Despite the fact that the Duke men’s basketball season has been over for a few weeks, there has still been a lot going on with the team and its players.

*Here is the update on the injury front:

Three players had successful surgery, though only one will be back to play next season. Seth Curry will hopefully be playing in the NBA next season with two healthy legs (unlike his final season at Duke and he still had a successful season). That surgery took place last Monday. Ryan Kelly had surgery on his foot about two weeks ago. Apparently, he was never fully healthy, despite coming back to play late in the season. And who can forget his memorable return against Miami. He said that he shouldn’t have any more problems with the foot in the future. Kelly is once again back in a boot and on crutches.

The current Blue Devil to have surgery is Marshall Plumlee, who has been hampered over the past two seasons with a left foot injury. He will once again be out 12-16 weeks to recover. That means, not alot of offseason working out for the youngest Plumlee. He injured the foot at the end of the preseason and missed the team’s first nine games. It hampered him all season. Duke has yet to see a healthy Plumlee and see what he is truly capable of.

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Quite a few Duke players participated in the ACC Barnstorming Tour, which visiting Kelly‘s high school (Ravenscroft). Players from Duke, North Carolina, NC State, and Wake Forest participated in the event, with Kelly and Curry watching from the bench. The college stars played against the Ravenscroft High School alumni. Mason Plumlee started alongside UNC’s Dexter Strickland, NC State’s Scott Wood and Jay Lewis, and Wake Forest’s CJ Harris. Quinn Cook and Alex Murphy came off the bench, as did Duke alum Nolan Smith. TJ Warren of NC State and Tarheel alums Reggie Bullock and Phil Ford also came off the bench. The ACC stars won 128-86. Players like Wood and Mason were selling off some of their game worn stuff, now that they are no longer held back by NCAA amateurism rules.

On a side note, Kelly‘s younger brother Sean (who is a Duke manager) beat Wood in a halftime three-point contest.

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» Continue reading “Duke Men’s Basketball News and Notes”

One night after the women held their end of season awards banquet, the Duke men’s basketball team held their own.

The men went 30-6 overall and a perfect 16-0 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. They won the Battle4Atlantis title in the early season tournament and made it to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament (losing to eventual champion Louisville).

Via DukeBluePlanet

The trio of seniors: Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly, and Mason Plumlee were named the team’s MVP. In their careers, they went 124-23, won four in-season tournament titles, won the ACC title twice, and won the 2010 NCAA Championship (though Curry was a transfer redshirt that season). This past season, the trio averaged 47.5 points and 17.8 rebounds.

Plumlee racked up the awards on Friday night, as he was also named the Top Scholar Athlete and the Iron Duke (the player with the most minutes with 1,248). He also had the top field goal percentage (59.9%) and best rebounding average. Plumlee is a Capital One first team Academic All-American and a second team All-American. In his final season, he averaged a double-double: 17.1 points and ten rebounds.

Curry won the Pagliuca Family Coach’s Award (overall improvement) and was also honored as the player with the best free throw percentage (80.9%). He led the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game and was named a second team All-American. He was second in the ACC in three pointers made (95) and three point field goal percentage (43.8%). He scored twenty points a career-high 18 times. He finally had surgery after the season ended so he’ll have two healthy legs for the start of his NBA career (hopefully).

Kelly was named the team’s top Defensive Player, despite missing 13 games with another foot injury (which he recently had surgery on). He averaged 1.6 blocks per game and took nine charges. He also averaged 12.9 points per game. One of the most memorable games came on his first game back from the foot injury, March 2nd at home against Miami. He scored a career-high 36 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including 7-of-9 from outside.

Other players were honored besides the three seniors.

Josh Hairston received the True Blue Award for taking a team-high 20 charges, while Tyler Thornton won the Glenn E. “Ted” Mann Award as the bench player contributing most to team morale. Quinn Cook earned the Most Assists Award, as he finished second in the ACC with 5.3 assists per game. He was also a third team All-ACC selection. He averaged 11.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Cook also had a 2.4:1 assist to turnover ratio.

Somehow, the Duke men’s basketball team overcame massive foul trouble to defeat seven seed Creighton, 66-50.

Ryan Kelly picked up three fouls in the first half while both Mason Plumlee and Josh Hairston fouled out.

When it looked like Creighton was closing in at the end of the first half, Tyler Thornton hit a three at the buzzer to give Duke the 29-23 lead. And if you looked at the stats, you were probably scratching your head trying to find out how they were leading. Kelly had not scored. Seth Curry couldn’t hit the side of a barn.

But Rasheed Sulaimon was back, hitting shots and playing with confidence. He finished with 21 points and five rebounds.

