Tag Archives: Ryan Kelly

Miles Plumlee Dunked on Kyle Singler

1:36 seconds into the video (below) Miles Plumlee takes a ball from Kyle Singler and dunks over everything. Miles Plumlee is an unstoppable force. Hell, just watch the entire video and savor that brilliant tournament. The 09-10 NCAA Tournament is probably my favorite sporting event of all time. I expected another early Sweet 16 exit but the Devils used brilliant defense combined with the “Big Three” and beat all comers. Once Lance Thomas half-dunked over the entire Baylor team I felt like we had a fantastic chance to make the final four. My nerves were firing during the Butler game and I still couldn’t believe how close Hayward’s last shot was. If his shot had gone in I would’ve quit sports forever. During March Madness highlights we would no longer see Christian Laettner banging his magical jumper, we would see Gordon Hayward knocking down a clutch half-court shot after Kyle Singler was illegally leveled by Matt “The Creeper” Howard. Enough reminiscing, we’ve got work to do.

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The Youngest Plumblebee

(Editor’s note: for the foreseeable future, Marc is on “the Plumlee beat.” Enjoy him every Tuesday)

Ladies and Gentlemen… let me introduce Marshall Plumleeeeeeeeeeee! Standing at a towering 6″11′ with a weight of 225 pounds he is ready to dunk over the entire universe. I’m disappointed that Duke lists him at 6’11” because we all know the fear a seven footer strikes into the heart of opponents. That extra inch changes everything. A seven footer is a majestic rarity. Someone who is 6’11” is just another regular Joe running into door frames and cabinets.

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LIVE BLOG: The first (televised) (exhibition) game of the season!

Okay, I am here. The game is on tv. I’m trying to infuse myself with some November excitement. No, screw that- MARCH excitement.

Don’t miss my Duke in China primer on Grantland, or the bonus content on this very site. Here’s a semi-appropriate blurry picture:

I’ll be time stamping by time remaining in each quarter. If you’re watching between 8 and 10 eastern, refresh for new content.

First quarter

8:04: Miles Plumlee with the first basket on a tip-in! There’s a lot of music playing during the game, and I guess every quarter is ten minutes long.

7:30: Seth Curry with a bomb! This is fun! Basketball!

7:15: Announcers are already saying China gets all the calls. A player they call “an excellent distance shooter” misses two free throws. White Raven with a vicious board, and Rivers gets a hoop plus harm. I think we’re all going to like that partnership.

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Duke Twitter Rankings: The Kendall Marshall Challenge

Today, in advance of Duke’s first games in China, I’m introducing a new feature. The premise is simple- I evaluate the twitter accounts of every Duke basketball player for the past week, list the highlights, and give them an entertainment score out of 10. Here’s the official logo:

The word I would use to describe my rating system is “holistic.” There are no formulas, no science, just the feeling I get in my gut. Here’s where it gets really tough: whoever wins the week with the highest score will have to face Kendall Marshall, who reliably has some of the strangest, funniest, and weirdest tweets of any athlete I’ve come across. If a Dukie can do the unthinkable and take him down, the Tobacco Road Twitter Belt will be theirs.

Now, in order from worst to first, here’s how the week played out in the twitter world of Duke basketball.

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The Photoshops

New readers –

This is launch week on Tobacco Road Blues, the new site dedicated to Duke and UNC sports. All week, we’re going to be running two of the ‘greatest hits’ from Seth Curry Saves Duke!, our previous blog, every day. The new content begins on Monday the 15th.

Today’s morning post is actually a compilation of all the “graphic illustrations” produced in the last year. I put that term in quotes because using it without them would probably insult anyone who did actual graphic illustrations. A great professor named Bart Wojdynski taught me how to use Adobe Illustrator at some point in February, probably thinking I would use the knowledge for something educational or morally uplifting. Didn’t happen. Everything that follows is crude, and the bias level is high in a way that will be less typical of TRB. Enjoy.

-Shane

 

My first effort, the “Choose Your ACC Team” flowchart, done in early January

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The 2009 Duke Season Preview!

New readers –

This is launch week on Tobacco Road Blues, the new site dedicated to Duke and UNC sports. All week, we’re going to be running two of the ‘greatest hits’ from Seth Curry Saves Duke!, our previous blog, every day. The new content begins on Monday the 15th.

Today’s afternoon post was written on November 13th, 2009, as Duke prepared to play its first game against UNC-Greensboro. It was the season preview for the basketball team that went on to win the national title. I’m including this one because while going through my old posts, I couldn’t help but notice the first sentence under the “prognosis” section:

There’s no way this team contends for a title.

Even back then, my predicting instincts were keen. Enjoy.

-Shane

The Duke Basketball Preview

Let’s get (deep, restorative breath)….pumped.

First, hot off the presses, one of our starters is out with a broken wrist. His name is Mason Plumlee (younger brother of current Dukie Miles), and he looks like this: Continue reading

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