Duke Basketball

I'm not a big Duke basher. Never have been. One reason could be that Louisville hasn't played them since beating them for the 1986 Championship. I guess if UL was 1-6 against them since beating them for an NCAA basketball title (like another local college team), I might be more critical. I'm not going to hate them because they win. I wish Louisville had been as successful in the past 15 years. It's tough for me to hate Mike Krzyzewski. He's a West Point grad who was the first ACC coach to really stand up to the most irritating, sanctimonious coach to ever grace the sidelines - Dean Smith. We're talking about the man who took the "stall" and called it the Four Corners Offense. Everyone else called it boring. He always seemed to think he was special and above every other coach, whether it was name-calling opposing players or thinking he could stop the game whenever he wanted. He's also the guy who turned down his alma mater, Kansas, when they asked him to come back and coach the Jayhawks. Said he wanted to stay with the program that he built at North Carolina. Yet, when it came to Roy Williams, he shamed him into dumping the Kansas program that he had spent 15 years at in order to return to North Carolina, simply because Smith wanted him to continue his legacy. So, I have a tough time believing Smith ever did anything that wasn't for his own benefit.

So, if I have such disdain for the Tarheels, it makes it tough to really dislike Duke. In fact, I still can't figure out why white players at Duke are so hated especially by other white people. Ferry, Laettner, Hurley, Wojo and Redick have been despised, but not Hill, Dawkins, Deng or Brand. However, I cannot believe how bad ESPN got with the latest Duke-North Carolina game. Really, three different channels showing three different angles. Please. To begin with, I've never thought much of the Cameron Crazies. They pass out cheer sheets (so much for spontaneity) which means I could care less about having a camera stuck in with them. I realize ESPN has the ACC contract and Duke is a big draw, but this is way too much. They don't seem to realize perception is quickly becoming reality. I've always thought Dick Vitale should have been pulled from Duke games the moment he said Duke was his favorite team (for the record, I don't think he should call UL games because of his business relationship with Rick Pitino in horse racing). ESPN is a national network which shouldn't have a homer calling games. It's gotten so bad that one of the more objective basketball analysts is Dookie Jay Bilas. How can anyone look at it as anything other than ESPN being Duke's home network?

Other college basketball quick hits:
Does it make sense to anyone that the NCAA is supposed to be helping student-athletes by punishing schools for low graduation rates? To begin with, I've always looked at college athletes as adults, so their success or failure academically is up to them, just like it is for any other college student. However, does taking away the number of scholarships benefit the student-athlete since it means fewer scholarships available?

I can't believe that Rick Pitino has indicated that UL would pass on the NIT because Freedom Hall probably wouldn't be available for home dates. I never really believe anything he says, but if he's being honest, he's stupid. He's blamed the team's problems this year on inexperience (the same problem Carolina and Kansas are supposed to have), so why wouldn't he want extra games?

One of the most laughable things I heard was during the UK-LSU game. The commentators were saying how much the lineup change had benefited UK as Brandon Stockton started instead of Rajon Rondo (among others). Please. UK was down 12-4 when the good players came in. Considering LSU's lack of depth means all their games are close, a better start could have made a difference.

I thought Cincinnati firing Bob Huggins the way they did was garbage. The timing (at the beginning of the school year) was designed to get rid of him, but not the players. That left former assistant/interim head coach Andy Kennedy in a lousy position - win in turmoil even though your connection to Huggins means you likely won't be considered for the job. He's done a great job, but I hope he doesn't get it full time. I hope another team gives him a chance that doesn't have the crap administration that Cincinnati does.

The irony is that I heard back when Huggins was fired that Kennedy was to be an interim coach with the expectation that former Xavier coach Skip Prosser would come back to Cincinnati. Might be a harder sell now that his present team, Wake Forest, has done a backflip into the toilet and are 12th in the ACC.

Speaking of Wake Forest, am I the only one who thinks former Wake (and present South Carolina) coach Dave Odom looks like the dad from Alf?