RALEIGH--When asked if the men's basketball team still had a chance to make a postseason tournament, senior co-captain Kenny Blakeney just laughed.
"You're kidding, right?" Blakeney said.
There is nothing unusual about this response from a Duke basketball player near the end of the regular season. Typically, by this time of the year, the Blue Devils have already assured themselves of a high seed in the NCAA Tournament. In recent years, Duke has used its late February regular season games and the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament to build momentum for the upcoming March Madness.
And at the start of the season, the Blue Devils had no reason to imagine that this year would be much different than previous seasons--Duke would be among the best teams in the conference and the nation. Sure, Grant Hill, Tony Lang and Marty Clark had graduated. But with the addition of three highly-touted freshmen and with seniors Blakeney, Cherokee Parks and Erik Meek stepping up their games, the team had lofty expectations.
"[We thought] we were going to win the ACC," Parks said. "In the [NCAA] Tournament, we thought we'd go to the Final Four again. That was realistic."
But the 1994-95 campaign has turned out to be much worse than the Blue Devils expected--or even imagined was possible. Saturday's 84-79 loss at N.C. State typified this season for Duke. The Blue Devils led most of the game, but allowed the Wolfpack to hit some crucial shots in the final minutes, and then couldn't come up with a big shot of their own in the end.
Now, with four games remaining, Duke's goals for the season have changed. At 11-14 (1-12 in the ACC), the Blue Devils are obviously out of contention for a conference title or an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. In fact, climbing out of last place in the conference or finishing the year with a winning record would take a minor miracle at this point. So what can Duke hope to accomplish the remainder of the season?
"It's just game by game," Parks said. "I don't want to use the word `salvage,' but we've got to try to get what we can. There's only a few games left. We've got team goals or individual goals or whatever we think we can accomplish the rest of the season."
Individual goals? Surely this can't be coming from the mouth of a co-captain of the Duke basketball team--a program which has come to epitomize the spirit of team play in college athletics. But realistically, if the team is to take anything positive from its frustrating season, it may be individual accomplishments.
Parks has put up big-time numbers this season--averaging 19.3 points and 9.4 rebounds a game. And Meek has been a ferocious inside presence for Duke at times this season. Both of these seniors are looking to impress professional scouts so they can improve their stock for the NBA draft.
And for the younger players, this season is a chance to hone their skills for the future.
"A lot of stuff has happened to us this year," freshman Ricky Price said. "It's been a bad situation for us this year. But I'm going to stay positive no matter what. I'm looking forward to the rest of the games this season. And I'm looking definitely forward to next season when Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] gets back."
Price bounced back slowly after an injury early in the season. Against the Wolfpack, he showed that he can be a leader on the court, scoring a career-high 17 points and grabbing six rebounds.
Along with Price, freshman Trajan Langdon and sophomore Jeff Capel have seen extensive playing time--which can only make them better in the future. And junior Chris Collins has begun to play better of late, after struggling much of the year following his return from a broken foot.
"Obviously it's been a disappointing year from the start," Collins said. "I just told myself, `You've got to stop feeling sorry for yourself.' I think everybody on this team has got to stop feeling sorry for themselves with everything that has happened.
"We've gone out and just competed, and I think our team is going to be better for it."
But it is tough for a team which has been to the Final Four seven of the last nine years--and has advanced to the national championship game four out of the past five seasons--to think exclusively about the future. The Blue Devils are still holding on to their last thread of hope for this season--winning the ACC tournament.
"I really just want to focus on each individual game," Meek said. "I want to enter into the ACC tournament seeing that our team has developed to where we are playing well together. Then we can enter a tournament like that and do well."
But Duke's prospects for the ACC tournament are bleak at best. The Blue Devils are now assured of starting their spring break a day early so they can compete in the play-in game on Thursday, Mar. 9. No team from that No. 8 vs. No. 9 game has ever beaten the top-seeded team the next day. And no ninth-place team has ever won a tournament game.
So what team goals are left for this Duke team to accomplish? Winning another game would probably be a good place to start.
"My ultimate goal is just to win," Price said. "That's why I came here, and that's what I want to do. All the points that I had today, I'll trade in for a win.
"Duke has prided itself on its winning, its national championships and its Final Fours, and now we're not winning anything. We're last in our division, and people are really laughing at us right now."
Saturday's game offered a good sample of Duke's struggles this season. Against State, the Blue Devils' statistics looked like those of a winning team. They shot 50 percent from the field and had 18 assists with just six turnovers. Duke had good ball movement and balanced scoring.
But the Blue Devils allowed the Wolfpack's Lakista McCuller several open looks from the three-point arc, and committed 11 second half fouls, enabling State to hit 18-of-21 free throws.
Although Duke showed some sparks against the Wolfpack, the result was something which has become all too familiar this season--another loss.
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