2008-09, BIG DUKE BALLS

The summer break is over, folks. It’s time to start paying attention. Don’t get me wrong, I never stop caring, but summertime is a time for love. The break allows me to be refreshed and ready to roll into the 2008-09. So let’s not waste a second of your prescious time and mine. Let’s get straight to the point about the 2008-2010 Duke Blue Devils season.

The REGULAR SEASON doesn’t matter anymore. That’s right, I said it. I dared to go there. I pride myself on being objective, even when it comes to the Devils. Nothing that happens in the regular season matters.

You see, the Devils are cursed with the same disease as the Dallas Cowboys in football and the New York Yankees of baseball – they do quite well in the regular season, but fall flat on their asses come post-season time.

Don’t get me wrong, I know the expectations are probably too high. Hell, we we’ve been to the Final Four twice in the last seven years. Most schools would kill their Biology Department to land in two Final Fours. But I’m a Duke fan, been one for 26 years, and failing to get into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament is not acceptable.

The regular season doesn’t matter. In fact, Duke should get off to anther hot start. They should have little problems winning 15 of their first 17 games, but the same point will be brought up over and over again — so what, show me what you can do in February and March.

Let’s go ahead and take a look at this upcoming season and see what we got with some good ole’ fashion QUICK HITS:

– Man, we have a lot of white guys. I just wanted to get that out of the way now.

– Love the early schedule. Two games at MSG, one probably against UCLA. Later they head to Jersey to take on Xavier and shockingly, they got a non-conference ROAD game at Purdue. If only they could get a couple more of those, life would be good.

– Living in NYC, I do get to see a couple live games a year. I paid a heavy price to land court side seats at the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament. I’ll also be attending the Xavier match up in Jersey, as well as the annual St. Johns game at the end of the season. I’ll be looking to get back to Durham, some time next year.

– The BIG story line: Nolan Smith in, Paulus out. Well, technically Greg’s not out, but he will spend his senior year coming off the bench. If I know Paulus at all (which I don’t), this will be a seamless move. He’s always been a team player and he knows how important a solid spark off the bench will be. There’s also no doubt he’ll still be in there during crunch time. Sure his D is lacking, but the guy will still knock down 40% of his 3’s, even with the new line. As for Smith, I have to assume he’s ready. Last season, he fell off more than anyone in the last month and a half, unable to hit a three or dish out an assist. This is his offense now.

– Henderson’s team. This may be Smith’s offense to run, but this is now Gerald’s team. He is Grant Hill, via 1994. If the Devils are down by one with seconds to go, the ball will be in Henderson’s hands. There is plenty of talent on this team, but only Gerald has the tools to be a future lottery pick (as far as I can tell now). When he is in his groove, he is simply smooth. There is little doubt that he’s not going to be an ALL-ACC player this year, with an outside shot of being an All-American. Yes, I think that highly of him.

– Deeeeep bench, but when and how will Coach K tighten it up at the end up the season? With a solid five starting for the Devils (Smith, Scheyer, Henderson, Singler and Plumlee), the Devils could go 10-deep early this season. Coming off the bench will be Paulus, Thomas, Zoubek, Elliott Williams, Olek Czyz, McClure and Pocius. Obviously Paulus and Williams will be the backfield back ups, with a solid rotation in the paint with Thomas and Zoubek. McClure and Czyz may end up being the odd-men out this year. McClure is the glue guy, but he needs to play offense. Czyz is such a mystery right now, so we’ll see where he’ll get his playing time. The big question I have is how healthy and ready is Pocius? He has the tools to be a solid backup to Henderson, but so far he has not lived up to the expectations.

– The ACC will be much better this year. Obviously UNC is #1. They will not lose the regular season title. Duke should again land #2, but there will be some great competition. Wake Forest has an amazing front court and although still young, they have a cupcake schedule heading into ACC play. They could be 12-3 when they face the Devils in late January. Another team to watch out for is Miami. The Canes are a cocky bunch and will have little fear when facing teams like UNC and Duke. Look for McClinton to give Hansborough a run for his money when it comes to ACC individual awards.

ACC PREDICTIONS:
#1 North Carolina – The D will struggle again, but they are clearly the best team.
#2 Duke – Doesn’t matter, it comes down to the tournament.
#3 Wake Forest – Strong, powerful and young.
#4 Miami – The U has the swagger.
#5 Clemson – They lost talent, but I love their coach.
#6 Virginia Tech – The Hokies will be better through subtraction this season.
#7 Maryland – Could Gary really be on the hot seat?
#8 NC State – They underperformed last year.
#9 Georgia Tech – They’ve been on a long slide since losing to UConn in the Finals.
#10 Boston College – Tyrese Rice belongs on a better team.
#11 Florida State – It looked so promising just two years ago.
#12 Virginia – They lose their best player and add nothing to impress.

FINAL FOUR & CHAMPIONSHIP PREDICTIONS YOU SHOULD COMPLETELY IGNORE:
Duke will be better, but they’re not going to the Final Four. Sorry, folks. Duke should win 22 games in the regular season, then lose to Carolina in the ACC tournament. Look for the Devils to make a nice run in the tournament, making an Elite Eight appearance.

So who’s going? A lot of people are predicting the top four teams. Even if they’re right, how lame. Let’s try to be more creative.

NORTH CAROLINA – They’re the best. They could beat a handful of NBA teams.
OKLAHOMA – In Blake Griffin we trust.
UCLA – Yep, they are the Buffalo Bills of college basketball.
TENNESSEE –  A perfect blend of veteran talent and impressive rookies coming in.

2008-2009 CHAMPION: The UCLA Bruins. It’s official, the hump will be gotten over. They lost Love and Westbrook, but the backfield remains solid and Drew Gordon will fill-in nicely for Love. The Bruins will take down Carolina in the title game.