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Growing up in Maryland, I could never understand why people in my hometown rooted for Troy Aikman's Cowboys or Michael Jordan's Bulls. Where was the fun in rooting for the favorite? How much joy comes from watching the inevitable happen? Needless to say, I couldn't stand Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley.
In ACC lacrosse, there's Virginia, and then there's everyone else.
Duke has no problems jumping out to an early lead. The challenge for the Blue Devils is keeping the opponent from coming back.
The 1999 Duke women's team achieved unprecedented success. It broke school records with a 16-game winning streak, 29 wins in a season, and 15 conference wins. Senior center Michelle VanGorp was named as a third-team All-American, the first Duke woman to achieve the national honor. Most importantly, the team made its first-ever appearance in the Final Four after defeating three-time defending champion Tennessee in the East regional final.
In a game where both offenses struggled to score, Georgetown's finally found the net when it mattered. The No. 7 Hoyas (5-0) used a four-goal burst in the fourth quarter to break open a tie game, then held off a furious rally to win 9-7 over No. 5 Duke (3-3) on an intense Sunday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.
Jason Williams does just about everything. He's a leader. Although Williams is always active vocally and always the first to huddle up his teammates, he is the team's tone setter, leading by his actions more than his words. He's a scrapper. Take Sunday's game against Carolina. Late in the contest, the outcome already decided, Williams dove to the floor for a loose ball, wrestled it away from sprawled out Tar Heels, and called a quick timeout. He leapt off the court and raced over to the bench, the fire still in his eyes. He's unselfish. All season long, Williams has shown an increasing ability and willingness to find open teammates on the floor, usually fitting passes into the tightest of lanes, like the way he found Matt Christensen wide open under the hoop for a dunk on senior day. He's a scorer. Williams scored over 20 points in 17 games this season, and dropped at least 30 points in four games. He finds unique ways to get the job done and is a threat from anywhere on the court. He's unquestionably the conference player of the year, the national player of the year and possibly the most versatile guard the conference has ever seen. Okay, so maybe Williams can't take home the ACC's top honor just yet. Maryland's Juan Dixon will certainly receive a lot of consideration, especially with the way the Terps secured the regular season conference crown. But just about everything Dixon did this season, Williams did a little bit better. As predicted, both guards finished one-two in conference scoring, with Williams at 21.9 a game and Dixon a bucket behind at 19.5. But statistically, that's about as close as the two stars get. Against ranked opponents, Williams' average soars to 24.9, while Dixon's stumbles to 17.9. Dixon holds the slight edge in steals, which earned him a third consecutive All-ACC defensive team selection, but Williams betters Dixon in assists, three-point field goals made and three-point percentage. Numbers, of course, only tell half the story. Williams' beautiful blend of outside prowess and strength off the dribble this season make it nearly impossible for other teams to defend him. "I think I can mix it up a lot more," Williams said. "This year I can really drive the ball a lot better, and I can also get to the middle and pull up my mid-range jumper," he said. More than anything, Williams possesses the incredible ability to completely change the landscape of a game, even when his shots aren't necessarily dropping. The Blue Devils had no answer for Kentucky Dec. 17 until Williams took the game into his hands, scoring 23 of the team's last 31 points. It got to the point that everyone knew that when a ball left his fingertips, it was finding nothing but net. At home against Maryland, Williams torched the Terps' defense, mostly off the dribble for 34 points, helping the Blue Devils run away with the game in the second half. Dixon, meanwhile, was held to only 10 points. Against N.C. State in Raleigh, Williams was struggling all night with his shot. But Mike Dunleavy wasn't, and in a key stretch in the first half, Williams did everything to find his teammate, and Duke stretched its lead. Williams finished with 11 assists. There were three occasions this season when Williams wasn't able to sway the game completely in Duke's favor, but he never stopped trying. While the lethargic Blue Devils struggled against Florida State, Williams provided just about everything he had in the second half, drilling three-pointer after three-pointer to bring his team back into the game. Then at Maryland, with Duke trailing by double digits for much of the game, Williams hit two consecutive three-pointers and assisted on a Daniel Ewing three-point play with eight minutes left to give the Blue Devils a glimmer of hope. And then at Virginia, even though Williams was unable to get anything going the entire game, he was the one with the ball in the final minute, reeling off seven points, before the Cavaliers held on for the upset. Dixon does thrive from the free throw line, Williams' one weakness. But does that make Dixon more of a clutch player than Williams? Not necessarily. Williams isn't perfect, but no superstar ever has been. But even at his worst, Williams gives his team a chance to win. This isn't always the case for Dixon. With the Terps reeling at Cameron, Dixon never got anything going, and never gave his team a chance to win. He's their best player, but he only managed nine shots. Juan Dixon is an incredible player, and definitely deserving of All-America honors, and in any other year he would easily be the ACC player of the year. But Jason Williams is just too good, too much of the time.
The weather was awful, but the game was amazing.
WINSTON-SALEM -- Both Duke and Wake Forest came into Lawrence Joel Coliseum as two of the top-10 scoring teams in the nation. Only the Blue Devils showed why they deserved the recognition.
ATLANTA -- Playing two games in three days is never easy, but the men's basketball team made it look that way.
It isn't often that a football player chooses to come to Duke over Penn State, Virginia, Louisiana State and Syracuse. But Malcolm Ruff, an all-state running back and defensive back out of the Gilman School in Baltimore, did just that.
When Kevin Cassese was named ACC player of the year last year, it was not based on numbers. Cassese finished fourth on the team in goals, assists, and points, but it was intangibles that made him only the second Duke men's lacrosse player to ever be named as the best player in the conference.
CHAPEL HILL -- For the 111th consecutive game between the two teams, either Duke or North Carolina entered the matchup ranked in the top 25. Watching the captains of each team interact on the court, it was clear which team was responsible for keeping the streak going.
There's a number of ways to get open in basketball. You can curl off a screen, make a backdoor cut, or if you're Duke swingman Dahntay Jones, you can step behind the three-point line.
Georgia Tech football's seven-win season was disappointing to many Yellow Jacket fans that hoped the team would compete for the conference championship. But at Duke, fans have had to settle for seven wins in the last four seasons.
Five Best Moments:
Of the top 10 teams ranked in the preseason polls, only two remain undefeated: No. 5 Missouri and No. 1 Duke.
The loss of Shane Battier is still a large obstacle for this year's Duke team to overcome, even in a 42-point win over the overmatched Portland Pilots.
CHAPEL HILL -- Although the offense put up 17 points, the truth is Duke (0-10, 0-7 in the ACC) could have scored three times as much and still come out on the losing end. A defense that had given up 42, 59, 42 and 55 points in its last four games gave up another 52 to the Tar Heels Saturday, giving the team no chance to break a 12-game losing streak in the rivalry-turned-celebration of UNC football.
After watching his defense give up 42, 59, and 42 points in its last three games, Duke coach Carl Franks knows what it will take to get a win against N.C. State Saturday afternoon at Wallace Wade Stadium.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Before every game, Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen tells his offense that he expects a score on every possession. While for most games this is just wishful thinking, Saturday's game against Duke almost saw the coach's wish come true.
