As expected Wall goes #1

As predicted John Wall went to the Washington Wizards. Wall is the first ever Kentucky player to be drafted #1 overall.

The top 5 should be no surprise:
1- John Wall
2- Evan Turner
3- Derrik Favors
4- Wesley Johnson
5- DeMarcus Cousins

There were some surprises like Gordon Hayward going as high as 9 to the Jazz and Jon Scheyer and Brian Zoubek not even being drafted after starting for the National Champion Duke Blue Devils. We will cover more on Zoubek and Scheyer tomorrow, but apparently Utah Jazz fans are very displeased with their draft pick in Hayward. A chorus of boos reverberated throughout the building as Hayward's name was called. Jazz General manager Kevin O'Conner told fans that their attitude would change in two years. Another interesting story of the draft was the Chicago Bulls and their move to open up space. The Bulls traded away guard Kirch Hinrich to the Washington Wizards and they also gave Washington their 17th draft pick Kevin Seraphin,a 6-9 , 20 -year-old forward form France. This move helped open up some $30 million. Possible players the Bulls may try to get with that money include Lebron James, DeWayne Wade, and Chris Bosh. It was a very interesting draft and the Lebron James drama will continue to heighten.

Duke @ Maryland Tonight: 9ET on ESPN

Maybe the most emotional game this year so far for both teams. Both are contending for the regular season ACC Championship, it is senior night for Vasquez, it's a big rivalry, Duke wants that #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and all Duke fans should remember when Dave Neal knocked out Nolan Smith on a screen giving him a concussion. Duke fans will always remember that because after knocking him out, Neal drained a wide open three. The next possession Gerald Henderson came storming down the lane and had his most defining dunk of maybe is career yelling and standing up for his teammate Nolan Smith. The person who will remember it the most is Nolan Smith, and Maryland is also home to him, so look for a huge game out of Nolan Smith. Vasquez and Scheyer will be a fun matchup as both point guards stand at 6-4 and 6-5. It will also be interesting to see if Maryland can match Duke bigs tonight, that's gonna be the biggest mismatch tonight. Call your friends up because this game will have so much passion and it will most certainly not be a pretty game.

Scheyer is ACC Player of the Week

Pretty obvious choice as Scheyer scored 35 points against Gardner-Webb on only 13 shot atttemps and scored 24 points against Gonzaga. In 2 games he scored 59 points averaging 29.8 points a game, and 8 assists a game with 3 total turnovers. Scheyer is now in the hunt for All-American and ACC Player of the year.

Gonzaga v.s. Duke 4ET on CBS

This will a very good game at Madsion Square Garden. Singler's ankle seems to be better and Smith's knee seems to be good. For the most part Duke and Gonzaga are healthy which means this has potential to be a fabulous game. Every year Gonzaga is one of the toughest teams in the country, so you know if Duke makes some big runs they wont go away. Bouldin is a very big player and could be a problem for Duke. Scheyer is coming off a career game for himself and has the hot hand, while Singler is starting to get his shot back. In order for Duke to win this game, they need to: limit the turnovers, hit the glass hard, be able to throw the ball down to the Plumlee's, and hit their shots. If Duke does that and can defend and prevent Gonzaga from getting Elias Harris the ball in the post, Duke will win for the third time this season in Madison Square Garden. Look for Andre Dawkins to be an "x" factor by hitting a few threes.

Duke stomps Gardner-Webb 113-68

Scheyer scored a career high 36 points as Duke played a great game after taking 10 days off of their schedule. It was good to see Andre Dawkins have a career high too as he's still recovering from the tragic loss of his sister. A very good overall game for Duke. More to come later....

Duke beats St. Johns 80-71

St. Johns knew they had the ability to win. And they showed their heart throughout the game. But in the end, Duke's firepower with Singler, Smith, and Scheyer overpowered St. Johns. Duke was in control for most of this game. St. Johns was determined to stay undefeated and made a run in the second half. With 10 minutes left in the second half, St. Johns cut it to a 4 point lead for the Blue Devils. But after remembering their loss to Wisconsin, Duke toughed it out and and held. Before the game, Coach K sent a message to Lance Thomas, who was totally ineffective in their loss against Wisconsin, by starting Mason Plumlee instead. Thomas answered by grabbing 8 rebounds and getting 11 points. Scheyer ans Singler played well, but didn't shoot well. Singler went 6-18 and 1-3 from downtown as Scheyer went 4-14 and 2-8 from downtown. Smith on the other hand, came out of his shooting slump and went 5-11 and 2-3 from downtown as he had 16 points. It was nice to see Brian Zoubek have a solid game. He scored 11 points and had 7 rebounds. Mason Plumlee started, but only to send a message to Lance Thomas. Mason only played 7 minutes, as it will take him a while to get more playing time as he is still recovering from his broken wrist. Duke played well against a good St. Johns team. They don't play again until December 15th against Gardner-Webb. After Gardner-Webb, they'll play Gonzaga on the 19th in Madison Square Garden. This will be a good 10 days of practice for Duke as they are starting to progress to the meat of their schedule.

Duke wins 68-59

It wasn't necessarily pretty, but the Blue Devils win in a game they were in control of for the majority of the time. Their were a lot of good things that Duke did. They outrebounded Uconn and that one was one of the big factors of the game. Even though they shot poorly, they got alot of second chances. Their defense was superb. Their shooting will definetly imporove as the season movs on, escpecially with the freshman. Singler will eventually be Singler again and that will open up the offense evn more. Duke proved that they can deal with athleticism, in which they lack. They shot their free threows very well, 80%. So, alot of positives in this game. Add Mason Plumlee to this and oh boy you've got one hell of a team. Scheyer showed that he's the leader in the team as he is the scrappy point guard that gets the job done. We have Wisconsin this Wednesday in Madison, should be a good one and a test as this is the Blue Devil's first away game.

