Stumble It!
Those were the words of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski after the Blue Devil's fourth straight conference win.
With just one tenth of a second left on the game clock, the ball rolled off Dave McClure's fingertips into the rim as Cameron erupted.
McClure sprinted down court, as Jon Scheyer recognized the mismatch and got him the ball. Dave puts the shot in here with one-tenth of a second left on the clock.
Players piled on the hero just under the winning basket in jubilation. A quick look in that direction provided a look at fans with their hands on top of their heads, lots of teeth flashing and a bit of bouncing.
Yep! Grown men were seen high fiving one another as their wives and girlfriends clapped along. Children were jumping up and down and ushers were gushing ... and that was simply the upper deck.
The bench and the crowd erupted in a deafining roar. Fans could be seen giving one another a high five as Coach K showed some rare emotion. You can clearly see the joy and togetherness of the team in this picture from the Associated Press.
Just below, students were howling, memories of their school work having temporarily subsided. Some were red faced, some falling all over each other and some so giddy with excitement that they could do no more than look on with their hands covering their mouths.
After McClure's basket dropped through the basket and the buzzer echoed, one could see Coach K arms raised, red faced and smiling as he defied his age with some pretty good leaps while turning to the crowd. By the time he turned back around, he regained his composure, but before he did, one saw a smile almost bust wide open, but then his steely composure kicked back in.
It was a rare look at a different side of Coach K letting his hair down. But why not?
Earlier in the week he had met with students or the Cameron Crazies in an attempt at unification. It is no secret that the Clemson game was huge for Duke.
This is just after the basket and right befor the entire team piled on Dave for making the gam winning shot. Marty Pocius was on of the first players there. He is still not 100% ready since injuring his ankle.
In the meeting he told them that the team was young and needed their support as they grew. Whatever else he said worked because the Crazies and the upper deck did their job on this night and were rewarded for their cheering with a finish that will be remembered for a long time.
Oliver Purnell pumped in crowd noise during Clemson practices in preparation, but in the end, there was nothing like the real Crazies.
Let's go back to the huge McClure basket. It wouldn't have been possible without the heady play by Jon Scheyer.
In the timeout, K said, okay guys next play wanting all eyes on him. He then designed a play to allow Scheyer options. He wanted the freshman guard to push the ball up and either dish off or take the shot. With Jon being the teams top free throw shooter, this made sense.
When the ball was inbounded, McClure was the first Duke player down recognizing that he was matched with a smaller player.
Jon quickly took the ball up in a cool manner and saw that the Clemson defense was designed to surround him. He made a move to free himself for the pass and scatter the Tiger defenders. The rest is history, as McClure finished it off and the celebration began.
"It feels great ... I have never made a game winning basket and to see my teammates and how happy they were ... it just feels great," were the words Doug McClure used to Bob Harris in their locker room chat.
Moments before that, ESPN reporters had stopped McClure just after the celebration and how appropriate.
Dave had done a question and answer with GoDuke.com this week. He did a pre game interview during the Duke Radio Network broadcast and ended up doing the post game interview too.
Then one has to go back to my rant article earlier this week, where some thought Pocius should get more of Dave's minutes. Wait a minute, I am grandstanding ... this doesn't belong here, so we return you to your regular programming.
If you didn't know before, then you know now why McClure was on the floor at crunch time. He is a key ingredient on this team. A player who defers to other first, but is willing to do whatever it take to win the game for his team. He is the consummate role player.
Doug finished the game with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 1 blocked shot and 1 steal. What you couldn't see measured was his defense or his heart and Dave McClure has much heart.
This was a team effort though. Make no mistake about that.
When many review the game they choose to start with Josh McRobert's stray pass or an ample amount of mistakes. I choose to talk of his 17 points and 12 rebounds against a talented and deep front court.
All I can say is that if you were not happy with this win, then you are really not getting it.
Mistakes will be made in any game and you can point to this one or that one. This "is" a young team. They have not played together long.
Another player who showed their toughness was captain DeMarcus Nelson. This kid isn't afraid of anybody and battled his way to 8 rebounds and 13 points.
I led off his stat line with his 8 rebounds because a big difference in the game was that the Blue Devils out-rebounding the taller, athletic Tigers rather handily.
There was a lot of attention coming in on whether the Clemson front line would have their way and when Lance Thomas went out early in the game and Zoubek struggled it didn't look good.
Lance had been battling sickness all week long. In fact Jon Scheyer and "G" Henderson all battled a bug too.
Despite those issues, the errant pass from McRobert's, some untimely shots, a slow start to the second half, Duke found a way to win.
It's pretty obvious how Duke won. They won with the leadership of upper class-men, Nelson, McRobert's, Paulus 13 points, 5 assists, McClure (who I think may be a Captain before the season is out) with a pinch of Scheyer thrown in for good measure.
Upper class-men you say? Well, a junior and some sophs are our veterans!
Yes, I am happy. I am satisfied. I am aware of the bad pass. I am aware that three of the freshman had off games. I am aware of a bit of shoddy shot selection and I am aware Clemson came back.
I choose to give the Tigers credit for their effort and I choose to see the many positives that I will discuss a bit later.
I will leave the worrying to others who want to write about how lucky we were, when in fact it was almost destined by effort because this is a night that the Dukies would not accept anything other than a victory and were resilient when it counted.
My cup runneth over, my glass is completely full. I pass the pitcher of happiness to those who are hard to satisfy in hopes that they join the many who realize how special this team is, despite knowing losses loom large in the demanding schedule which lies ahead.
Yes, this was a night when the crowd lingered long after the game wanting to immerse themselves in the atmosphere and remember the experience.
It was a night when people lingered in the parking lot and talked to complete strangers. It was a night that made the old feel young and the young feel feisty and full of energy.
I saved the best for last. That being the sight of Assistant Coach Chris Collins hopping around Cameron like the energizer bunny on steroids. It was another testament to the staff which has been together longer than any in college basketball allowed and showed the passion and togetherness of the whole team.
As Coach K said, "It was a vintage Cameron win."
