Duke's bleak night in Blacksburg
I expected to see a "Live from Cassell" blog from Jim on Thursday night, or Friday, at least. But since he probably had to tend to his young daughter, we'll let it slide.
So I'll second an observation UNC's David Noel made Friday. The Tar Heels were fortunate to get their trip to Blacksburg out of the way early this season, as in mid-December early.
At the time of UNC's 85-51 rout, Tech didn't have Coleman Collins or football tight end Jeff King in the lineup. That's a lot of muscle -- those two accounted for 22 rebounds and 21 points in the Hokies' 67-65 upset over Duke. Without them, the Hokies even lost to VMI in December. Clearly, they're a more confident team now, one that's in a four-way tie for fourth place at 6-6 in the ACC.
No doubt J.J. Redick has become a respectable player on the defensive end. But he was too often victimized by Carlos Dixon's quickness. Seems to be the type of matchup that does not favor Redick, who committed four fouls. In one night!