In the second half, Amile Jefferson had the pleasure of guarding Creighton’s best player, Doug McDermott. Let’s just say he earned his scholarship tonight. With a combination of Kelly, Jefferson, and then Thornton towards the end, McDermott made just four shots (out of 16). He did score 21 points, as he went 12-for-12 from the free throw line.

The Duke defense visibly frustrated McDermott and there were times down the court that he didn’t touch the ball on offense.

Curry hit some shots in the second half, as he scored 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Thornton scored eight points and led the team in rebounds with six.

The Blue Devils move on to the Sweet 16 to face Michigan State on Friday night at approximately 9:45pm ET on CBS. The game will be played in Indianapolis.

*I was on the edge of my seat at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia for most of the game, especially with all of the foul trouble. The Creighton head coach was constantly complaining to the refs, but it wasn’t until the second half that their best player (and his son) got into foul trouble. Meanwhile, two of Duke’s best players had three (or four) fouls.

I stayed for the entire game, unlike most fans. Many left before the midnight ending. The Florida Gulf Coast fans were loud and proud, especially considering their team became the first 15 seed to advance to the Sweet 16. However, most of their fans left between games.

**On a side note, Creighton didn’t really have cheerleaders. They had a dance team and a group wearing blue and white overalls. Their band had a guy banging on a cowbell and a girl with a tambourine. Can I get on scholarship in that band? At the half of the first game between San Diego State and FGCU, the Eagles mascot did his own routine. I’m sure somebody has posted it online by now.

On Senior Night, the Duke men’s basketball team used a huge second half to blow away visiting Virginia Tech, 85-57. The big push was led by their three starting seniors.

In the first half, it was hard to tell that the Hokies were the worst team in the ACC. They played with a ton of energy and were scoring at a decent percentage (44%). They led for much of the first half, even being up 8-1 to start.

Duke took their first lead of the first half with 6:35 to go at 25-24 and it went back-and-forth for a bit after. Duke led 38-35 at the half. What hurt the Blue Devils the most was getting beat on the offensive glass and that the Hokies were giving NCAA scoring leader Erick Green some offensive help.

That changed in the second half.

Seth Curry

Duke scored on 15 of their final 16 possessions. They out-rebounded VT 36-29 and held the Hokies to just nine rebounds in the second half. Green reached his average of 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting, but his teammates couldn’t continue to score. Jarell Eddie, who had eight points at the half, only scored five more points.

With a little more than two minutes to go, Coach K began using his timeouts to sub in players for his three seniors. Ryan Kelly was the first to hear the cheers. He wasn’t as hot as his first game back on Saturday night, but he did score 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. He also hauled in nine rebounds and dished out five assists. Kelly was a big reason why Duke mounted their comeback in the first half.

Next came Mason Plumlee, who was replaced by his younger brother Marshall, and Seth Curry. Mason scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half, as he spent a good portion of the first half on the bench in foul trouble. He also hauled in seven rebounds and dished out five assists. Curry scored ten points in each half to finish with twenty on 6-of-11 shooting.

With about two minutes to go, the Cameron Crazies began chanting “We Want Todd”, who was the only senior left to play. Almost on cue, Coach K sent Todd Zafirovski to the scorer’s table to check in to roaring cheers. Unfortunately, he did not get a shot.

Quinn Cook finished with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He also hauled in six rebounds. Rasheed Sulaimon is in another one of his funks, as he did not start the second half and finished with five points.

Next up for Duke, the regular season finale at North Carolina on Saturday night on ESPN (9pm ET).

In the revenge rematch on Saturday night, the Duke men’s basketball team beat visiting Miami, 79-76. The loss kept the Hurricanes from clinching the outright ACC regular season title (it would be their first ever basketball outright title). The game was a bit closer than Duke fans would have liked, due to sloppy play and missed free throws over the final minute, but a win’s a win.

It was all about Ryan Kelly tonight (and the Cameron Crazies made sure to chant his name throughout).

In his return (he last played on January 8th due to a foot injury), he was absolutely unstoppable. If you had said he would have had a career night in his return to the court, you should play the lottery more often.

Kelly scored a career-high 36 points on 10-of-14 shooting. He also hauled in seven rebounds in 32 minutes of work. Duke is still undefeated during this season with Kelly in the lineup. Check out Kelly postgame HERE.

Freshman Rasheed Sulaimon was so bad for about 37 minutes of the game and found himself on the bench for a good chunk of the second half. However, when he came back in with about 2:40 to go, he scored four points over a thirty second span to give Duke a seven point lead (which just about put the game away).

