NFL draftniks rejoice, your Super Bowl weekend is upon you as the 2009 NFL Draft Combine will take place this weekend in Indianapolis. 300 of the best prospects from college football will gather together to be evaluated by all 32 teams in the NFL. They will be tested for speed, strength, agility, and mental capacity in order to determine their position for the upcoming draft in April. And the NFL Network will there to cover all the action beginning Saturday morning at 11 AM sharp.
This weekend, you will have a wide variety of sports entertainment to choose from for your viewing pleasure. If you’re in the mood for speed, then the Daytona 500 on Sunday should rev your interest. Or if you’re looking for a good rivalry matchup, then the Georgetown and Syracuse contest on Saturday should be at the top of your list. If you’re longing for a star-studded extravaganza, take a moment to tune into the All-Star Weekend from Phoenix. The NBA gets it right by showcasing the incredible talents of their stars in multiple categories, even though they lose points by changing the game of H-O-R-S-E to sponsor approved G-E-I-C-O.
All times ET…
NBA
Saturday, 8 PM: Slam Dunk Competition, Three-Point Shootout, Skills Challenge (TNT)
Sunday, 9 PM: The NBA All-Star Game from Phoenix, AZ. (TNT)
NHL
Friday, 7 PM: Boston Bruins @ New Jersey Devils
Saturday, 8:30 PM: Dallas Stars @ Chicago Blackhawks
Sunday, 12:30 PM: Philadelphia Flyers @ New York Rangers (NBC)
College Basketball
Friday, 9 PM: #13 Villanova @ West Virginia (ESPN)
Saturday, 12 PM: Georgetown @ #22 Syracuse (ESPN)
Saturday, 1 PM: #6 UCLA @ Arizona (CBS)
Saturday, 4 PM: #25 Florida State @ #8 Wake Forest (ESPN Full Court)
Sunday, 1 PM: #20 Illinois @ Indiana (CBS)
Sunday, 5:30 PM: #5 Duke @ Boston College (Fox Sports)
PGA
Friday-Sunday, see local listings for broadcast times: AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am Tournament (CBS/TGC)
Let me be clear — the call I’m about to discuss was NOT the reason that Duke lost the game last night. The Tar Heels played terrific in the second half and the Blue Devils simply did not. But the call in question indirectly set up North Carolina’s run.
Check out the video of Kyle Singler elbowing Tyler Hansbrough.
The first shot of it is at the 0:05 mark in real time. It’s tough to see, but you get the sense for how difficult it would be for Singler to stop his elbow after it slips off the ball. You can also hear that the whistle blew after the elbow, so he still had the right to fight for the ball.
The first slow mo shot is at the 0:25 mark. Singler is clearly trying to rip the ball out from in between Hansbrough’s legs and his hand slips off the ball on the third attempt. He’s not thinking about what might be behind him and Hansbrough isn’t really doing anything that would warrant an elbow to the face. Plus, this scrum occurred just 16 seconds into the second half. There really wasn’t enough game time for Singler’s temper to get to the point that he’d intentionally elbow something in the face. Remember, most of these shots are in slow motion, so while it might seem like a player could stop his arm when it slips off the ball like that, in reality it’s moving much faster. It was an accident.
Dick Vitale and the officials overreacted. Singler was called for a technical, so North Carolina got two free throws. At that point in the game, Duke led 52-44, but more importantly, it was Singler’s third foul. After North Carolina had almost tied it up, Singler picked up his fourth with 12:55 to play and had to come out of the game. That’s when the Tar Heels started to pull away. When he returned a few minutes later, he couldn’t challenge shots on the defensive end like he normally would have, and that led to a couple of North Carolina buckets.
In the end, the Tar Heels won, 101-87, so it’s clear that this call wasn’t the deciding factor in the game. The Blue Devils had plenty of time to overcome that technical, but they shouldn’t have been put in that position in the first place.
This is a great win for North Carolina. They now have the inside track for an ACC regular season championship, which usually results in a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. In order for Duke to get back to that level, they’ll have to shrug off this 2-3 stretch and string together some wins, including a victory on March 8 in Chapel Hill.
Hats off to Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green who managed a 4-0 record at Duke during their careers at North Carolina. That’s a truly impressive accomplishment.
This is how a Duke/North Carolina matchup is supposed to be. Both teams are ranked in the top five, they’re tied for first place (at 7-2) in the ACC, and the winner will have the inside track to the conference championship. The game takes place at Cameron Indoor Stadium, a venue that even Duke haters will admit has set the standard for home court advantage. Duke was one of the first schools (if not the first) to put the student body front and center and that atmosphere has played a huge part in the Blue Devils’ success over the past two decades. (Though it should be noted that, with a win, Tyler Hansbrough could go 4-0 at Cameron in his career, so North Carolina has owned Coach K Court of late.)
