My official thoughts on #903 are coming later today at Grantland, and I’ll link them here. For now, let me give you a synopsis:
-Coach K is amazing.
-Andre Dawkins is a badass.
-Austin Rivers is a work in progress, but last night was ugly.
-The Plumlees are about as bad as we could ever imagine.
-This team is probably not #6 in the country.
Like I said, a lot more coming later. Now, quick fall sports updates.
Women’s Soccer:
1. The Duke women beat Radford with ease in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They’ll face Georgia in Round Two Friday night at home. Duke, a 1-seed, will have homefield advantage through the quarterfinals if they keep winning.
2. The UNC women posted a 3-0 victory over William & Mary. They’ll face Baylor in Florida Friday afternoon, and will likely meet Florida, a 2-seed, if they reach the Sweet 16.
Men’s Soccer:
1. Duke lost in the semifinals of the ACC tournament to Boston College, and will face Georgia State in the NCAA first round at home tomorrow night.
2. After winning the ACC tournament, UNC is a 1-seed with a first round bye. The Heels will play at home against Elon or Coastal Carolina Sunday night.
Field Hockey:
1. Duke lost in the Elite 8 to Old Dominion, the #2 overall seed.
2. UNC, the best team in the country, is in the Final Four. A rematch with Maryland, who they’ve met in the championship game the past two years (lost in 2010, won in 2009), is looking very possible.
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Michigan St. shot themselves in the foot fouling Mason so much. Never seen a guy with so little offensive game draw so many fouls.
Also, it is impossible not to like Seth Curry.
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Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins are going to be a handful this year. Duke would be better off if Austin Rivers passed the ball to one of these two on every possession. I think this year is going to be one of the biggest tests of Coach K’s coaching ability. If he can make his guard rotation mesh, Duke will be outstanding. If not, it could be ugly.
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Nasty, I thought Nix killed them with dumb fouls and missing easy buckets in Duke’s spurt at the start of the first half. He literally almost backed Mason out of bounds over and over, but couldn’t convert the layup.
Nick, I think Austin will come around, but I’m not convinced the Plumlees are good enough to give us a legitimate shot to be outstanding.