Mason Plumlee played with a lot more energy and toughness than he did in Thursday’s loss. He scored 12 points and hauled in five rebounds. Quinn Cook scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting. He also dished out five assists and hauled in four rebounds.

As the guys from ESPN’s College Gameday said following the game, Miami’s Reggie Johnson forgot what time the game started. He really didn’t show up (no points) and they will need him to go far in the tournaments.

The Hurricanes did receive production from their four other starters. Shane Larkin, who many believe will earn the ACC Player of the Year honors, scored 25 points, hauled in four rebounds, and dished out four assists. He scored 19 of his points in the second half. Kenny Kadji scored 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting while hauling in ten rebounds. Trey McKinney-Jones and Durand Scott each scored 12 points and hauled in five rebounds in the loss.

» Continue reading “Duke Welcomes Ryan Kelly Back with Open Arms”

At least it’s not broke.

Duke’s Ryan Kelly is out indefinitely with a right foot injury. According to “sources”, it is a re-aggravation of a previous injury.

It has been said to be an extended period of time that he will miss, but Duke is hopeful that he will only miss two weeks. Most feel he will miss four weeks.

So what teams are breathing a little easier now that Duke is down and will not have to face Kelly?

It starts with NC State on Saturday.

Then a home game against Georgia Tech.

Then a trip to the surprising Miami Hurricanes, who are dealing with their own injury issue (ie Reggie Johnson).

Then another home game, this time against a surprisingly good Maryland team.

That brings us to about two weeks (January 26th).

But if Kelly were to miss four weeks, he would miss back-to-back road games against Wake Forest and Florida State.

He could be back in time for the rematch with NC State on February 7th. If all goes well, Kelly should play in both of the matchups with rival North Carolina and the road game at Maryland (on February 16th).

It’s going to be a tough road ahead for Duke, but I’m hoping for a speedy recovery for Kelly. Hopefully, his teammates on the Duke bench will step up in his absence and prove their worth.

My fingers, along with the fingers of Duke men’s basketball fans across the world, are currently crossed in the hopes that Ryan Kelly‘s foot injury is not serious.

He left last night’s game against Clemson after the first half and did not return. At that time, he had already scored 12 points (and out-scored the entire Clemson team).

Duke’s next game comes on Saturday afternoon, as they make the short drive to Raleigh to play the ACC’s preseason pick to win the conference, NC State. If Kelly is unavailable, I’m not sure Duke can win this game to stay unbeaten. Coach K usually only plays seven guys and the bench really doesn’t get much action. Kelly and center Mason Plumlee normally play the bulk of the forty minutes unless they are in foul trouble.

Can and will Josh Hairston, Alex Murphy, and Amile Jefferson step up?

The tough part about this injury is that Kelly has gotten really HOT over his last five games and is coming off earning ACC Player of the Week honors. He is shooting 50% from three point land and is Duke’s third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder. He stretches the opponent’s defenses because of his ability both from the inside and outside and his passing ability may be as good (or better) than point guard Quinn Cook. Oh and the fact that he is a senior, this is not how he would like his final season to come to an end.

It is eerily similar to last year when he went down with the foot injury that sat him out during both the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. It is the exact same foot that he sprained last season (his right one).

Kelly is expected to have a CT scan and X-ray sometime today. Without him, it could be a tough second half of the season for Duke.

The Duke men’s and women’s basketball teams both went 2-0 last week to stay undefeated. Those victories earned a player on each team to win ACC Player of the Week honors.

Ryan Kelly finally seems to be waking up in his senior season, as he has been hot over the last three or four games. He is the fourth Duke player to earn the weekly honor.

Over the week, Kelly averaged 20 points and 5.5 rebounds. He shot 72.7% (8-of-11) from three point land.

In the victory over Davidson, he scored 18 points and hauled in seven rebounds. That was a season-high in points prior to Saturday’s victory over Wake Forest. Kelly scored 22 points and hauled in four rebounds. He has hit at least one three pointer in eight straight games. He also extended his at least one block a game streak to 11 games.

He is now shooting 50% from beyond the arc and 72.2% (13-of-18) over his last five games. Kelly‘s season average is a career-high of 13.5, as is his 5.4 rebounds. He has currently scored 842 points over his career so he could reach the 1,000 point plateau.

The top ranked men are back in action Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium against Clemson.

» Continue reading “Kelly and Gray Earn ACC Honors”

The Duke men’s basketball team received a solid effort from everyone on Saturday afternoon as they opened their ACC schedule with a win over Wake Forest. The Blue Devils won 80-62 over a very young Demon Deacons squad. Duke improved to 83-2 at home as the number one team in the country and 14-0 overall this season.