Let’s say you’re sitting in a Vegas sportsbook yesterday afternoon and you decide that you want to get odds on a parlay that has #3 Duke losing to #10 Clemson by 27 points and #6 Wake Forest losing at Miami by the exact same margin. Or let’s just say that you have them both losing by 20-plus. What kind of odds would you be able to get? 100-1? 1,000-1? 10,000-1?
That’s exactly what happened. Clemson slammed Duke, 74-47, while Miami blasted Wake, 79-52. Littlejohn Coliseum is a great home court environment and the Tigers were able to jump all over the Blue Devils, leading from the get-go. It was just one of those nights for Duke when nothing was falling. Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer were a combined 4 of 23 from the field for 12 points. As a team, Duke shot 23% from long range and 31% from the field, and they were rattled by the Tigers’ full court pressure. Trevor Booker was stellar for Clemson, posting 21 points and eight boards, both game highs.
Meanwhile, the Demon Deacons were stymied by Miami’s zone defense en route to a brutal 32% from the field (and just 15% from long range). Jack McClinton had 32 points for the Hurricanes. Miami broke a three-game losing streak with the victory.
North Carolina and Duke sit atop the ACC at 6-2, while Clemson is a half game behind at 5-2. The Tar Heels visit Duke next Wednesday in a game that will determine who is in the driver’s seat in the ACC.
North Carolina and Duke are located just eight miles apart, making their rivalry the most spirited in all of college basketball. This three-disc DVD set contains three of the Tar Heels’ most memorable wins over their hated archrival.
From the back cover…
March 3, 1984
Chapel Hill, NC
North Carolina 96 Duke 83 (2 OT)
The final home game for North Carolina’s Matt Doherty, Michael Jordan, and Sam Perkins, was a memorable one. #1 North Carolina looked to be finished down two with just second to go in regulation when Matt Doherty took the inbounds pass the length of the court and hit a 15-footer to force overtime. Michael Jordan opened the second overtime with an alley-oop dunk and Duke’s Johnny Dawkins came back to cut the North Carolina lead to 82-81 with a short jumper but Duke would get only one more basket as Jordan and Perkins carried the Tar Heels to the victory.
February 5, 1992
Chapel Hill, NC
North Carolina 75 Duke 73
A rough one between #1 Duke and #9 North Carolina that featured blood and broken bones. The teams would exchange the lead 10 times before a Thomas Hill baseline jumper gave the Blue Devils a 39-38 halftime lead. The second half was just as tight seeing the Tar Heels take a 75-73 lead on a pair of Derrick Phelps free throws with 44.5 seconds remaining. Christian Laettner had two shots to tie the game in the final 24 seconds, but missed both. The lasting image from this game had to be North Carolina’s Eric Montross, who took a couple of elbows to the face – looking more like a boxer than a center, as he sank two late free throws with blood streaming down his face.
February 2, 1995
Durham, NC
North Carolina 102 Duke 100 (2OT)
Duke seemed out-manned on their home court from the opening tip, falling behind 26-9 in the first half, highlighted by an alley-oop dunk from Carolina’s Rasheed Wallace and a reverse jam by Jerry Stackhouse over two Blue Devils. However, Duke rallied in the second half and led by as much as 12, before North Carolina staged a rally of its own. The two squads exchanged leads four times at the end of regulation before heading into overtime. With three seconds left in the first overtime Duke’s Jeff Capel hit a running, 37-foot heave that tied the game at the buzzer. With the game still tied late in the second overtime, Jeff McInnis stole the inbounds pass for an easy layup, putting North Carolina up 102-98. Duke answered with a basket of their own and had a chance to force a third overtime or win the game but fell short on Steve Wojciechowski’s missed jumper.
The Duke Blue Devils #1 goal every season is to beat North Carolina. The two schools are just eight miles apart and the players and fans hate each other (literally). This three-disc DVD set includes three of the biggest Duke wins in this storied rivalry from the full-length, commercial-free television broadcasts.
From the back cover…
February 3, 2000
Chapel Hill, NC
Duke 90 ∙ North Carolina 86 (OT)
The Tar Heels, unranked coming into the game for the first time since 1990, struggled in the first half. Shane Battier scored 14 first-half points for #3 Duke who jumped out to a 17-point halftime lead. Duke pushed the lead to 19 early in the second half before North Carolina turned the game around scoring on 19 of its final 22 possessions, including a Joseph Forte three-pointer with 5.2 seconds left to send the game to overtime. The Blue Devils scored on their first six possessions in overtime and got seven points from Carlos Boozer in the extra frame to hold on for the victory.
