thats what I’d love to be and Coach K lashes out at Duke for not coming to play tonight. Its halftime and Duke is losing to friggin NC State. Are you kidding me? Somebody wake me up please.
On a quick side note, it looks like Paulus is fulfilling everyones prophecy of the next hated Devil. He’s wrestling with State tonight too.
More to come…
Thats a pretty much in your face stance.
Orlando Sentinel article
Van Gundy doesn’t want to trade him because his other guards MAY leave. I have a feeling this is going to get ugly before too much longer.
Wow! Another opportunity shot down from Orlando Magic’s GM to trade JJ Redick. Whats so hilarious is his quote:
We know that he can play, but as with a lot of young guys he just has to be patient,’’ said Smith, who drafted Redick 11th overall in the 2006 NBA Draft. “If I trade him and he goes somewhere else and plays well, then what?
There is little time left to trade JJ before the 21st deadline in Feb. If nothing happens soon, maybe Redick needs to look to another agent. According to Florida Today, Otis Smith is stating players may be opting out which would move Redick from the bottom of the barrel to the top.
Just how much BS can Otis spew? Another quote from Van Gundy in Florida Today sums it up to a tee:
I think about him all the time and he makes you think about him with the way he practices,’’ Van Gundy said. “I know he’s really frustrated because there’s not much more he can do. He plays well out here in practice and when we give him chances in games he’s played well.
I don’t know about you but when I played well in basketball, then took my game to the court and played well, that generally means I’m going to get playing minutes because, well, I played well. Apparently that doesn’t hold true for the Orlando Jackass’s….I mean Magic. When you play well for Orlando, you sit your fanny down on the bench.
I seriously wanted to just copy and paste this post. I love it. For every “non Duke” fan out there, there really is no reason to hate Duke. Why do you hate them? Because they win! Best summed up on this post over at MySideofSports dot com.. Go there now!!
Yeah I know, it’s been all of 12 hours before the post. Thats what happens when you have a 20 month old. On to the goods! Duke came back from a half time deficit that had me worried. Maryland played a solid game but Duke simply turned it up a notch in the second half. Riding the back of Nelson, the Devils turned what looked to be a “down to the wire” game into 9 point win. Marylands free throws really sucked downed the stretch. Again, an ACC team has a chance to topple a top ranked opponent only to let a simple free throw or two make the decision. Thats the difference between a “top ranked” team and one that wants to be one.
The fans were packed and making plenty of noise the first half and Duke really quited them down in the 2nd half. Maryland hit a few big threes near the end but wasn’t enough to make them compete.
Henderson from Duke had another fine again, but the show of the night belonged to Demarcus Nelson again. He is THE leader of the Devils this year and he shows it. Noone can guard him and if they do Nelson’s upper body is just too big and broad to make them a factor. He’ll simply muscle his way to the hoop, make the shot and draw the foul.
Nelson finished with a career high 27 points with a crucial bucket with 61 seconds to play that sealed the deal.
Duke travels to College Park to take on the team that took down UNC. Maryland has struggled all season until they found their groove against the Tarheels. When you’re a top ranked team everyone guns for you. Whether its UNC or Duke, you better believe Maryland’s fans will be rocking that joint tonight come tipoff.
Maryland is considerably bigger than Duke but that hasn’t stopped the Devils run all season. Instead of focusing on their lack of size this year, the Devils have focused on their quickness and their ability to kick it out for the open J. That type of play should be seen again tonight as they take on the bigger Terps.
I think Paulus will come out strong as his last performance was sub par. Henderson and Singler will have their games again. I’m hoping Henderson takes some more shots but we’ll have to wait and see.
Shoot! I missed it by one. It was a 17 point win instead of 18. The Devils countered the Hokies aggressive play during the entire ballgame. The theme of the year seams to be “play physical” in the ACC. When you’re going up against the top ranked teams the underdogs are muscling up against the big boys. Its happened twice to Carolina, Clemson and Maryland, and Clemson almost pulled it off.
Washington, who’s always asking for trouble, almost got it tonight from Nelson. During the game, Washington really got the best of him in my opinion. If Demarcus didn’t foul out I think it may have gotten really ugly down the stretch.
This Duke team is alot more experienced and deep than years past. Everytime I see the four corners being run thoughts of years past start to creep into my mind. All I can remember is a VERY inexperienced team that tried to run the four corners only to blow games down the stretch. It different this year and I’m getting over that “four corners” fear.
Scheyer had foul trouble unfortunately and I did not get the game out of him that I expected. Singler once again played strong. I’d like to see Henderson shoot more.
Time to hit our forums…more later!
Not everyone has lost hope in JJ Redick yet. David Thorpe over at ESPN.com had this to say:
J.J. Redick, Magic: As I’ve written before, I think Redick can be a solid guy for most teams in this league. But he’s done nothing thus far. In his defense (and coach Stan Van Gundy must think he needs some), he scored efficiently in the only two games in which he played 17-plus minutes. Don’t write him off yet.
I see comments like this often, too often actually. How long will it be before something happens? Will the Magic let him rot on the bench for the years to come?
JJ Redick garnered a little playing time against the Grizzlies last night. All of 3 minutes worth. The fans cheered as he entered the game and they were in Memphis! He hit 3 of 4 field goals and one of those from behind the arc. Its funny how JJ Redick is a “fan favorite” in my opinion anyway, you would think folks would get the idea to actually play him. Being a fan favorite doesn’t mean playing time of course, nor should it. But 3 fo 4 from the field should garner more than 3 minutes of PT.
The Magic set a team record with 18 3 pointers during the game.
Final Score, 112-85.
Seems like more than 3 minutes should have been had during this night.