Cleaning out the NCAA East Region notebook …
PHILADELPHIA— When the Maryland Terrapins arrive in Minneapolis this week to prepare for the Final Four, Juan Dixon knows what’s coming.
“I’ll say, ‘I told you so,’ ” said a laughing Shane Battier shortly after his Duke BlueDevils advanced to Saturday’s national semifinal showdown against their Atlantic Coast Conference counterpart.
The Pac-10 may have put four teams into the Sweet 16, but only one, Arizona, survived the weekend. Maryland knocked off No. 1 seed Stanford on Saturday, and the BlueDevils sent upset-minded Southern California back to the other coast as well.
The last time Duke and Maryland squared off, the Terps just missed a miracle shot at the buzzer of the ACCTournament semifinals. As the players filed off the court in Atlanta, Battier caught up with Maryland’s star guard.
“I told Juan, ‘See you in the Final Four.’ They had a great team and I knew they had a great shot to be there,”Battier said.
Maryland’s victory was announced to the fans at the First Union Center, greatly pleasing the Duke/ACC faithful and annoying the Pac-10 contingent hoping to see a Southern Cal-Stanford matchup.
The players and coaches professed not to know that Maryland had won the earlier game.
“These kids aren’t paying attention to another score. These kids are playing the biggest game of their life,”interrupted Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski when one of the Devils was asked if he heard about the Terps’ win. “If anyone even heard the score, they’ll be running sprints tomorrow because that means they weren’t listening to me.
“You don’t pay attention to what other people are doing, otherwise you’ll be just like the other millions of people watching the tournament instead of playing in it.”
After the game, though, yes, Duke was more than happy for Maryland. Plus, not having to play Stanford on Saturday means the Blue Devils get to end their Pac-10 schedule at two games — UCLAand USC.
“We were getting kind of tired of playing all these Pac-10 teams, so it’s good that they made it,”Duke freshman Chris Duhon said. “We’re going to have another classic game.”
don’t forget: Jason Williams and Battier have been unstoppable to this point in the NCAATournament.
Williams, who tied a career-high with 34 points against UCLA while running off 19 straight during one stretch, is averaging 28.8 points per game through the Elite Eight.
Battier’s averaging a double-double of 23 points and nearly 11 rebounds a game.
Numbers like those forced USChead coach Henry Bibby to concentrate his defense on the Duke stars, but then Duhon and Mike Dunleavy came up with big games, scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively.
“Jason and Shane had great games. They were the main guys,”Dunleavy said. “Sometimes they (opponents) can forget about us other guys, just for a second, and we’re able to kill ’em.”
Duhon drilled three shots from long range Saturday, including two in the second half that put the Trojans away. He was happy to bask in the limelight for a while, but knows his place.
“We don’t worry about all that. We’re a team,”Duhon said. “ We’re glad that we have the poster-boy, Shane, and Jason, the best point guard in the country. Let them do what they do and we’ll be the background figures and have a great time doing it.”
n
burning the midnighT oil: Duke’s other unsung hero throughout the tournament, according to Williams, has been none other than Coach K.
“I just think this proves that Coach is the best coach in the country,”the Duke point guard said. “First we lose our center like that, then we lose to Maryland in a really hard-fought game. For him to stay up all night and find different ways to attack people in different games, I don’t think there’s any other coach that can do that.”
Duke went 6-0 after starting center Carlos Boozer broke a bone in his right foot late in the regular season, forcing Krzyzewski to cobble together a backup plan on the fly.
More adjustments were needed in Philadelphia, when Boozer’s return to the lineup threatened to disrupt the Devils’ hot streak.
“There are plenty of coaches who stay up all night,”Krzyzewski said, deflecting Williams’ praise. “It is easy to do when you have instruments to use. They really listen, and because of that we win. My staff has done a great job.”
n
getting better: Boozer, after scoring two points in 22 minutes Thursday against UCLA, had a free throw, four rebounds, two steals and a block Saturday, also in 22 minutes.
To this point, Duke is pleased with his progress, although hoping for more now that the season has been extended a week.
“Carlos still doesn’t have the bounce,”Krzyzewski said. “Hopefully he will be ready next Saturday. Especially against Maryland, we are going to need an inside presence. Hopefully he will get his legs under him.”
n
let’s do it again: Southern Cal and Temple were clearly the two surprise squads in the Elite Eight.
The Trojans’ appearance may have been even more so — despite a No. 6 seed to the Owls’ No. 12 — for the simple fact that USC had never advanced that far in the NCAATournament, while John Chaney’s Temple club had.
The Trojans, who finished fourth in the Pac-10 and ended the year 24-10, lost two starting seniors — guard Jeff Trepagnier and center Brian Scalabrine — and key reserve Jarvis Turner.
But returning to Bibby’s squad are all-tournament players David Bluthenthal and SamClancy, armed with the memories of what an NCAATournament is all about.
“This was a great run,”said Scalabrine, the third Trojan on the all-tourney team, which was filled out by Battier and Most Outstanding Player Williams.
“It’s going to help USCout tremendously.”
n
Sportswriter Steve Hanf is covering Duke in the NCAATournament.
Today's News