A lot of rich people who have too much money and don't know what to do with it tend to indulge in the purchasing of frivolous luxury items. There's the 5th and 6th cars for a family of 4, the 64 inch tv (for the kitchen), and the biggest purchase of them all, a second house. Whether its a shore house, a place in the city, or a dwelling up in the mountains, the possession of a second home can be extremely convenient. So it shouldn't be shocking that the old rich people of college basketball, the Duke Blue Devils, have a second home themselves. Of course I am referring to the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City, where year after year Duke plays some out of conference foe at the "neutral" site. Bottom line is the NCAA can call it a neutral court game all they want, but they are not fooling anyone. You know, it is really the programs that travel from all over to meet up with Blue Devils in Manhattan that should bare some responsibility. That's why we should have no sympathy for the Steve Alford lead UCLA Bruins who flew from all away across the country to take on the #8 Duke Blue Devils at their "Madison Cameron Indoor Garden".
The Bruins came into last night's game boasting a 9-1 record and were on the cusp of cracking the AP top 25 for the first time without Ben Howland behind the bench in 10 years. Only problem was, the Bruins best win of the season was against UC-Santa Barbara, so it would be a good test for UCLA to take on a top 10 team at a "neutral" site. Duke on the other hand was 9-2 with a very tough schedule leading up to last nights contest. Duke's two losses came to top 5 teams and their only impressive win was a rout of #22 Michigan at their true home back in Durham. Duke would edge out UCLA Thursday night, 80-63, in what was a tied game at the half. UCLA stopped making shots and Duke started.
This was a very intriguing match up because we all thought sophomore superstar guard for UCLA, Kyle Anderson, would cause huge problems for the Duke backcourt. Quinn Cook is a solid on-ball defender but we figured Anderson's size would cause a huge problem for Cook and company. Our suspicions were confirmed in the first half when Anderson was on pace for his 2nd triple double of the year. The New Jersey native's half time stat line read 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists and his teammates did their part from behind the arc shooting 54.5% from 3 at the half.
Jabari Parker had 11 points at the half and coach K even let Rasheed Sulaimon out of the dog house for him to hit a 3. The score may have been tied at the half but it really appeared that UCLA's 3 point shooting and Duke's lack their of in the same category would tilt the UCLA to be favorites to get the win.
Although Duke clearly didn't think so.
They scored the first 5 points of the 2nd half which was then followed by two 3's and a midrange jumper from UCLA's David Wear with a few Tyler Thornton buckets for Duke sandwiched in. after being tied at 45 apiece 4 minutes into the 2nd half, Duke would go on a 16-4 run. Costly missed layups and coach's son Bryce Alford missing the front end of a 1 and 1 would prevent a UCLA comeback and Duke would go on to run away with the 17 point victory.
UCLA has a lot of work to do if they want to compete in the Pac-12 this year. They are a young team so let's give them some sort of leeway but there are some things that are just inexcusable on the basketball court. Tony Parker could not finish at the rim, freshman sharp-shooter Zach LaVine's shot selection was awful at times, and the 4 other starters besides David Wear went a combined 1-10 from behind the arc. Kyle Anderson can't do it all himself and when Jordan Adams doesn't score in the high teens or low 20's UCLA is in big trouble. They also went 7-13 from the costless throw line and got out rebounded 41-33. One of Duke's major weaknesses is rebounding so that is a glaring stat that says a lot more about UCLA's front court.
Steve Alford is no John Wooden and we aren't expecting him to come right into this down swinging UCLA program and win games like these right away. We think this UCLA has some talent but at the end of the day, doesn't have what it takes to hang with the Duke's of college basketball just yet. They have too many weaknesses and while they clearly have more chemistry then they did last year (which is not saying much), I think these guys all need one more year together before they start competing in the extremely tough Pac-12.
The real key to the Blue Devils victory tonight was the fact that it wasn't just the Parker/Hood show and like when Danny Devito joined the cast of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" in season 2, those two guys finally had the perfect supporting cast. Quinn Cook was being smart with the ball and wasn't trying to force the issue. He is the catalyst, the glue, the X-factor, for this basketball team. He is a very good point guard when he's not being a very bad point guard and when he decides to be the former Duke usually wins. The real shocker of the night though and probably the MVP of the game was Amile Jefferson. The Philly native also must contribute numbers like this every single game if Duke wants to be a legit title contender. A Basketball team is only as strong as their weakest link and for Amile to come off the bench and give Duke 11 points, 2 boards, and 2 blocks in 23 minutes from the 5 spot is the missing piece. Decent minutes from Tyler Thornton and Rasheed Sulaimon help as well and I'm sure Jabari and Rodney will take all the help they can get. This Duke team is extremely overrated as their weaknesses were extremely transparent and exposed by Zona and Kansas, but if they constantly play the way they did last night, they can beat anyone. Even if they were playing at their home away from home.