Why Duke’s Climb to the Top Five Has Been Quiet
Duke gets many labels tossed its way, but “under-hyped” is rarely one of them. Even so, most people would probably agree the Blue Devils’ ascent to the top five this season has been quiet by their standards. Never fear, for CBS’ Mike Freeman has a theory:⇥⇥Duke hoops rises into the top 5, very little buzz. Is Duke penalized for being a mostly white team in a black sport?As I wrote at the top, I’d grant him his premise: Duke’s rise to the top five has been quiet by their standards. Having said that ... there’s a bit of a leap made by Freeman that ignores myriad facts.
1. Duke has been loaded with white players for some time now, and it hasn’t stopped them before. Ignoring all of the factors that relate to this season specifically, how is race the leap you make when a team like Duke has been hyped on the backs of guys like Christian Laettner, J.J. Redick and others?
2. Duke lacks a marquee win. Even when North Carolina is bad, it can hurt Duke. Such is the case with this season. The Tar Heels’ demise this season has meant that Duke has lacked a suitable running mate in the ACC. Duke owns wins over the three teams behind it in the ACC -- Maryland, Virginia Tech and Clemson -- but none of those teams carries the punch that the annual win over a top 10 UNC squad would have.
Skimming the schedule, Duke’s other big wins are against UConn and Gonzaga. In the case of UConn, you could argue it was before the Huskies really had their act together. Gonzaga is a nice win, but not quite up to the standard of wins by other top teams. It’s a nice resume, but hardly awe-inspiring. And perhaps equally important is the fact that the marquee wins came during football season, when people like Freeman couldn’t be bothered with hoops.
3. Nothing is shiny and new. Kentucky is the newest toy on the block. They've got a new coach, stud freshmen and they are a resurrected cornerstone program of college hoops. Wesley Johnson, a transfer, has put Syracuse in the headlines as people try to learn more about the ex-Iowa State Cyclone. As for Duke, this is basically the same team -- minus Gerald Henderson -- that you've seen in recent seasons. You know all of these guys. Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler. For people selectively watching games, like, say, Freeman, there's a tendency to try and analyze what's new on the college hoops landscape rather than fixating on the familiar.
4. Duke’s last national audition didn’t go so well. When the nation at large last got an extended look at Duke against a top-flight team, they fell flat against Georgetown in front of a tough D.C. crowd that happened to include the President. Georgetown, then No. 7, took down Duke, then No. 8, 89-77. That loss reinforced point No. 5.
5. We've been here before. Duke has been in the top seven around this time four of the last five seasons.
⇥⇥2005: No. 6, 21-4 (Feb. 27)⇥
⇥⇥2006: No. 1, 27-1 (Feb. 27)⇥
⇥⇥2007: No. 14, 22-7 (Feb. 26)⇥
⇥⇥2008: No. 6, 25-3 (March 3)⇥
⇥⇥2009: No. 7, 24-5 (March 2)Where did the Blue Devils finish in the NCAA Tournament for those seasons? Sweet 16, Sweet 16, First Round, Second Round, Sweet 16. A stellar run, no doubt, but hardly the late ‘90s/early ‘00s when the team made one Elite Eight and two title games, including one national championship.
Duke is very good this season, as they tend to be in most seasons, but to toss race out there as the first reason why there might be a “lack of buzz” is inflammatory and shows the viewpoint of someone who just isn’t watching.
↵
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
See More:
