Duke suffered its first home loss in 41 games to Miami, 90-74, Jan. 13.
After the game, I tweeted “OVERRATED *clap clap clap clap clap* OVERRATED *clap clap clap clap clap* OVERRATED *clap clap clap clap clap* #Duke,” adding insult to injury to the No.4 Blue Devils. It was the team’s second straight double-digit loss to an unranked team — two days earlier, the Blue Devils lost 87-75 to NC State, so my jeers felt warranted. Duke was also on the ropes against Wake Forest in the game leading up to NC State.
Even the Associated Press had qualms about the Blue Devils after the Miami loss, saying, “Suddenly, fourth-ranked Duke looks a bit lost. The defense isn't there. The 3-point shots aren't falling. And its Hall of Fame coach senses a lack of confidence from his freshman-led team.”
Duke bounced back from their two losses by winning against No. 6 Louisville, Pittsburgh and Saint John’s to notch Coach K’s 1000th win. Duke lost to then No. 8 Notre Dame and kicked junior guard Rasheed Sulaimon off the roster to make the team even more freshman-led and finally made their three-point shots in the last 4:38 against Virginia. The Blue Devils might have proved the Associated Press wrong, but I wasn’t quite ready to retract my “overrated” tweet because in my biased opinion, Duke was lucky to have come out of Charlottesville with a win.
But the Blue Devils proved me wrong Saturday when they shot 81 percent from the floor in the first half and subsequently avenged their loss to Notre Dame just a week earlier with a 90-60 win. You’re not overrated if you win by 30 points against a top-10 team.
So I have since retracted my statement — Duke isn’t overrated, the ACC is just that good. With a team starting three freshmen, it isn’t surprising to see them struggle and lose to teams in arguably the best basketball conference in the nation. And that’s why a regular season exists. Over the course of a season, a team has a chance to learn from its mistakes and figure out how to maximize its full potential before the postseason.
Virginia basketball has gone through growing pains of its own, albeit from growing into a national powerhouse, not as a result of one-and-done players. The Cavaliers escaped Miami in two overtimes and fended off the hungry Wolfpack, the same two teams Duke lost to.
Before the NC State game was over, my Twitter feed was filled with angry Virginia fans demanding to know what was going on. The Cavaliers weren’t playing as badly as they had against Miami, so I wasn’t as worried about an upset. Of course, the logical thing for me to do as a noble Twitter user was to quell my followers’ fears and let them know that the ACC is a good basketball conference, and therefore that I wasn’t surprised NC State was playing so well. I was right because four days later, the Wolfpack finally got the upset they were scrounging for by devouring the Blue Devils.
More recently, the Cavaliers fought back from a ten-point deficit to Virginia Tech in the second half, were outscored 16-5 by Duke in the final four minutes of the game and allowed Louisville to shoot 52 percent in the second half after allowing only four first half buckets. This lack of offense and defense during the second half and end of the game has prompted Sports Illustrated to call it “Virginia’s potential fatal flaw.”
I’ll admit I was worried after reading that article, but the fact of the matter is Virginia won those games. They’re finally winning close games (to ranked teams too) instead of losing them like they did in years past. Last season, the Cavaliers lost six games by a margin of six points or less. Yes, closing out games is something the Cavaliers definitely need to work on if their ultimate goal is to win a national championship, but it is something they can definitely fix by season’s end.
Just look at the New England Patriots — everyone was freaking out after the Kansas City Chiefs blew them out. In the end, though, the Chiefs weren’t in the playoffs, and it was the Patriots who were hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the fourth time in 13 years at Super Bowl XLIV.
So to use another football reference, “R-E-L-A-X” Cavalier fans, let’s not jump to any conclusions. Duke showed doubters wrong and so can we — because it’s not over until the fat lady sings, and there are still plenty of games to play.
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