Tag: Duke

Watch: Julius Peppers narrates Panthers’ inspirational video for Carolinas

Julius Peppers is one of the greatest athletes to ever come out of the Carolinas.

Julius Peppers is one of the greatest athletes to ever come out of the Carolinas. He also has a tremendous amount of character and always carried himself the right way during his time with the Panthers, Bears and Packers. It’s only appropriate that he should be the soft-spoken voice of inspiration during a time like this admist so much suffering and uncertainty.

This morning, the team shared a video on social media about the region coming back once this pandemic is over with Peppers narrating.

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Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 14 Seed – 2013-14 Irish

For the first 13 years under Mike Brey, Notre Dame never missed out on either the NCAA tournament or the NIT.

For the first 13 years under Mike Brey, Notre Dame never missed out on either the NCAA tournament or the NIT. With that kind of record, Brey’s luck was due to run out at some point. It came during the 2013-14 season, the Irish’s first in the ACC.

Even before the growing pains of playing in a new conference began, the Irish started 9-4, which is a step down compared to the other teams we’ve previewed so far, and lost leading scorer Jerian Grant for the season after he was declared academically ineligible. Things momentarily looked up after they squeaked by Jabari Parker and Duke in their first ACC contest. However, it was all downhill after that, and they finished 15-17. It was the first time they had ended with a record below .500 and missed out on a postseason tournament in 15 years.

Without Grant and the 19.0 scoring average he achieved before being forced to leave the team, the Irish struggled to find another go-to player. Eric Atkins, Pat Connaughton and Garrick Sherman all averaged between 13.5 and 13.9 points a game, which made for good balance. However, there was a big drop-off after that, and the results were predictable. Fortunately for the Irish, their best days in years lay straight ahead.

Missing March Madness: Gordon Hayward and Butler go home

Our Missing March Madness series comes to an end with a miss that nearly changed the course of NCAA history as Gordon Hayward’s Butler fell to Duke.

In the final installment of Missing March Madness, we revisit the near miss of Boston Celtic veteran forward Gordon Hayward and his Butler Bulldogs in the title game of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

A tightly-contested game from start to finish, neither team had more than a six-point lead at any time in the contest.

But, the Cinderella-story story run of Butler and Hayward came to an end after the Bulldogs couldn’t quite regain the lead in the game’s final moments, despite coming as close as 60-69 with under a minute to go.

In the contest’s final possession, the future Celtic forward would launch a 50-foot shot that hit the backboard, then the rim…

And then fell to the ground, a miss.

There have been few games that have come closer to such a massive upset, a lowly mid-major nearly stealing a national title from the bluest of blue blood programs.

The loss would sting greatly despite the improbability of Butler, Hayward, and future Celtics and then-Butler head coach Brad Stevens having made it that far in the first place.

The Indiana native would score just 12 points on 2-of-11 shooting in the loss along with 8 rebounds, the cold-shooting night ultimately sinking the Bulldogs title aspirations.

“There’s certainly nothing to hang your head about,” said coach Stevens at the time (courtesy of the Associated Press). I told them in there, what they’ve done, what they did together, will last longer than one night, regardless of the outcome.”

He wasn’t wrong.

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Broncos QB Drew Lock calls off throwing sessions with WRs due to COVID-19

In response to COVID-19, Broncos quarterback Drew Lock has decided not to get teammates together for offseason throwing sessions this month.

Broncos quarterback Drew Lock planned to get together with teammates this offseason for some throwing sessions. Due to COVID-19, though, the second-year quarterback has decided to postpone those workouts.

“It was going to end up being the first couple weeks of April, but I don’t know if that would be socially responsible for us to do that right now,” Lock said in an interview with Phil Milani of the team’s official website. “Depending on how long this goes on, how long they keep us out of the building and whatnot, I’m sure near the end of this we can all get up maybe a couple weeks before we’re all supposed to be back.”

Lock and his wide receivers could have kept themselves six feet apart during workouts but the players would have to travel to a central location for throwing sessions. The workouts might be able to happen later this year.

“As of right now, there’s not an exact plan to get us all on an airplane or drive across the country and meet up with each other,” Lock said.

While he’s not able to workout with his teammates, Lock has been able to stay in shape. He is living at his parents’ house in Missouri and he has been working with a QBs coach and trainer. Lock also said has been running with an elevation mask, preparing for a return to Colorado.

When football eventually returns, Lock will be ready to take the field.

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Wisconsin, Kentucky and Duke, 5 years later

Wisconsin’s 2015 Final Four

It is a simple question to ask, but not an easy one to answer. It is a simple A or B choice (with the possibility that one could say “neither” or “both”), but it contains very complicated and competing emotions.

The question is this: Five years later, on what would have been the weekend of the 2020 Final Four, which game lingers more in your memory as a Wisconsin Badger fan — the 2015 Final Four semifinal win over Kentucky, or the championship game loss two nights later against Duke?

