At the beginning of the year I thought Duke had no shot of winning their 4th title. At the beginning of the tournament my feelings still held true.
Say what you want but, Duke's path wasn't easy. Looking at an entire bracket at the start of the tournament and going "they have the easiest path" is stupid. You don't play every team in your bracket. Let's examine who the #1 seeds actually had to play.
Kansas: Beat #16 seed then lost to a really good #9 seed in Northern Iowa. They were at least 15 points better than UNI but played a terrible game until the last 2 minutes. They never had to play Ohio State, Georgetown, Maryland, Michigan State, or Tennessee. Simply put, Kansas has no one but themselves to blame for losing.
Kentucky: Beat #16 ETSU, #9 Wake (an under-performing team with a coach who has
never won a post-season game), and #12 Cornell. Cornell is good. Very good. But athletically they were no match for Kentucky and really never had a chance. UK beats them 95 out of 100 times. They then lost to West Virginia, a team Duke beat.
Syracuse: You feel a little a worse for Syracuse not because of who they played, but because they lost Onauku. The back line of a 2-3 zone is what makes it work and Syracuse's was completely thrown off because A.O. was out. That being said, they beat #16 Vermont and #8 Gonzaga (who wasn't nearly as good as in years past) before running into a Butler team who was horribly underseeded at a 5, but once again, Duke beat.
Meanwhile Duke, after disposing of the #16 Arkansas Pine-Bluff had to defeat the Pac-10 regular season champs in #8 Cal, who were clearly better than we originally thought after waxing Louisville, who could have been even more problematic for Duke. They then had to beat #4 Purdue, who granted, had no shot without Robbie Hummel, but still put up a good fight. Last but not least was Baylor, a super athletic team with potential to give Duke fits. Duke was victorious again.
In the Final Four Duke then beat West Virginia (which Kentucky failed to do) and Butler (which Syracuse failed to do) so the argument that they were handed the National Title is simply bogus. On paper at the start of the tournament sure they had the easiest path, but we have to readjust to what we're seeing once the tournament starts, and Duke clearly beat some of the best teams in the tourny.
How did they do it? The transformation of a 7'1" waste of space into a rebounding monster. If you had told me Brian Zoubek would be the key to Duke winning a national title at the beginning of the year I would have laughed at you. The senior was supposed to be a place holder until super-frosh Mason Plumlee got healthy. Then all of a sudden mid-season Zoubek became a machine. Against Maryland he pulled down 17 rebounds. He was a prescense in the middle defensively. I was as shocked as anyone.
Most of all though, he was self-less. When he got offensive rebounds he kicked it back out for open 3's. He sets sometimes 5 or more screens in a given possession. He doesn't care about scoring, he cares about winning.
So here's what I ask: stop with the Duke hate. Please.
Yes in the early 90's Christian Laettener was a bit of a prick, but have you ever seen the story of Nolan Smith? Have you ever met Jay Williams? These are the top 2 players of Duke's last two national title teams. Not two "Duke white kids" who think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. Two humble African American kids from two very different but very tough upbringings.
Smith is the son of former NBA player Derrick Smith and was raised by his mother and a cast of NBA players after his father passed away at the age of 35. Nolan was crushed, but stuck with the game his father loved and often goes back to his dorm room and cries after games because his dad wasn't there.
Jay is one of the nicest people I've ever met. He's as humble as they come, takes time out for people he's never met, and has had to work for everything he's ever had. Not the entitled Duke kid stereotype.
Yes Christian Laettener played for Duke. Yes Coach K was and still can be a bit arrogant, but he's protecting his players and passed the hard shell has one of the biggest hearts in the game.
Remember, everyone thought Bob Huggins was a hard ass until he sat kneeling, caressing Da'Sean Butler as he writhed in pain too. Now everyone knows why they call him Huggy Bear.
Times change and so do opinions, except for when it comes to that nasty four letter school. Why everyone chooses to hate a school with a coach that graduates his players, recruits high character kids who want to stay in school, and does as much charity work as anyone is and always will be beyond me.
Funny thing is, something else hasn't changed. They're still winning. So I'm sure they don't mind.
