Smoke ’em if you got ’em: A trip down Tobacco Road (2004) originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Just a little to John Swofford’s left as he leans back in his chair sits a ceremonial football from the Continental Tire Bowl. To his right, atop a short bookshelf, there is a decorative football helmet. These appear to be the most obvious of the many sports souvenirs adorning the office of the Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner—or maybe I’m just looking too hard for convenient symbolism. Because even though it is basketball that brings me to ACC country this weekend, it is football that brings us together this morning.
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Were it not for football and the obscene amount of money it can generate for the colleges that do it right, the ACC would not stand months from expanding its membership to include Miami and Virginia Tech and, a year later, Boston College. Without that expansion, there would be no need to sit here and discuss how the conference might protect the richest tradition of any college basketball league and its distinct, intimate flavor.
The ACC will try. Swofford is not cavalier about the qualities that caused generations of fans to passionately embrace its brand of basketball: the geographic claustrophobia; the schedule that forced everyone to play everyone, home and away. How precious is ACC basketball to its followers? ESPN SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt, a Maryland grad and lifelong Terps fan, says this of expansion: “It’s a disaster.”
After this season, everything will be different, and the change appears less alluring with the league enjoying its most entertaining season in years. Seven teams might receive NCAA Tournament bids for the first time in the ACC’s history, though the competition is so brutal only two finished the first half above .500 in league play. “By far, this is the best ACC I’ve ever been on the court with,” says N.C. State forward Marcus Melvin, in his fourth season with the Wolfpack.
The ACC’s pending transformation into just another megaconference demanded one last trip through the heart of the league, sort of like the four guys in Deliverance wanting to raft down the Cahulawassee River before the government dammed up the rapids. The schedule cooperated: three games in four days along Tobacco Road, including the greatest rivalry in college basketball: Duke vs. North Carolina. The new ACC will leave that intact, but what else?
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The revival
Like Michael Jordan with the Washington Wizards or Boy George on Broadway, N.C. State isn’t much good at comebacks. The Wolfpack was 12-5 entering its home game against Wake Forest. In four of the losses, N.C. State trailed at the break. The Princeton-style offense coach Herb Sendek employs is predicated on patience. Bore the opponent to death, if necessary. When the patience leaks from the Pack’s performance and the team finds itself behind by a bunch, the remaining time is usually ceremonial.
So how is this happening? Trailing by 16 at the half, Sendek dumps the matchup zone that worked in a road victory at Maryland and orders an attacking halfcourt man-to-man defense. Star forward Julius Hodge ignites N.C. State’s recovery with 11 points and four assists after the break. His final assist provides the clinching basket in State’s 73-68 victory.
With the Pack ahead by a point, Wake’s gifted freshman, 6-0 Chris Paul, switches over to defend the 6-6 Hodge. Hodge immediately dives into the post and accepts an entry pass. As the Deacons’ Trent Strickland approaches to double-team the ball, Hodge dishes to Melvin, whom Strickland left behind the arc. A 3-pointer is just what Wake Forest cannot afford with only 31 seconds left.
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“When Julius caught the basketball, I knew it was coming my way because he looked right at me,” Melvin says. “I knew what the score was, how many seconds were on the clock. I wanted to put the game away.”
With the first half of ACC play complete, N.C. State is 6-2, the first time the team has owned such an attractive halfway mark in Sendek’s eight years in Raleigh. His team has been the only one in the conference to win at Florida State this season. This does not please everyone. Wolfpack fans are among the most conflicted followers of any Division I team. Their team has reached the past two NCAA Tournaments and is headed toward a third straight bid. But this success has not silenced Sendek’s loudest critics among the talk-show set. Those folks see what Duke and North Carolina, so close by, have accomplished. They want their own K or Dean or Roy. Sendek is a brilliant and decent man, but he does not entertain the media with wit or personality. Many fans established firm positions against him when it took six seasons to get the program to the NCAAs.
“We don’t want to say we want to prove our doubters wrong, but Coach has been walking around with a chip on his shoulder,” Hodge says. “I hope you guys don’t spread the word. I don’t want any of that. I just want us to slip into the Elite Eight and then everyone will say what a great team we are.”
The rivalry
Chris Duhon glances at his coach just long enough to get the message: Move. Mike Krzyzewski does not ask for a timeout. He does not signal for a play. He trusts the Duke players to perform as they’ve been trained. Guard J.J. Redick finds an open corner where he’ll be stationed as a threat to shoot. Guard Daniel Ewing draws defensive attention toward the right wing. The frontcourt players keep the lane free of big bodies. Duhon moves.
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The game is tied. North Carolina’s Rashad McCants has just nailed a 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds left in overtime to tie it at 81. Duke does not need to rush. Other teams might fear attacking too quickly, fear a mistake. If the Blue Devils had walked it up, though, UNC’s Raymond Felton and David Noel wouldn’t be stumbling together above the free throw line as Duhon dashes in their direction. Their confusion gives Duhon a step on each and a clear path to the goal. In the lane, UNC forward Jawad Williams leaps to block the layup—but Duhon reverses to the opposite side of the goal and banks it off the glass for an 83-81 victory.
“Duhon’s play right there at the end will go down as one of the great plays ever,” Krzyzewski says. Ever? The Blue Devils have won three NCAA titles in the past 13 seasons. This year, they’ve beaten Texas, Michigan State and every ACC team they’ve played and are held in such esteem their No. 1 ranking places them above two undefeated teams. Ever covers a lot when it comes to Duke basketball. This rivalry, though, can drive a man to extremes.
