It’s getting closer.
The feeling is similar to being in Times Square or your friend’s house, staring at that crystal ball and screaming at the top of your lungs, “3! 2! 1! Happy New year!”
After narrowly escaping Wake Forest in Winston-Salem on an outstanding second half effort by Senior Quinn Cook, Coach K is 3 wins away from his 1,000th win as a college coach. 73 from his five-year tenure with Army. 924 wins with Duke since taking over in 1980.
Jan 7, 2015; Winston-Salem, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski yells at his players during the second half against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Duke defeated Wake Forest 73-65. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Yet, even after 997 wins, there’s something about this particular Duke team that’s stands out. Aside from the stud freshmen, last night, the Blue Devils avoided dropping five of their last six ACC road openers. Even when they were down, the senior guard decided to step up for his teammates.
Quinn Cook said it perfectly to the Associated Press, “This team’s tough. Together. We don’t want to lose.”
The next game will be another tough battle at N.C. State on the 11th, followed by a home game on the 13th against Miami. If the Blue Devils win both of these match-ups, it’ll set up the potential milestone at the house of the ACC’s newest member, #5 Louisville, on the 17th.
How fitting. Coach K against Rick Pitino. Raise your hand if you’ve heard that one before.
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The last time these two teams met was in the Elite Eight of the 2013 NCAA Tournament. You might remember that game for a gruesome injury. Hopefully Coach K remembers it for the 22-point loss.
Let’s assume Duke beats N.C. State and Miami for a moment and take a quick look at next Saturday’s match-up between two powerhouse and storied programs. The match-up this time around could not be more equal.
At first glance, Duke and Louisville are very similar. Duke is a little deeper with three players on the bench able to play significant minutes in Rasheed Sulaimon, Matt Jones, and Marshall Plumlee. Louisville has one in either Forward/Centers Chinanu Onuaku or Mangok Mathiang, and then a few others that play a handful of minutes to give the other players a rest. With both teams, their starting five’s carry the bulk of the load.
The Cardinals are as trigger happy from three-point land as are the Blue Devils. Last night, Louisville shot 6-24 from beyond the arc in a win at home against Clemson. They’ll have to shoot better than that if they want to beat the Blue Devils. Duke drained 8 of 18 3’s against Wake Forest.
Justise Winslow will go up against Senior Guard/Forward Wayne Blackshear. Winslow is averaging 12.7 points and 5.1 rebounds through 15 games, Blackshear is at 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Jan 3, 2015; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski talks to guard Tyus Jones (5) in their game against the Boston College Eagles at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports
Guards Tyus Jones and Quinn Cook will have to deal with an equally excellent back court in Sophomore Terry Rozier and Senior Chris Jones. Jahlil Okafor may run into his defensive match in Junior Forward Montrezl Harrell.
The key to this game for Duke will be Amile Jefferson. Louisville’s one weak spot is the offensive presence from Mathiang and Onuaku. Okafor may switch with Jefferson and guard those two with Amile on Harrell, but either way the Blue Devils’ front court will need to take advantage of the two Louisville players’ reluctancy to score.
The Cardinals will try to use the three upperclassmen’s experience to their advantage. However, as it’s been all season, that shouldn’t deter the Blue Devils and the three freshmen from their game plan.
Every Duke fan, student, alumni and former player can be ecstatic about Coach K’s upcoming achievement. And this team is certainly one that everyone can get behind for helping him climb to the top of a mountain that no other men’s college basketball coach has ever reached.