Duke v.s Uconn, 5 ET on ESPN

Ever since the 1999 National Championship where Uconn stunned Duke, we have had a grudge on the Huskies. That 1999 team is considered one of the best Duke teams ever. that team had Tragan Langdon, Shane Battier, Jason Williams, Elton Brand, and Corey Maggette. 1999 wasn't the only year that Uconn took away a possible National Championship trophy. In 2004, the last year Duke was in the Final Four, Uconn beat us in the National Semi Final. We were winning by 8 with 3 minutes left and blew it. Today's game isn't the Final Four, obviously, but it's a big game because of the history of past Uconn v.s Duke games and it's a good test for both teams, especially Duke. The Blue Devils haven't played a team of this caliber and uconn will surely test thier athleticism. Duke isn't as athletic as Uconn, but the're more athletic as people think. Lance Thomas can guard any position, Nolan Smith has the ability to penetrate to the basket, and Miles Plumlee has had plays where he's made a huge block and ran the ball down court. They may not be the most athletic team, but they can sure shoot the ball from downtown. With Coach K on the sidelines, Duke will get some open shots. And with Dawkins, Singler, Scheyer, Smith, and Kelly, they're going to make their fair share of three's each game. If duke can slow down the game tempo and not let Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson run all over them, this will be a very good game. Duke will need to make their shots, they can't afford to go 4-22 from three today. our prediction: It's a toss up, but Coach K and Duke know what they need to do and if they accomplish that they will be NIT Champions and end the 4 game losing streak to Uconn.

Duke beats ASU 64-53

Not a good game for Duke, but a win is a win especially if the win will earn you a game against Uconn where they won 2 National Championships that we should have won and beat us 4 times in a row. We really would like payback Friday night. They couldn't shoot the three well, 4-22. Especially Singler, 1-5, Smith, 0-6, and Scheyer,1-4. But, surprisingly they weren't hitting there three's, but they were hitting their other shots. You also have to give credit to Asu, they had the ability to spread out Duke and drive. This was Duke's worst defensive performance of the season. They did a better job though in the second half. Singler couldn't hit anything in the first half but stepped up in the second half. Scheyer also lead the Blue Devils in the second half. If Duke wants to beat Uconn friday, they can't afford to turn the ball over 14 times, they are going to have to shoot better, and they have to slow the tempo of the game down. If this is a fast pace game in the 80's or 90's, Uconn has a huge advantage because of Dyson and Walker. Maybe the reason they didn't shoot well is because it was their first game outside of Cameron. They should be more comfortable friday and make more shots. Our prediction: Duke doesn't have the athleticism as Uconn, so they will need to slow this game down. Coach K and Duke's backcourt will find a way to slow down the game. Also, Duke will shoot better than they did against Asu, so this one is a toss up, but we are picking Duke. Kyle Singler will not let himself play as badly as he did Wednesday, so he will lead the Blue evils to another NIT championship and stop their 4 game losing streak against Uconn.

Duke v.s. ASU, 9 ET on EPSN 2: Preview

Duke plays Arizona State tonight in the NIT Semi Final at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils are very familiar with MSG and don't lose much there. They won the 2K Sports Challenge last year at MSG. We all know about Duke and their big three, Sinlger, Scheyer, and Smith, but who does ASU have? Well their best post player is Eric Boateng, transfer from Duke. He didn't play much last season, 8.2 minutes a game, but without James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph, both selected in NBA Draft, he will probably average 20-25 minutes a game. The Sun Devils really lack size though, their only player above 6-8, non freshman, is Boateng at 6-10. Their best three point shooter, Kuksiks, 6-6, will have to play the PF position. Kuksiks has the ability to spread the floor for ASu, which they will try to do alot agianst a very tall Duke team, consisting of 6 players 6-8 and above. With their lack of size against Duke, they will need to put alot of pressure on the ball too. They have two guards, Abbott and Glasser, who combined for 63 minutes a game and 15.4 points a game. These are their go to guards. They are nothing compared to SMith and Scheyer though. So really, ASU doesn't have much to do. The only reason ASU is undefeated is they have played all cupcakes, and they just beat Texas State in overtime. Duke hasn't played anyone good either, but they have looked very impressive so far, especially with Smith back. SMith is the key ad he gives them an athletic defender, one more weapon offensively, and someone to break down the defense. Duke should win this game pretty easily and will probably move on against UCONN. But they shouldn't over look this, because one injury in the backcourt, and you never know. Look for Jon Scheyer to have a good game, as he is a leader and thrives in big games. Watch it tonight on ESPN 2 at 9 ET.

Duke ties school record of 18 three's in Win against Radford

The 8th ranked Blue Devils tied their record of 18 three's yesterday, 6 of them were hit by freshman Andre Dawkins, who set a season/career high of 20 points. Dawkins struggled at shooting the long ball his first three game, but is finally comfortable now as he went 6 for 8 at Cameron. Dawkins isn't the only one who hit his shots from three, Singler went 3 for 8, Smith and Scheyer both went 4 for 7, and last years McDonald's All-American three point champion, Ryan Kelly went 1 for 1. Many people think Duke has a shaky backcourt, but they sent a message yesterday as all three of their core guards were the leading scorers. Dawkins and Smith had 20, and Scheyer had 18. Duke also shot their free throws well, going 16 for 17. Miles Plumlee is starting to play with a little swagger as he had some monster dunks and Ryan Kelly is getting in the mix as he had 9 points. This team is looking impressive in their first few games. Smith is really the difference as he gives them one more offensive weapon and more more lockdown defender. Add Mason Plumlee to the mix in about 4 weeks, and this is a very, very good basketball team.