There's
that conspiracy theory.
Duke was given the No. 1 seed and put in the less-than-potent
South region by the NCAA Selection Committee so that Coach K and
the Blue Devils would cruise to the Final Four.
Or at least get past the Sweet 16 – something that
hasn't happened in the last five years.
Duke just hasn't been, well, Duke over the better part of the
last decade.
There was that national championship banner hung in Cameron
in 2001 by a potent group that included Jay Williams, Shane
Battier, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy.
However, Mike Kryzewski has reached the Final Four just once
since – in 2004 when the Blue Devils lost to UConn in the
national semifinals.
The last few years haven't been prosperous come the
postseason for Coach K and his program.
There were a pair of Sweet 16s in 2005 and 2006 followed by
the first-round exit to VCU, a loss to West Virginia in the second
round in 2008 and another Sweet 16 appearance last season.
Things weren't supposed to be any different this year.
At the start of the season, no one figured that the Dukies
would have a legitimate chance to get to Indianapolis. Not after
losing Gerald Henderson Jr., early to the NBA and also watching
Elliott Williams, who moved into the starting lineup midway through
last season, return home to Memphis to be closer to his mother, who
is battling cancer.
Coach K still had Kyle Singler, a potential first-team
All-American, and Jon Scheyer, who made the transition to the point
guard spot last season after Nolan Smith and Greg Paulus were
unable to handle the role.
Good college players, but not exactly the likes of Williams,
Battier, Boozer and Dunleavy.
And there wasn't much else in terms of proven commodities.
There was 7-footer Brian Zoubek, fellow senior Lance Thomas
and the unproven Plumlee brothers – sophomore Miles and
freshman Mason – along the frontline.
That group of bigs didn't exactly make opponents cringe.
Smith, who averaged 8.4 points per game a year ago and has
never been a big-time scorer, would need to get at least 15 per
game playing off the ball as Scheyer's backcourt mate.
But that was it as far as true guards were concerned.
Scheyer and Smith were the team's only legitimate guards --
in fact, the only two scholarship players who checked in at under
6-foot-7.
It was so bad, in fact, that Coach K and his staff had to be
creative to get shooting guard Andre Dawkins, who was supposed to
be playing this season at Atlantic Shores Christian in Chesapeake,
Va., enrolled a year early.
Duke and North Carolina were tabbed as co-favorites to enter
the ACC in the preseason.
We've all seen the train wreck that's gone on down the road
in Chapel Hill as the defending national champions couldn't get out
of their own way and wound up making the NIT.
The Blue Devils have gone the other direction, winning 29
games already, beating Georgia Tech to win the ACC tournament and
also earning a share of the league regular-season title.
"This is the best team we've had since I've been here," said
Scheyer, a senior. "It's the best defensive and rebounding team
we've had. We have big guys so we don't have to use so much energy
scrapping for the ball like we've done in the past."
Smith has turned into a legitimate scorer, Singler has begun
to re-discover his game and the committee of frontcourt guys has
been much better than expected.
It all came together well enough to get a No. 1 seed along
with powers Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse.
But Duke was clearly fourth in the pecking order, which has
led to a minor uproar over the fact that Coach K's team may have
been bestowed a gift with a nicely paved road to the Final Four.
The Blue Devils drew a No. 2 seed in Villanova that has
limped, not danced, into the tourney having lost five of their last
seven. The third-seeded Baylor Bears are talented, but unproven and
No. 4 Purdue is a shell of itself due to Robbie Hummel's
season-ending knee injury late last month.
"I've heard some stuff," Scheyer said. "It's hard to avoid,
but we're trying not to listen. There's no easy road to the Final
Four."
It may not be easy, but it's possible.
The Dukies could be back.
