Well, Duke traveled to New York and got defensive against Gonzaga.   Needless to say, this was a huge win.  More to come -

Paulus is mending nicely!  The sophomore PG led Duke in scoring.

Greg Paulus had a career-high 20 points and combined with Josh McRoberts on three big plays in the second half to help No. 6 Duke beat No. 22 Gonzaga 61-54 on Thursday night in the Aeropostale Classic - Continue

Madison Square Garden has been the locale for many heavyweight fights, and tonight, two basketball powers, Duke and Gonzaga lock gloves in a game that promises the shed many answers for the successful programs.

Duke struggled with Kent State, perhaps due to exams or their lack of communication on defense, but mainly due to their susceptibility with teams that have a good back court or three guards in the starting five.

Coach K faces a tough challenge in preparing his team for it's second game in three days, against a Gonzaga team that handled UNC in Madison Square Garden.

While Greg Paulus played his best game of the season versus the Golden Flashes, it'll take an even greater effort by him and fellow back court mate Jon Scheyer to neutralize the potent Zag attack.

The Zags are led by Derek Raivio, a tough as nails senior guard that averages 20 ppg.  Then there is freshman Matt Bouldin and Jeremy Parvo, a Chicago native like Scheyer.

Even if Duke finds a way to slow down the talented three, the Zags front court poses major threats, namely Josh Heyvett, who played the UNC front line like a Tiger in their win.

Some may say, hey, the Zags are 9-3, but they have played as tough a slate as they come.  They have wins over #2 UNC, a thrashing of top ten team Washington and they handled ranked Texas easily.

Freshman Jon Scheyer will play against another former Chicago area HS star in Parvo.

Now lets look at the Gonzaga losses to underrated Washington State, giant killer and top ten team, Butler and Georgia.  The Bulldogs loss was shocking, but it was on the road and the Dogs are 8-1.  For that matter the combined records of the three teams they lost to are 29-3.

So what we have here is a solid team that is battle tested and much better than its #22 ranking.

Another interesting fact is that the Zags haven't lost back to back games since the 2002 season and to prove they are no longer flying under the radar, one only has to look at their eight straight NCAA appearances.

Lets take it a step further with another mind blowing stat.  Gonzaga is 8-1 all time versus the mighty ACC.

Henderson needs to let the game come to him.

Duke will have to find some production from the freshman to compete.  Gerald Henderson, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek were all no shows in the last outing and you can throw Marty Pocius in there too. At least one of the aforementioned needs to lift thier game a notch in this contest.

McRoberts is sure to be tested in this game and needs to finish with authority near the basket.  DeMarcus Nelson will have to be on his game, as he will likely draw Raivio defensively.  IOW, our guys will have to play together and this game will surely test their resolve.

Breakdown -

Gonzaga Off vs. Duke Def	Duke Off vs. Gonzaga Def
81.7 Pts F 53.5 Pts A 49.9 FG% 38.3 FG% 35.5 Reb. 25.7 Reb.	69.2 Pts F 68.7 Pts A 47.8 FG% 39.5 FG% 25.7 Reb. 29.2 Reb.

I am hoping the NYC area crowd will keep the Blue Devils pumped up, because in my opinion, Gonzaga is the best team we've played this season and that includes Marquette.  It will take a team effort, as the Zags can go to their bench, but if our leaders, Captains McRoberts, Paulus and Nelson have a big game, I feel we will slip by.  The key will be shuting down Raivio and hitting the boards hard against a great rebounding club.  The game should live up to its billing.

The Pick is - Duke 68 Gonzaga 67

Duke goes for its 49th consecutive win against a non conference opponent versus Kent State at 7:00 EST in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Kent State played a talented Butler team even until the final seconds, but were blown out in Columbus against Ohio State.  They come into the game with a record of 5-3 with wins over Temple and Detroit to their credit.

The  Golden Flash  have had several 20 win  seasons of late, and eleven in their history. They are one of the better mid major programs and are the defending MAC champions, coming off an impressive  25-9 season.  Despite the loss of three starters, they remain competitive and are much more balanced offensively this season.

Demarcus Nelson is having a breakout season for the Blue Devils.

Both teams might be sluggish or rusty.  This is first outing for Duke in ten days, while Kent State has had an even longer break.

How they matchup -

Kent St. Off vs. Duke Def	Duke Off vs. Kent St. Def
73.4 Pts F 51.6 Pts A 46.7 FG% 37.0 FG% 31.8 Reb. 25.3 Reb.	68.2 Pts F 65.6 Pts A 47.8 FG% 41.1 FG% 25.3 Reb. 27.5 Reb.

