This was the best game of the game. The Xavier-UGA game was interesting and Kentucky and Marquette played a close one, but the Bruins near upset of the Dukies was Thursday's most dramatic game.
Duke was extremely lucky to escape with a win....
Belmont is well-coached team that played HARD. I can't remember a team coming out in Round 1 of the tourney and laying it all on the line like Belmont did. Belmont pushed the tempo all night and out-hustled Duke all night long. Coach K couldn't have been happy with some of the efforts he got on Thursday.
Surprisingly enough, Belmont exposed the Blue Devils lack of athleticism. Duke looked like the slower team all night and a couple of Belmont's quick guards gave them fits on both ends of the floor.
I still don't know if it's because Duke isn't athletic or if Belmont's Alex Renfroe (#12) is just that FAST.
The guy is a blur with the basketball....before last night I was sure Darren Collison of UCLA was the fastest player in the tournament with the basketball.....but now I'm pretty sure it was Renfroe.
#40 Henry Harris is also lightning quick....when Belmont played Harris and Renfroe in the backcourt together, Duke couldn't handle the speed. Both of these guys are lean, skinny guys who look more like track or marathon runners than basketball players. I couldn't really think of a basketball comparison to either of them.....their athletic ability reminded me of football players like Ted Ginn and DeSean Jackson.....
Belmont made the day for me.....even though they lost they played hard and with passion. The Bruins played their style of basketball even though most would have thought that fast=-paced style might hurt them against Duke.
All is not lost for the Dukies though....I know a lot of people are down on them after their performance Thursday, but West Virginia's win is good news for the Blue Devils. Duke matches up better with WVU. The matchup to watch is at the point where Greg Paulus is going to need to keep Demetris Nichols in front of him....if the Blue Devils want to start playing better defense and limit WVU's open 3-point looks.
Despite their poor showing against Belmont, the Dukies will still be the favorite against WVU on Saturday in what should be an interesting matchup.
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