Take your time. This is a big question.

It might seem like a stupid question, from both sides of the debate.

Well, DUH, Wisconsin beat a 38-0 team at the Final Four and won its first Final Four game since the 1941 championship game against Washington State. OF COURSE the Kentucky game mattered more!

Well, DUH, Wisconsin had a nine-point second-half lead and was SO CLOSE to winning a national championship in front of 70,000 people on national television… and it was F***ING DUKE we lost to! GRAYSON ALLEN BEAT US! OF COURSE the Duke game mattered more!

Wisconsin made history and gained immortality on Saturday night in Indianapolis. Wisconsin almost made history and almost gained immortality on Monday night in Lucas Oil Stadium.

The 2015 Badgers will always be remembered for ruining Kentucky’s dream of a 40-0 season, which would have been college basketball’s first perfect season since Indiana under Bobby Knight in 1976. Yet, the 2015 Badgers will never be remembered as national champions… because Duke stood in their way and wrested that title from UW’s grasp.

It’s a very complicated question, and there is no definitive right — or wrong — answer. It is very personal, very individual, very much dependent on your story, your lived experience, your journey with the 2015 Badgers and with Wisconsin basketball in general.

The win over Kentucky, in addition to being historic on a national scale (stopping UK’s unbeaten season), gained revenge against the Wildcats for their 2014 Final Four semifinal win over Wisconsin. That made the victory extra sweet for the Badgers and their fans.

The loss to Duke, in addition to denying Wisconsin a first national title in 74 years, occurred to the college basketball team America loves to hate more than any other. The other player — in addition to Grayson Allen — who led the Duke rally down the stretch was Tyus Jones, who was Minnesota-born and almost certainly relished, as a Minnesotan, dealing a Wisconsin team a stinging loss.

The side details of the Saturday victory and the Monday loss are both rich and straight out of a Hollywood script. There were Biblical emotions in both games, a cocktail of boiling hatreds and soaring versions of euphoria. The win over Kentucky could not have been more delicious than it actually was, and the loss to Duke could not have unfolded in a more brutal fashion.

Do you remember the Kentucky win or the Duke loss more, five years later?

Simple question. Complicated emotions. As March turns into April and we contemplate a weekend without the Final Four this year, every Wisconsin fan can think about how the past five years have — or haven’t — changed their minds on this topic.

On this day in history: Michigan State shocks Duke in Elite 8 on Kenny Goins dagger

On March 31st, 2019, the Michigan State Spartans shocked the world and knocked off Zion Williamson and Duke in the Elite 8.

To this day, the 2018-19 Duke Men’s Basketball roster is one of the most talked about in basketball. Headlined by megastar Zion Williamson and flanked by top ten picks RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish and a stud point guard in Tre Jones, that year’s Duke team was considered one of the most talented in NCAA Men’s Basketball history. However, they were not unbeatable as some thought, and that was proven when they ran into Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans on March 31, 2019.

In a hard-fought game, with 35 seconds left, Izzo drew up a play that didn’t focus on one of his three stars in Aaron Henry, Cassius Winston, or Xavier Tillman. Instead, after Cassius Winston passed the ball to Tillman, it was Kenny Goins who flared out to the three-point line. Zion Williamson, distracted by a cutting Cassius Winston, was just a half-second late to stop Goins as he put up a dagger three which put MSU up 68-66 over the Blue Devils.

You can watch that play here:

Duke had a chance to tie, but RJ Barrett missed one free throw, allowing the Spartans to get the ball back with a 68-67 lead. Cassius Winston, now infamously, was able to slither away from Duke to avoid a foul and run out the clock, ceiling the Elite 8 win for Michigan State.

You can watch the last seven minutes of that game here:

Former Warriors’ guard Quinn Cook announces his first children’s book

Quinn Cook is revealing his “10 recipes to success” in his new children’s book, “The Cook Book.”

While the NBA season is on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, a bevy of players across the league are finding new ways to fill their free time. Players have been getting creative on social media while playing video games and watching old highlights during the league’s hiatus.

However, former Warriors‘ guard Quinn Cook is taking a unique route while there are no games on the calendar until further notice. On Tuesday, Cook announced his first-ever children’s book. The Lakers’ guard’s text is cleverly titled “The Cook Book.”

Via @QCook323 on Twitter:

According to Cook, the book will reveal his “10 recipes to success.” After winning championships at the college and pro levels, it’s safe to say Cook has some experience in the field of success.

In 2015, Cook hung an NCAA Tournament championship banner in Cameron Indoor as a second-team All-American for the Duke Blue Devils. The G League All-Star later won a Larry O’Brien Trophy coming off the bench for the Warriors in 2018.

