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After sending two of its teams to the Final Four and obtaining the No. 1 conference RPI record, by all accounts the ACC had a phenomenal year. As the last season before the conference expands to 11 teams, 2004 was seen as the capstone of an unbelievable conference format.
No one goes to 10 Final Fours in 19 years without a gift of foresightedness, but Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski's ability even trumps that of what one might expect of someone with that level of success. What Krzyzewski understands far better than any other current coach are the institutional forces of the NCAA tournament that separate the good regular season teams that make deep runs in the tournament from those that lose to overachieving mid-major universities.
Duke will have its toughest game of the year tonight against Illinois. The Blue Devils struggle most against teams that are quicker than they are, and the Fighting Illini's best player, Dee Brown, is the quickest player still remaining in the tournament. Just as Duke struggled mightily against Georgia Tech and UNC this year, Krzyzewski's squad will find it hard to have an advantage on the perimeter, thus taking away the team's biggest strength.
Some thoughts on the men's 2004 NCAA tournament:
As Duke wrapped up its road schedule with a 70-65 win over Florida State Sunday, one thing remained completely clear: J.J. Redick is the most hated man in college basketball. While national hatred for Redick may have been on the rise in late January when Maryland fans chanted in unison, "F You, J.J.," the cheers could almost be expected from the College Park crowd. After all, this was the place where students wore shirts that read "F Duke" on the front and "And Osama bin Laden" on the back during Duke's first football matchup with the Terrapins after the tragic terrorist attacks of September 11. Maryland fans obviously have a deep-rooted hatred for the Blue Devils, and Redick is not the only one who bears the brunt of these abhorrent feelings.
Halfway through the ACC season, it is now clear that Roy Williams has not made much of a difference at North Carolina--yet.
