American's Best Mid-Major Program

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Duke is obviously not as good as their champions proclaim, but they also aren’t nearly as bad as their detractors suggest. Duke is simply the best mid-major team in the country. That’s why they’re a tough matchup for most teams, and not a true match for the best teams in the country. I know, that sounds absurd, considering the bevy of McDonald’s All-Americans that litter Coach K’s disgusting Aryan roster, but hear me out. Duke is built on sharp-shooters, an unquestioned dedication to its coach’s philosophy, and one X-factor athlete who threatens to move its offensive system into two-dimensions. That’s the blueprint of nearly every mid-major that makes noise in the tournament.

Just for me, the next time you watch Duke play in their accursed little gym, pretend that they’re all wearing Xavier or Wichita State jerseys. Notice the shooting, the scrappiness, the lack of top-flight athleticism, and team-oriented nature of the players on the floor. And year in, year out, Duke would normally be the best mid-major team in the country. Does that mean anything? I think it means that on the average they’re about the 10^th most dangerous team in the tournament, which is very respectable, but not in line with the national media attention the program receives.

Duke has outstanding shooters every season, and you really can’t undermine how much respect Coach K gets from his players. While we’ve witnessed Deandre Liggins refuse his coach’s request to enter a game, Duke’s players follow Coach K’s commands like weak-minded fools subjected to the mastery of a Jedi mind trick. That’s the only way you can explain that Greg Paulus, Jon Scheyer, and the rest of those honkies can actually play adequate team defense. Nonetheless, there is a ceiling when you build most of your team on un-athletic drones. Duke’s best teams always have an athletic slasher that can take over the game. Grant Hill made man-to-man defense a tall task. Shane Battier was not as athletic as Hill, but he was very heady, and got the benefit of the doubt whenever he drove, so he normally got to the line, even if he really wasn’t that great off the dribble. Jason Williams was a great three-point shooter, but his real strength was that he was so quick and powerful going to the hoop.

Gerald Henderson represents this year’s version of the athletic slasher, but he’s not as coachable as his teammates, so this Duke team is destined for more March shortcomings. Henderson is also a headcase. He’s been the most talented player on Duke’s roster for three seasons and only started playing at a high level this year. He also broke Hansbrough’s face, which means he’s playing on borrowed time, and Psycho T will exact revenge sooner than later. The Dick Vitales of the world heap praise on Henderson and overlook how uncoachable he is because a head case on a Duke squad is basically unheard of. Gerald Henderson wearing a Duke jersey reminds me of when my pa used to tell me about how you could put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.

In Henderson’s defense, Duke’s current roster is also uncharacteristically thin in the frontcourt. Coach K has had a longstanding preference for high-post big men like Laettner, Cherokee Parks, Chris Burgess, Josh McBob, and Shavlik Randolph. Those guys can be more than adequate (no argument with the success that came with Laettner), but those Duke shooters really need a big man that demands collapsing defense to create open looks (Brand, Boozer, Shelden, etc.). This Duke team has its high post guy in Singler, but nothing in the low post, so Duke basically needs Henderson to be their best slasher and low post player, which is a pretty tall task. Two details in the preseason made me positive that Duke would have nothing good close to the basket. First, was when I heard that they expected a 6’10” string bean named “Miles Plumlee” to bring toughness to their frontline. Miles Plumlee? That sounds more like one of Andy Bernard’s fellow members of “Here Comes Treble” than an intimidating glass eater. Second, I read that Kyle Singler said at the end of last season his body was exhausted and he wasn’t physically strong enough to compete at a high level. What did he do about it? He took off like a whole month from doing any physical conditioning or weight lifting. Let me know how that works out in March, Kyle.

It’s hard to understand how Coach K gets his pick of players, but he keeps bringing in the same guys that can’t get the job done. If your roster is built on shooters, it’s just going to be really difficult to go six straight games against tournament teams without a bad shooting night. Athletes can learn to rebound and play outstanding defense every night, then your team is built on something that isn’t streaky. That’s what Ben Howland and Tom Izzo do, and everyone acts surprised when their teams go deeper than anticipated in March. Coach K could do that, but he doesn’t. He keeps his roster heavy on one-dimensional shooters, and light on game-changing athletes. That makes Duke a talented, but somewhat gimmicky program that can be beaten by any disciplined team of athletes. The beatdown Clemson put on Duke really doesn’t validate Clemson in any way, it just shows exactly how limited Duke is due to their lack of athleticism.