I suppose I am liveblogging today because I need to exorcise some demons. I am still not over last year’s screw job in Durham. I hope the entire team – staff and players has held onto their rage as well, and lets it out on the darker blues this afternoon.
See you in a bit.
11:55 – Two cups of coffee, a jelly donut, and a Percocet. My cracker ass is ready for tipoff. You?
12:02 – OMFG. Dookie Vitale. I can’t decide if that’s even worse than Mike Patrick and/or Jay Bilas. Somebody was gonna be a despicable blue homer, might as well be the original.
12:04 – Scott Wood from the Durham County line. Our day??
12:06 – Purvis with everything but the finish. Like the assertiveness anyway.
12:09 – They have NO answer for Howell.
12:10 – It’s not 5 against 9 because I am more than satisfied with the MG vs. K equation, in terms of motivation and gameday tactics. Message from the commercial break – if you’re a huge douchebag who needs to be even douchier…take 5 Hour Energy.
12:14 – Talibeard hustle play and the foul is on DUKE. F-ck and yes!!!
12:17 – Our rebounding needs work. Today’s zebras are fantastic. Letting them play, but calling Duke out on their usual bullshit.
12:23 – Of course, Amile looks great.
12:26 – I’m generally against torture, but I would make an exception for Vitale.
12:27 – Four point play for Woo, then he f-cks up by getting a very stupid (and fairly called) technical.
12:28 – No, a double technical. Thank God.
12:30 – I can’t stress enough just how well officiated this game is. The key for us is to get to the half down 5 or less, with no more fouls on Wooo or Lo.
12:32 – K is super pissed because the officiating is fair. As Sweet Dee Reynolds would say – what a dickhole.
12:34 – First bullshit call, and it’s a Duke flop. Naturally. The world is getting back to normal.
12:36 – I wish Kelly was playing. Swapping him for Amile is easily a net positive for the Devils.
12:38 – Calvin has also come ready to play. Time to put in Vandy or the walk-on to bruise around for a few cheap minutes?
12:39 – 14-2 Pack run and you can hear the despair in Dookie V’s voice. I love it. We are playing confident and fearless basketball. I love that too.
12:42 – The crowd is so loud you can’t hear Vitale. Talk about a win-win for the viewer at home.
12:44 – I trust Lo to play with 2 fouls much more than Wooo. Good decision by MG.
12:47 – Huge turnaround as Wee Baby Seamus freezes on the 2-on-1 fast break, and Curry drills a three. But we have the sense to not in bound for a few seconds then call timeout to get last shot of the half (with Brown).
Halftime – State 41, Duke 39. The score is a fair reflection of the play on the floor. Thanks to TJ “Buckets” Warren (h/t Rick) cleaning up the deflection and turning it into points.
1:07 – Howell scores, then gets two tough rebounds and scores again. No answer, kiddies. Timeout for K, Pack by 6.
1:11 – I really wanted that Purvis three to drop.
1:12 – Un-fucking-believable. Correct block call and it’s an “and 1” not a momentum shifting “charge.”
1:14 – We have no answer for Amile if K would just have the humility to play him heavy minutes and feed the ball his way. Easily Dook’s best forward. Easily.
1:18 – Howell is soooo under control. The combo of strength, agility, and soft hands is a wonder to behold.
1:20 – It’s so stupid how K won’t play road games. Ridiculous.
1:23 – Sweat dripping off the Talibeard. Kinda cool. Kinda gross.
1:24 – HUGE three for Lo, after missing his previous two.
1:28 – A couple of big misses on makeable shots, and Duke takes advantage. Lead down to one, I worry about losing our confidence.
1:30 – Calvin answers, and it would be up to 7…but for a phantom offensive foul on Lo. His third. Kill me now.
1:34 – buh-bye, Mr. Jefferson. And Ryan Kelly is totally dressed like a pedarest.
1:35 – ANOTHER Purvis and 1 when K expected a bullshit charge. Kid has no fear. Can we make it 10 after the commercial break? MG pulling all the right strings today. Duke playing well. We are playing better. Nothing is being given, we are just taking it.
1:40 – Dook run #2 in progress. Can we withstand it?
1:43 – Howell saves us AGAIN. A total man effort.
1:46 – Curry down, State gets a break with a well-timed stoppage in play and TV timeout. Don’t want the kid to be hurt, even though he’s single-handedly keeping them in the game. 6 points at the last media timeout. Brown needs to be smarter, and we can never, ever leave Curry open for a split second. Do that and we win.
1:49 – Great timeout by MG. We are shooting WAY too early in the shot clock.
1:52 – Calvin wants this one. BAD. Watch for Curry out of the timeout. I guarantee they run screens for him exclusively. Get a stop here and they will have to foul.
1:54 – Dook fails to foul Warren as he holds it for 5 seconds. This just might be our day.
1:55 – We need more than 1-for-2 from Lo. But the kid is exhausted, and understandably so. And we can’t have Wood dribble against their ball pressure. So expect to see more of Brown on the line.
1:57 – Vitale has an orgasm over double teaming Wood, which allows an easy entry pass to Brown. Dumbass.
1:58 – Bullshit foul on Howell. That should have been ballgame. Phantom and then some.
2:00 – Wood has to hit these. Just has to.
2:01 – By George, I think we’ve got it.
Your Final Score – NC State 84, Duke 76. Woohoo!!!!!
PS – Maryland might just kick the crap out of us midweek. Talk about a trap game. I don’t care one iota. Today is sooooo worth it!!!!!