The pick here is Duke 70 Kent State 54

This season is likely to be the first time in quite a while that Duke lacks a National Player Of The Year candidate.

I expect that to change next season, when the current players mature, but until then, lets examine the incredible numbers for Duke.

Since 1985, the Atlantic Coast Conference has garnered eleven NPOY's.  To show you how impressive that is, the Big Ten is a very distant second with five, followed by the Big East with four.

The amazing thing is that Duke has had eight of the eleven POY's, with three other conference schools having but one a piece.

Breaking down the  NPOY's since 1985-

ACC - 11

Duke - 8 of the 11

Big Ten - 5

Big East - 4

Big 12 - 3

Pac-10 - 2

Dawkins was the first of eight NPOY's for the Blue Devils since 1985.  Can you name them?

Here are some interesting facts about Cameron Indoor Stadium.

-CIS was known as Duke Indoor Stadium until January 22, 1972.

-CIS was named after Eddie Cameron, who not only coached the basketball team, but had just retired as Athletic Director at that time.

-There were several renovations over the years, but in 1976, among them the suspended basketball goals appeared for the first time.  This was also the year the Hall of Fame room was created, formerly called the "D" room.  Duke was the second team in the Nation to have the aforementioned suspended goals.

-The first game was on January the, 1940 against Princeton, a 36-27 win.  Uh, it seems the Tigers have played slow down hoops for a long time!

-In February of 1947, 8,800 Dukies crammed into Cameron for the game with arch rival North Carolina.  It was the first of many sell out games to be played in the venue.  At that time, it was the largest crowd south of Philadelphia to witness a basketball game.

This is Cameron as it appears now on a Summer day.

-Fire regulations reduced the seating in the bicentennial year of 1976.

-Duke use turn out the lights when the Blue Devils team was introduced, casting a spot light on the players.  I actually remember this as a youth, but are uncertain when the practice stopped and would much like to know the time-line, should any read know.  It was very cool and something I'd like to see return.

There have been many changes over the years to the legendary stadium.

-Cameron Indoor Stadium is the fourth basketball venue Duke has had over the years.  The first games were played on East Campus at the Angier Duke Gymnasium.  Shortly after that games were moved to World Ward Gym, which was dedicated to Trinity students who had been killed in the World War.  A third gym was built when Duke was expanding.  It was Card Gym, and many of you like myself have probably played a pick up game or ten in the Card, which is connected to Cameron by an underground tunnel.

The Blue Devil Nation would like to hear your stories and memories of Cameron. Share them  by using the comment function below.

The purple clad Holy Cross Crusaders visit Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time this evening. The Crusaders have a rock solid backcourt where Seniors Torey Thomas and Keith Simmons form the pre season All Patriot League 1st team guards.

Like Duke, Holy Cross thrives on defense and rank among the Nations leaders in points allowed.  They play the passing lanes well, averaging 9 steals per game.

The Blue Devils are coming off a hard fought victory over Georgetown.  I feel that Duke grew up some in that game, but they will have to lock down the Holy Cross guards and stop Tim Clifford down low to be successful.

Greg Paulus started to come around from his nagging injury in the win over Georgetown.

Holy Cross is in the midst of a road trip where they have played four games in ten days.  I expect them to play with a great deal of emotion early on, but Duke should pull away as the game goes on.

All eyes will be on Greg Paulus who started to come around with his leadership and play in the victory over the Hoyas.  Expect a slower paced game between two defensive minded clubs.  The pick here is Duke 71 Holy Cross 55

How they matchup-

Holy Cross Off vs. Duke Def	Duke Off vs. Holy Cross Def
65.3 Pts F 52.3 Pts A 40.4 FG% 36.4 FG% 31.8 Reb. 25.0 Reb.	69.5 Pts F 61.8 Pts A 47.9 FG% 42.3 FG% 25.0 Reb. 25.6 Reb.

Holly Cross Starters-

Pos.  No.  Name                        
F      21  Alex Vander Baan, 6-8 So.
F      33  Colin Cunningham, 6-6 So.
C      00  Tim Clifford, 6-10 Jr.
G       1   Torey Thomas, 5-11 Sr.
G      10  Keith Simmons, 6-5  Sr.

Coach K prepares his young troops for Holy Cross.

Game Facts-

Holy Cross (6-2) vs. #7 Duke (7-1)
Date: December 6, 2006
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
Place: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, N.C.
ESPN2 Television: Mike Patrick, Len Elmore
Duke Radio Network: WDNC 620 AM, Durham, N.C., flagship; Bob Harris, John Roth
Series Record: Duke leads, 1-0
The Last Meeting: Duke 66, Holy Cross 60 on January the 27th 1982 at East Rutherford, N.J.

