’t need that gaudy AP ranking to prove it. The defense was there for the Blue Devils last year, and this year the offence has decided to join the party, to the dismay of college basketball fans everywhere. Ken Pomeroy, my go to guy for college hoops numbers (check it), has Duke drastically improving their ball handling and shooting on the offensive end. Give credit to the whole team for the improvement in both areas, but save special pats on the back for Jon Scheyer, Greg Paulus, and newcomer Kyle Singler. Also, give a high-five to Taylor King, who is knocking down threes with reckless abandon.
4. Duke’s soft
As a Carolina fan I feel like I have to dump on Duke after that last paragraph, so here it goes. I saw Duke’s only loss this season – they went to Madison Square Garden to play the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, and somehow parlayed an awful first half by Pitt into an exhilarating overtime win for the Panthers. Now how exactly did this happen? For starters, Duke’s big guys were absolutely punished by DeJuan Blair, Pitt’s 6’7” big man who was garnering comparisons to Karl Malone from ESPN’s announcing crew by the time the game was over. DeJuan Blair is a bad bad man, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think he’s at the “next Karl Malone” stage of his career quite yet. All he is right now is a tremendously long and athletic post player with a terrific motor and tremendous upside potential (what’s up now Jay Bilas?!). The bottom line is that Duke’s post players got out-muscled and out-hustled by a formidable post presence, especially on the boards.Just to drive this point home, I’ll throw some more Ken Pomeroy at you. Duke ranks 107th in the country in terms of letting up offensive rebounds to opposition teams. North Carolina ranks 1st in the country in terms of getting offensive boards. Unless Kyle Singler’s been on the juice for the past couple of months, I could see this weakness down low being a problem for Duke. Especially because of story number five…
5. This guy’s probably going to be just a little fired up (check it).
This article has been submitted by The Seven Foot Punjabi Giant Stu Wilkinson.
#1 by TSmith on February 4th, 2008
you are half right on this one big cat
unc-duke is the biggest rivalry in AMERICAN sports
but for the title of best blood feud in general in all of sports, its got to be the OLD FIRM (Celtic-Rangers) in Scottish soccer…look it up if you need to for anyone out there. to say that ascends beyond sports and entertainment does it no justice whatsoever. it would be accurate to describe that rivalry as a clash of cultures, of ways of life, and of answers to the universe
oh, and even as a guy that bleed carolina blue and has seen games and played at bball camps at both sites, REAL duke-unc games are made at Cameron Hall, the hellspot that it is
#2 by Blake Murphy on February 4th, 2008
smells like we should do a top rivalries concept at some point. here are my top 5 rivalries:
1) hulk hogan vs. randy savage
2) colorado 14ers vs. idaho stampede
3) east coast rap vs. west coast rap
4) jay z vs. diamond dallas page
5) alex pennycook vs. stu wilkinson
#3 by stu on February 4th, 2008
Although I agree that Cameron Indoor is the best setting for this rivalry, I also feel obliged to point out that two of its most heated moments in recent years have occured in the Dean Dome: Henderson elbowing Hansbrough last year and some sort of scuffle going on between coaches and players back in the Matt Doherty days.
#4 by Anonymous on February 4th, 2008
Does anyone know if Greg Paulus ever played QB in high school?
#5 by Blake Murphy on February 5th, 2008
Just to clarify, Stu wrote that, but I forgot to add my usual italicized tag line at the start & finish. My apologies.
#6 by d-rob on February 6th, 2008
Paulus played QB at CBA in the Syracuse. Apparently the guy was a stud, was 5 star QB had major offers in particular Notre Dame. However, he commmited to Duke early and that ended any more football recruitment for him.
As for the game this Wednesday, as a UNC fan i am pissed Lawson’s out and QT’s gonna have to play 30+ minutes which is bad news against Duke’s pressure d. The guy has improved since the 05′ title run but he still makes me nervous. What’s even more startling is that Ginyard’s probably gonna see minutes at the point. Overall I certainly don’t like our chances without Lawson/Frasor. Hopefully Lawson’s healthy come UNC-Duke Pt.2in Durham.