Duke Preview

Through my Carolina-blue tinted glasses, I think this rivalry is the greatest in all of sports. I know about Ohio State-Michigan, Red Sox-Yankees, Packers-Bears, but Carolina-Duke just has that little extra for me. I grew up watching it, I remember the scores, the players, the wins and near loses, and everything in between. Tomorrow night is the first installment of two regular season match-ups between the schools, with this one taking place in Durham. If you would have asked me a month ago if I thought Carolina had a fighting chance, I would have told you that anything can happen in a rivalry game (Translation: No way in hell). But, after the offensive outburst that Carolina has put on display over their last four games, I think Carolina is trending more towards a victory now than at any time this season.  


Last 5 meetings:
3/6/2010: Duke 82 - 50 UNC, at Cameron Indoor
2/10/2010: Duke 64 - 54 UNC, at the Dean Dome
3/8/2009: Carolina 79 - 71 Duke, at the Dean Dome
3/11/2009: Carolina 101 - 87 Duke, at Cameron Indoor
3/8/2008: Carolina 76 - 68 Duke, at Cameron Indoor


Carolina won six of eight from Duke from 2006-2009, with Duke winning both games last season, including the total Carolina meltdown during the regular season finale in Durham. I guess Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough were big deals.


Forget the keys to the game. This is Carolina-Duke, and it all comes down to heart.  After all, in 1995, Carolina was heavily favored and it took two overtime periods to pull out the win in Durham. The biggest issue for Carolina is how the freshman will perform. Freshmen, especially during rivalry games, are a blessing and a curse. They haven't been in this type of environment before, so they don't fully know what to expect. You saw that in 2006, when Tyler Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor, Danny Green, and Marcus Ginyard went into Cameron and beat Duke 83 - 76.  That was a bunch of kids who didn't know any better playing without a care in the world. Or, you could have a talented freshmen group like Carolina did last year, and they completely shutdown and get crushed.  It can go either way, and let's hope we see shades of 2006 in this group.  


Not only are Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall, and Reggie Bullock freshmen, but two of the three also have given the Dookies some ammunition, and I'm interested to see what those math majors have come up with. Harrison Barnes, in Duke's eyes, spurned Durham for Chapel Hill when almost everybody, including myself, thought he was a Duke lock. His nickname over on the Duke message boards has become "HBFU", which I'm sure you can figure out on your own.  Reggie Bullock, as you'll see with the video clip at the bottom of the post, said Carolina fans were going to have signs that would say, "He look like a rat", referring to Coach Krzyahag;hagkhag;ski. Marshall hasn't done anything to catch the ire of Duke fans, but as Carolina's starting point guard, he'll undoubtedly be subjected to  multiple uncalled handchecks, grabs, and scratches. We might even see a few flops, but we all know that's coming.


I have a feeling that this game is going to be another classic in the Carolina-Duke rivalry. I'm going to refrain from making a pick in this one, because my hatred for Duke doesn't allow me objectively see things. I just hope Carolina is able to stop dribble penetration, and that doubling the Plumlees and Ryan Kelly is not part of the gameplan, which would allow Duke's three-point shooters open looks at the basketball.

Only 36 more hours.  


Fastforward to 1:20 to hear Reggie's truthful comments.