Not even a half-marathon apart along Highway 15/501, North Carolina and Duke have played 216 times. One or the other has been to the Final Four in 14 of the past 18 seasons. Broadcaster Tim Brando, who worked the ACC regional telecast, believes Duke-Carolina marks the official start of the season for the casual fan just finished with the Super Bowl. “This is the game that puts you in the college basketball mood,” he says.
Those who haven’t seen Duhon lately might be surprised by his command of the game, his temperance as a shooter, his leadership of the Blue Devils. With potent offensive weapons filling every other position, Duhon at last can function as the point guard he is meant to be. Maligned after a listless sophomore season and a disastrous junior year, he has guided this Duke team to 16 consecutive victories and an 8-0 ACC start. Most important, he has conquered Duke’s bitter rival for the eighth time in 10 opportunities.
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“It hurts,” says UNC center Sean May, melting into an armchair in the players’ lounge. He has played 36 minutes and grabbed 21 rebounds despite cramps knifing through his calves. His uniform is flecked with blood. He appears lifeless enough to require either an IV or a CSI investigator. “I’ve never felt this bad after a game in my life.”
The rematch
Official tipoff time for North Carolina’s game at Wake Forest apparently has passed, but CBS is burning through a few commercials. Roy Williams doesn’t like the idea of his Tar Heels standing and wondering if they’re about to lose another road game. He calls them to the sideline. The buzzer sounds, but Williams isn’t hearing it. Official Reggie Cofer approaches and taps one of the players, requesting the Heels join the Deacons on the floor.
Williams tells his players that since they were made to wait, he will make the referees stew a while. The Heels laugh. The comedy eases the tension. The little extra rest doesn’t hurt.
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That Duke loss was Carolina’s fifth in eight conference games. The Heels beat Illinois and Connecticut but can’t win consistently in the ACC and own a single road win, a struggle at Cleveland State. From the time they finished losing to Duke until now, less than 38 hours have passed. There has been so little time to recover that the Heels barely practiced in between. Williams sent walk-ons onto the floor Friday and let the regulars coach them, trying to help them forget everything about Duke. Or most everything. “The guys realized in that game what type of team we can be,” Jawad Williams says. “We have to play with that energy every night.”
When the ball finally is tossed into the air, the Heels appear as lively as toddlers tanked up on Krispy Kremes. Guard Melvin Scott, so careless about his shot selection against Duke, fires in rhythm and sinks four early 3-pointers. Two things become apparent: If anything beats Carolina this afternoon, it won’t be fatigue, and it probably won’t be Wake Forest.
When these two opened the ACC on December 20, they played the season’s best game to date: Wake 119, UNC 114 in three overtimes. But Wake was more confident, hadn’t lost, hadn’t yet seen how much it would hurt losing forward Vytas Danelius’ toughness and spark.
He’d injured his ankle the game before, but center Eric Williams’ finest performance got Wake through one afternoon. The Demon Deacons haven’t been the same since, with Danelius again available but not completely healthy. The N.C. State loss was the fifth in seven games for Wake, all but one of those against league opponents.
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“There’s something wrong with us, and we have to hurry up and find it quickly,” Eric Williams says. “There’s a lot of basketball left, but we’re running out of time.”
Wake Forest does make a game of this, but again the Deacons are deadened by an opponent’s shift in defensive tactics. Guards Justin Gray, Taron Downey and Paul form a talented combination, but none is a senior. In this league, it shows. When Carolina aligns itself in a matchup zone, Wake’s guards reject open shots and shoot when guarded.
There is no such hesitance from the Heels’ Felton. With the lead cut to two inside the final minute, he loses Downey behind a screen from Noel and makes a 3-pointer. Felton then answers Paul’s short jumper by sprinting and feeding Scott for a layup on the way to a 79-73 final.
“We’re 19- and 20-year-old kids. We can’t be tired,” May says. “That’s what Coach always tells us.” In the corner, Noel shakes his head in disagreement. He’s tired. But he’s happy.
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The reckoning
State-Wake, Carolina-Duke, Wake-Carolina: 52,874 spectators, one court-rushing, two threatened court-rushings, 457 points—and an average margin for the winners of just 4.3 points. Such compelling matchups occur almost nightly in the ACC, which might not be the case when next season’s schedule is stained by a couple doses of Virginia Tech and Miami.
Perhaps the only thing missing from this excursion was the multitude of Ail-American players who used to call the ACC home.
When Sendek arrived to coach N.C. State in the spring of 1996, Tim Duncan, Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter were around. So he can’t look at this season and call it the best. He still isn’t sure the conference truly slipped when it received three NCAA Tournament bids in 1999 and 2000.
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“One thing’s for sure, whether you agree or disagree with that analysis— it’s really, really good this year,” Sendek says. “I don’t think any reasonable person who follows college basketball can’t say, ‘Wow, this year it’s ridiculous.'”
The competition is so frenzied he hasn’t time to consider how special it is and what might be lost with next year’s expansion. The regular season will not have the same authenticity because all teams won’t play the same schedule. N.C. State definitely will face North Carolina and Wake Forest twice each; it’s possible they’ll meet Maryland or Duke just once. But those concerns can wait.
“The only way to have a chance to survive this is you’ve got to stay in the present,” Sendek says. “If you look beyond the next game on the schedule, you can get a migraine. I’m just not there yet. Maybe in the springtime. Right now, you have to call on everything you have just to get through the next game.”
This story was published in the Feb. 16, 2004 issue of The Sporting News
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