In his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers, Cook is averaging 4.8 points and 1.1 assists in 10.8 minutes per game.

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Notre Dame Basketball Player Review: Juwan Durham

As a senior, Juwan Durham averaged the fewest minutes of any regular Notre Dame starter (17.1).

As a senior, Juwan Durham averaged the fewest minutes of any regular Notre Dame starter (17.1). In spite of this, he built on one solid performance after another. On Dec. 10 against Detroit Mercy, he matched what was then a career high of 16 points to go with nine rebounds and five blocks. He turned in another 16-point performance Jan. 25 at Florida State before setting a new career best Feb. 15 at Duke with 21 points.

Durham averaged 7.8 points and 4.6 rebounds a game while accumulating a team-high 66 blocks. With another year of eligibility, the Irish expect him to return as a graduate student next season. That will be a relief to a team that won’t have John Mooney anymore. While not a double-double machine like Mooney, Durham will continue to provide the Irish with much-needed size and the productivity it requires on both ends.

Notre Dame needs a leader in the paint with Mooney not there anymore, and assuming he comes back, Durham will be that man.

Notre Dame Basketball Player Review: Elijah Morgan

You have to give freshman walk-ons the benefit of the doubt because you probably won’t know what their value to the team will be ’til later.

You have to give freshman walk-ons the benefit of the doubt because you probably won’t know what their value to the team will be until later on. Such is the case with guard Elijah Morgan, who didn’t even play a game’s worth of minutes in his first year for Notre Dame. Consequently, there wasn’t a lot of exposure for the New Orleans native, so there’s no photo of him on our service and no video highlights of him on the athletic department’s YouTube channel. It’s a reminder that unless you can make a big difference right away, you’re typically stuck on the bench in your first year with a major program.

But if Morgan can take one thing away from this season, it’s that the best of his 12 games came at Cameron Indoor Stadium. In five minutes of Notre Dame’s blowout loss to Duke, he scored five points, three of which came on his first and only trey of the season. He also picked up one assist. Hopefully, he’ll have more to offer the Irish in the future.

Tyus Jones offers scouting report on brother, NBA prospect Tre Jones

As the NBA responds to coronavirus, scouting has become more challenging. So we asked Tyus Jones for help evaluating his brother Tre Jones.

As the NBA responds to coronavirus, scouting has become more challenging. So we asked Tyus Jones for help evaluating his brother Tre Jones.

After the 2018-19 NCAA Men’s Basketball season concluded, the point guard tested the waters to be in the 2019 NBA draft alongside Duke teammates Zion Williamson as well as RJ Barrett and Cameron Reddish. One of the reasons that he opted to return to college, according to his older brother Tyus, who currently plays for the Memphis Grizzlies, was to try to make another impact in March Madness.

HoopsHype caught up with Tyus when he was in Brooklyn to play the Nets on March 4. He said that Duke was “ready to go on a run” and that he knew his brother “was going to do his thing.”

Now that the season is over, Tre officially averaged 16.2 points with 6.4 assists and 1.3 three-pointers per game while shooting 36.1 percent from beyond the arc. Those marks helped him secure ACC Player of the Year in 2020.

Tre also averaged 1.8 steals per game, securing his conference’s Defensive Player of the Year Award as well.

“I know he is an NBA player. He has been. I’ve known that for a few years now,” explained Tyus. “Obviously, I’ve seen him from a closer perspective. But I’ve known for a few years that he is an NBA player whenever he decides he is ready for it.”

One of his most impressive accolades: Tre had the second-most assists in his conference during both of his collegiate campaigns thus far.

He also averaged 1.9 assists per game in a transition offense, per Synergy Sports, which ranked Top 10 among all D1 players in 2019-20. Duke also played at the fastest adjusted-tempo of any team ranked Top 50 or better, per KenPom.

“He can continue to be who he is but in the league,” noted Tyus. “He is a tremendous leader. He is a guy who can get to his own shots when he needs it. But he can also run the team as a crazy, on-ball defender. He can take any point guard out of the game and make his night long. I see him continuing to be who he is at the next level because he has done at every level.”

Opponents finished 297 possessions when guarded by Jones but scored just 0.66 points per possession on these opportunities. That ranked in the 96th percentile among all NCAA players, per Synergy Sports.

It was also the second-best mark among all D1 players who had at least 275 finishes, as noted by WhiteAndBlueReview.com.

His adjusted defensive rating (89.7 percent) and his steal percentage (2.8 percent) both ranked Top 5 among underclassmen in his conference who played at least 55 percent of minutes possible for their team this year, per Bart-Torvik.

“We both play the game the right way with a high basketball IQ. We are unselfish. We are leaders,” added Tyus. “He has got me on the defensive end. That is just something that I can’t even begin to claim. Tre is one of the best defenders I have ever seen.”

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