Duke wins big at Purdue - Purdue fans disappointed

In somewhat of a surprise, Duke actually had a non-conference pure road game in early December at Purdue's Mackey Arena, and they more than shut up the critics and disappointed many Purdue fans (see picture on left from Vegas '07) in a huge 16 point win. Kyle Singler had a monster game for Duke (20 points and 12 boards) and his domination in the game overshadowed the fact that Purdue had a bad shooting night. Duke surprised me with their defense as they are far more athletic this year, mainly due to the fact that Nolan Smith is now starting in the place of junior guard Greg Paulus and the emergence of now healthy center Brian Zoubek defensively. Duke continues its Big Ten road swing, as they play at Michigan on Saturday. Sophomore standout Robbie Hummel of Purdue had a decent game (15 points, 8 boards), but many of these points were in 'garbage time.'

PPI Rankings - As of 11/30/08

Many changes occurred from last week to this week, and of course, UNC is now #1 after dominating a few games.

#1 North Carolina
#2 Duke
#3 Pittsburgh
#4 Xavier
#5 Connecticut
#6 Oklahoma
#7 Tennessee
#8 Clemson
#9 Arizona State
#10 Syracuse
#11 Illinois
#12 Gonzaga
#13 Wake Forest
#14 Florida State
#15 Texas
#16 Missouri
#17 Memphis
#18 Illinois State
#19 Vanderbilt
#20 California
#21 Villanova
#22 Oklahoma State
#23 UAB
#24 North Carolina State
#25 Florida
Others receiving votes: Dayton, Mississippi, Nebraska, Baylor, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Texas A&M, Utah, Stanford, Seton Hall, Davidson, Butler, Michigan State, Purdue, UNLV

North Carolina is for Real

I have always made it apparent that I do not have a love for the ACC, but I have to say it - #1 North Carolina is really good. I do not expect UNC to lose more than one or two games in their ACC conference season. If they were in the Big East, they'd likely have a few more losses, but they still would be the best or second best in the conference.A big test will occur when they play #5 Michigan State in front of a packed Ford Field (a warmup for the facility as they will have the National Championship this year).

What I've been most impressed with is not Ty Lawson's speed, Wayne Ellington's threes, or Tyler Hansborough's domination (including jumpers going as far back as the 3-point line), but it is the team defense. The D has far improved from last year, when they were put in a HUGE hole in the National Semifinal against eventual National Champion Kansas last year. Even though they gave up ten threes to Notre Dame guard Kyle McAlarney, the game was never in doubt. For a team to beat UNC, they will need to play good defense, be able to drive inside, get easy fast break baskets against a speedy UNC team, and force Hansborough into foul trouble. This is a tough task to ask of any team.