Holy Cross is one of the better rebounding teams Duke has faced this season.

Georgetown had Duke on its heals in the first half, outplaying the Devils on their home court. 

The second half was a different story.  Greg Paulus came alive scoring 13 points, many at critical moments.

Jon Scheyer hit some big buckets too, and Duke is now 7-1.  Interestingly, neither guard scored a point in the first half.

"We played hard and helped out each other making as many plays as possible," said Paulus

"Everybody made plays, not just me."  Greg was right about that.  McRoberts had several nice passes and McClure tipped the ball to Paulus for the huge breakaway basket.

A tough game like this will certainly help the Devils confidence on offense.  Many fans seemingly forget how young this team is and that it most certainly will improve as the season goes on.

Coach K showed quite a bit of emotion at games end, partially because his team toughed the win out and more likely because he saw them mature.

Defense was the key to the win, especially in the second half, where Duke outscored the Hoyas by 18 points.

No matter how you cut it, this was a huge win for Duke and you will continue to see the team get better.

So, we are just starting to get into the flow and the chemistry was much better than the previous two games.

That said, all of you Paulus bashers can whine about him if you want to, but he is our PG and you need to get behind him and allow him to get his timing back.  He took some major strides in that direction tonight.

Again, this is a young team that needs support, not dissecting of every move by certain spoiled fans, who think you can throw a team with one junior and a bunch of sophs and freshman together and expect mid season form in December.

Relax!  Enjoy the ride, deal with the pitfalls and when they come together even more, you can say you were supporting them all along.

Speaking of support, the Cameron Crazies were outstanding tonight.  They seem to get it, so why don't many others on the message boards.  I am talking about the ones on game threads that had the lynch mob out for Paulus in the first half.

Those fans aren't enjoying the win as much as the tempered fans and this was a game to revel in if you had faith in our coach and team.

K instructs McRoberts who had 15 points and 4 assists against Georgetown.

The Box Score

Duke takes on the Georgetown Hoyas at 7:00 in Cameron Indoor Stadium and they hope to get a little revenge after last seasons upset loss.

Duke has leaned on its defense early and will continue to until offensive continuity comes about.

Many Duke fans have become spoiled and are expecting that continuity to come too soon.  You have to realize that Greg Paulus has not only been injured, but according to his Dad is only 75% ready to play.

The youthful Devils are a work in progress, but K have them clicking soon enough.

Before somebody says sit him until he is ready, let me say that this injury requires you to play to get timing back and confidence in making cuts.

Also, Greg is playing with a cast of new players, many freshman.  Offensive continuity takes time, especially when you lose the bulk of your scoring in All Americans Redick and Williams.

So, yes, Duke will lean on its defense for now.

Then there are some people who look at the Hoyas as being weaker this season, when in fact they have two freshman playing very well.  I mean they lost to unbeaten Oregon.

The Hoyas have struggled at the guard spot, but so has Duke.  However, the Hoyas are loaded up front and their front line will challenge Duke.

Stats-

Georgetown Off vs. Duke Def	Duke Off vs. Georgetown Def
68.2 Pts F 52.3 Pts A 49.2 FG% 35.6 FG% 29.5 Reb. 25.0 Reb.	70.7 Pts F 62.5 Pts A 49.1 FG% 42.9 FG% 25.0 Reb. 25.5 Reb.

Starters-
-DaJuan Summers 6-8, 241, Fr. – 6.7 ppg, 1.8 rpg
-Jeff Green 6-9, 235, Jr. – 10.8 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.7 apg
-Roy Hibbert 7-2, 278, Jr. – 12.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg
-Jonathan Wallace 6-1, 188, Jr. – 12.2 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.0 apg
-Jessie Sapp 6-3, 210, So. – 9.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.0 apg

Bench-
-Marc Egerson 6-6, 237, So. – 8.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg
-Tyler Crawford 6-3, 205, Jr. – 4.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg
-Vernon Macklin 6-9, 227, Fr. – 3.8 ppg, 1.0 rpg
-Patrick Ewing, Jr. 6-10, 238, Jr. - 1.8 ppg, -Jeremiah Rivers 6-4, 210, Fr. - 1.8 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.5 apg

I expect Georgetown to be loose and hope a Duke player is ready to step up on offense.  Speaking of offense, we need to lean on our patented motion offense and put a little more snap in our passing of the ball.

I feel Duke will be ready, but the Hoyas will not lay down.  The pick is Duke 68 Georgetown 61