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Duke is the best team in the Final Four, but will it win a sixth NCAA championship?
It would be nice if rival universities 10 miles apart could root for each other in this competitive world of education, research and sports. Only the truly mentally healthy can do that, or those who somehow benefit from either team “winning,” but not most of us.
The Blue Devils can hang an NCAA banner for the first time since 2015. If it helps, the Tar Heels have hoisted one more recently (2017) and went to the title game in 2022 at Duke’s expense. And we lived through their five previous championships from 1991 and on.
But if you have watched Jon Scheyer’s team develop all season, who is surprised that, except for Caleb Love’s 35 points, it has beaten up every NCAA opponent so far? Some people believed that Alabama’s size and speed would take Duke down, but it wasn’t close.
Scheyer is a smart young coach (37) and to watch him reveals he learned a lot from mentor Mike Krzyzewski but is adding more things on both ends of the floor.
Alabama had to know that lobs were coming to 7-2 center Khaman Maluach, but Scheyer added another wrinkle to have a second player cutting to the basket. The other cutter forced some defensive attention that allowed Maluach to be open for the slam.
Duke has also developed the deepest team in college basketball by signing veteran transfers who knew they had to earn their minutes. Scion James, from Tulane, did just that and made the starting five even better. Sophomore Caleb Foster plays the most off the bench, and four other excellent reserves do not hurt the team when they come in.
This shapes up as an extraordinary season for Duke, whose chemistry and talent will be hard to match no matter how many great players Scheyer signs moving forward. Five Blue Devils are on the NBA mock draft board, three as lottery picks (Cooper Flagg #1, Maluach #7, Kon Knueppel #10) plus one more in the first round (freshman Isaiah Evans, who averages 14 minutes), at #22 and junior Tyrese Proctor, having a tremendous second half of the season, projected at #52, late in the second round.
It may be the best combination of offense and defense seen in college basketball for many years, led by the brilliant Flagg who plays the game like it is artistry and is the epitome of the old expression “he makes his teammates better.” Flagg doesn’t have to stuff the stat sheet, which he has done on occasion, for his presence to be felt all over the court.
Can Houston, the best defensive team in the country, find a way to slow Duke down, stay close and defeat the No. 1 offense? Improbable because the Blue Devils own the No. 4 defense and will make it hard for the Cougars to score enough points to win.
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Featured image via Associated Press/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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