1. Quinn Cook is good. And he needs to be good, I think. In the first four minutes, he has 5 points and an assist, and is running the offense the way it needs to be run - a good balance of transition offense and finding players off the dribble. Cook should be the point guard of this team, because...
2. I'm not sold on Austin Rivers. I will say that he's NBA-ready. He only looks to score off the dribble, and doesn't play defense. Perfect! Too bad that won't fly with Coach K. Even though Rivers is the Blue Devils' leading scorer, he has the second-worst FG% on the team, and is third with 32 turnovers. If he can play to the college game, but still have that NBA/killer mentality, he will be great. But he is not there yet.
3. Duke (and any program that wants to be playing basketball in April) NEEDS to play more non-conference road games. And I mean ROAD games. Not the Maui Tournament, not Madison Square Garden...I mean thousands of opposing fans up in your face all game long. This game against GT is being played in the Atlanta Hawks' arena, one of two home courts for the Yellow Jackets. The same happened for Duke against Temple. The only true road game Duke has played resulted in a 22-point loss to Ohio State.
4. I hate Doris Burke. It might be completely irrational, or she might have said something that I completely disagreed with at some point in time, but I listen to essentially none of what she says. Just had to get that out there.
5. Doris Burke just said that it was okay that Duke hasn't won on the road yet. Are you kidding me, Doris Burke? It's going to be a two-horse race for the ACC Regular Season Championship, and it will be between Duke and UNC. If Duke wants another championship, the one-seed in the conference tournament, and a potential one-seed in the NCAA Tournament, they have to win on the road.
6. In related news...where did the ACC go? Yes, over half the conference has four or fewer losses, but where are the rankings? Duke and Carolina are 3 and 4, respectively, but the only other ranked team is Virginia at #23. Maybe it's just my nostalgia for the 2003-04 season, featuring Chris Paul, Jarrett Jack, J.J. Redick, and Sean May, but the ACC had six teams in the Top 25. They probably won't see that at any point this year.
7. I know I've mentioned this to a few people, but...I'm pretty sure they've mentioned the all-time wins record and Coach K every single game. Multiple times. Like yes, I understand that each game you show the coach and his record, so it probably makes sense. But it gets old when 1) Duke is on TV so often, and 2) I watch almost all of those games.
8. I think I like Duke's blue road jerseys better than their alternate black ones. I've always been a fan of black uniforms, with the right color scheme, but I'm staring to like the royal blue all over the place.
9. This team can be very good. But they need to round themselves out as a team, especially defensively. With Cook running the show, Rivers, Curry, and Andre Dawkins can run around as the other guards, and the rotation of the Plumlees and Ryan Kelly will fill out the forward spots. I do miss the versatility of Kyle Singler, who could play literally anywhere on the court, which Duke lacks this year. If Duke wants to make a deep run in March, they will need someone to step up.
10. God damn it, I can't wait for Duke/UNC at Cameron Indoor. Last year's game in Krzyzewskiville might be the best game I've ever watched, and EASILY the most fun. At least, the second half was fun.
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