Duke hit ALL three pointers for most of the first half. They didn’t pick up their first made two pointer until there was 8:27 to go when Mason Plumlee finally scored. The Blue Devils were led in the first half by 2/3 of their senior trio. Ryan Kelly was on FIRE from the outside, as he made 4-of-6 three pointers for 17 points. Seth Curry rebounded from a rough game against Davidson to score 14 first half points.

Wake Forest went over five minutes without a field goal in the first half until Travis McKie scored with 5:35 to go. That enable Duke to pull away from a close game.

Duke completely pulled away to open the second half, as they went on a 17-6 run by the time the first TV timeout rolled around. Even the subs played a good chunk early in the second half. The Cameron Crazies got to see Marshall Plumlee score for the first time in his career, though his free throw shot is just as bad as big brother Mason‘s. Alex Murphy scored less than 30 seconds after entering for the first time.

But it was all about the starting five on Saturday afternoon.

Despite fouling out with 7:20 to play, Kelly finished with 22 points on 6-of-9 shooting. That was a season-high in points for the suddenly hot senior. Curry also finished with 22 points. He is still struggling a bit from the line, as he went 3-of-5.

Despite a slow start (just 1-of-3 in the first half), Mason came on strong in the second half. He recorded yet another double-double: 13 points and 12 rebounds. Plus, he flustered the young big men for Wake. The big negative was his continued struggles at the free throw line. He went just 3-of-9 from the line and he seems to be getting worse instead of better.

Quinn Cook had a horrible shooting day (0-for-12) and did not score, but he was a huge part of the victory. He recorded a career-high 14 assists compared to just two turnovers. He also hauled in three rebounds and played solid defense.

» Continue reading “Duke Starts ACC Season With a Bang”

The Duke men’s basketball team improved to 13-0 on the season, but it was not easy in Charlotte against Davidson. They used a 14-2 run to start the second half to win, 67-50.

The game was all knotted at 29-29 at the half. However, it took Davidson until the 13:51 mark in the second half to finally score. At that point, they were just 1-for-10 from the field.

Duke started out slow once again and were dominated on the glass in the first half (AGAIN). Their defense was a little lacking and you could almost see the steam coming out of Coach K’s ears in the first half. They also had nine turnovers to just one assist. So it wasn’t exactly a great first half to be a Blue Devil.

Oh, and did I mention that Davidson had 14 second chance points? Duke had ZERO.

Coach K must have given some kind of halftime speech, because the Blue Devils came out with a little extra energy on defense and completely shut down the Davidson offense. They also were better on the glass (they out-rebounded Davidson, 15-11 in the second half).

They also cleaned up their act on offense (or maybe Davidson just ran out of gas). Duke committed just three second half turnovers and dished out seven assists.

I mentioned in my New Year’s resolution piece that Duke needed Ryan Kelly to return. Like last year’s Ryan Kelly. Well…he was back tonight. He finished with 18 points (on 5-of-8 shooting). He also hauled in seven rebounds and was a force on defense.

Quinn Cook also had a solid game. He was 6-for-9 from the field for 15 points. He had three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Davidson just could not stop his floaters in the lane.

During the game, former Duke player Jay Bilas, an analyst for ESPN, mentioned that the Blue Devils needed some bench support for them to be a true contender for the national championship. Well, they finally got some of that bench support tonight, though it came from just one player. Tyler Thornton only took one shot in the first half, but was a big reason why Duke won the game. He finished with ten points and made all four of his free throws (he shoots under 60% from the line on the season).

It was a rough game for senior guard Seth Curry, who recently was named a Duke tri-captain and the ACC Player of the Week. He went just 3-for-11 from the field for six points.

It was a frustrating game for Player of the Year candidate Mason Plumlee, as he had the worst game of his senior season. He scored less than 16 points for the first time this season (just ten points). Davidson was constantly double-teaming him and he looked visibly frustrated, which made him start being a little soft inside. He also had six turnovers.

Also in my New Year’s resolution piece, I mentioned Duke needing to clean up their act at the free throw line. Well, they did that against Davidson. The Blue Devils missed just two (20-of-22), one by Kelly and one by Mason.

For Davidson, Jake Cohen finished with 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting. He also hauled in eight rebounds. What scares me is that he was in foul trouble, so it could have been worse for Duke. In the first half, De’Mon Brooks had six points and eight rebounds. However the Duke defense shut him down and he finished with just eight points and 12 rebounds.

Next up for Duke is the opening of the ACC schedule. They start the conference games at home against Wake Forest on Saturday at noon on ESPNU.