Duke is Really, Really, Good

To keep my mind off the election stuff last night I decided to watch basketball. The college season tipped off officially last night and it was a very good distraction.

I watched the KU-Michigan State game. That was fine. KU looks pretty good, but MSU kept it closer than I thought. I watched Michigan play. It was their opener, they looked very sloppy and sluggish on offense, but that defense was as stifling as it was last year, and that was more than enough to beat an overmatched Norfolk State team. I checked in on a few other college games, watched a little NBA, but the game I wanted to watch most, even over Michigan, was the Duke-Kentucky game.

This was, by far, the best matchup of the night. It was supposed to be a close, tight game. There were as many as 7 potential first round picks playing in this game. It was Coach K versus Coach Cal, the two biggest "one and done" guys. It had all the build up. Then, the game happened.

Look, I loathe Duke. I despise Duke. I cannot stand Coach K, and everything he gets away with that other coaches get hammered for. I have never, ever liked this school. But holy shit do they look like they are going to be really, really, really good.

Duke didn't just beat Kentucky last night, they embarrassed them. I turned on the game a little late, Michigan was finishing up their win, and Duke was already up double figures. I was interested in all these freshman playing, but I had to see Zion Williamson. I also wanted to see Cam Reddish and RJ Barrett. These are 3 of the top 5 players in last year's recruiting pass. As I stated in my preseason preview, I have not seen a freshman class this good since the Fab Five at Michigan. They also have Tre Jones, who is, quietly, a great point guard. These kids all lived up to the hype, and then some. I know, this is one game, but it was against the preseason number 2 team, at a neutral site with players that were ranked just as high. And Duke won by 34 points. I mean, holy cow. Zion Williamson, at least last night, was as advertised. He is humongous, but extremely agile and moves pretty smooth on the floor. He also hammers the hell out of the rim. He finished with 28 points. Cam Reddish looked great. He scored the quietest 22 points, on only 14 shots. He also D'ed up very well. RJ Barrett scored 33, a freshman record at Duke. He seemingly could not miss. He is as pure a scorer as I have seen in college basketball. Tre Jones is the leader at point guard that this team needs. I know he is a freshman, but he seems wise beyond his years on the court. These 4 played so well it cancelled out anything the super freshman that Kentucky had. I don't remember a thing about them last night. This is the number 2 team in the nation. And Duke just destroyed them.

I know it's just one game, the first game, and there is a lot of season left and maybe Duke was just super gassed up, and the ACC is very tough. But, this team looked as impressive a college team that I have seen in quite some time. This is a whole thing of, I despise this team, I hope they get beat every time they step on the floor, I will constantly root against them, but they look nearly unbeatable. They are so talented and look like they can win anyway they please. If one of these kids has an off night, they have 3 others that can step up. They also have depth. I believe that I picked them to finish second in the ACC, but that changes immediately after last night. They should win the ACC. They should win it with ease. UNC may challenge them, but I do not think they can beat them one time, let alone 3 times.

After the amount of games that I saw bits and pieces of last night, Duke is clearly the best team. KU is the only other team that I think has a fleeting shot at giving them a game. I hope they get sanctioned to shit, but for right now, after last night, Duke is scarily good. They look like the Alabama, or New England Patriots or Golden State Warriors of college basketball. Unfortunately the hype seems to be legit.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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