February 5, 2004
Chapel Hill, NC
Duke 83 ∙ North Carolina 81 (OT)
The first game in the rivalry pitting Mike Krzyzewski against new UNC head coach Roy Williams didn’t disappoint. #1 Duke turned up the defense late in regulation with a 10-0 run, taking a 72-69 lead on two free throws by Luol Deng. #17 North Carolina fought back hitting a game-tying three-pointer and sending the game to overtime. Duke’s Shelden Williams’ two blocks and aggressive defense forced North Carolina into a late turnover. Duke’s J.J. Redick made two free throws to take the lead before North Carolina’s Rashad McCants drilled a game-tying three. That set the stage for Chris Duhon’s reverse layup with 6.5 seconds left in overtime to give Duke the win.
February 9, 2005
Durham, NC
Duke 71 ∙ North Carolina 70
In arguably the most anticipated game in the rivalry since 1998, #2 ranked UNC came up Highway 15-501 to visit the #8 ranked Blue Devils for a heavily hyped, prime time broadcast. By keeping the game almost entirely in the halfcourt, the Blue Devils and their vaunted defense simply were too much for North Carolina. J.J. Redick scored 18 points and freshman DeMarcus Nelson added 16 for Duke who forced UNC into 23 turnovers to seal the victory.
When Dino Gaudio took over as the head coach at Wake Forest, he immediately announced a change in defensive philosophy. He decided that if the team wanted to become a perennial contender, they had to focus more on that end of the court. He implemented the Pack Defense, created by Dick Bennett, former coach at Wisconsin and Washington State. He spoke with Dick’s son, Tony, as well as Sean Miller, who uses the defense at Xavier.
That change in philosophy paid great dividends tonight, as the #4 Demon Deacons upended #1 Duke, 70-68, limiting the Blue Devils to just 4-22 from long range.
But good defense can’t always overcome bad free throw shooting. Wake Forest led, 61-48, with 8:50 to play. Benefiting from Wake’s 5-10 free throw shooting down the stretch, Duke went on a 20-7 run to tie the game at 68-68. The game should have gone to overtime, but Gerald Henderson, Nolan Smith and David McClure didn’t communicate on Wake’s out-of-bounds play with only a few seconds remaining, and James Johnson sprung free for a way-too-easy layup to win the game. Johnson was positioned to be the goat, as he was outhustled by Jon Scheyer for a rebound on Duke’s previous possession (which set up Gerald Henderson’s game-tying bucket over Johnson).
In the end, these were two very good teams doing battle in the ACC. Wake Forest now has the inside track to a #1 seed with wins over Duke and North Carolina, but the two teams will meet again in Durham on Feb. 22 and may meet a third time in the ACC Tournament.
In other action, #3 Pitt lost to #22 Villanova, 67-57. It’s tough to win any game on the road in the Big East, especially against a ranked opponent like the Wildcats. Reggie Redding led ‘Nova with 18 points as the Wildcats’ defense held the Panthers to just 42% from the floor and 20% from long range.
In one of those easy-to-miss-if-you’re-not-paying-attention weekday games, #1 Duke travels to Winston-Salem to face #4 Wake Forest in a big-time ACC showdown. The Blue Devils need to contain dynamic guard Jeff Teague and do their best to battle the Demon Deacons’ big men — James Johnson, Al-Farouq Aminu and Chas McFarland — in the paint. With improved play from 7’1″ center Brian Zoubek, Duke now has some extra beef down low.
The Demon Deacons have the home court advantage, but Duke is still a slight favorite, at least according to the Las Vegas oddsmakers. Wake Forest lost last week at home to Virginia Tech, but looked great in a Jan. 11 home win against North Carolina. Kyle Singler leads the Blue Devils in scoring (16.5 ppg), but lately it has been Gerald Henderson leading the way. He has averaged 21.0 points on 64% shooting over the last five games, so the Demon Deacons would be wise to account for him.
Many football fans will be going through withdrawal this weekend; there are no scheduled games for the first time since the end of July. But there is enough sports on to help you make it through the weekend scot-free. Network coverage of the NBA will kick into full gear on ABC, as an attractive doubleheader (Mavericks/Celtics followed by Spurs/Lakers) will be broadcast starting at 1 PM this Sunday. Second week coverage of the Australian Open will continue on ESPN2 and the Tennis Channel, and do not forget the Golf Channel’s exclusive coverage of the Bob Hope Classic all weekend long.
All times ET…
NBA
Friday, 7 PM: Dallas Mavericks @ Detroit Pistons (ESPN)
Saturday, 7:30 PM: Orlando Magic @ Miami Heat (NBA TV)
Sunday, 1 PM: Dallas Mavericks @ Boston Celtics (ABC)
Sunday, 3:30 PM: San Antonio Spurs @ Los Angeles Lakers (ABC)
Sunday, 6:30 PM: Houston Rockets @ Detroit Pistons (ESPN)
NHL
Sunday, 6 PM: The NHL All Star Game in Montreal (Versus)
North Carolina and Duke are located just eight miles apart, making their rivalry the most spirited in all of college basketball. This three-disc DVD set contains three of the Tar Heels’ most memorable wins over their hated archrival.
