I sat, stood, in the student section that night – that’s not only how I got in, but how I was in the student section.
For years, I told anyone who would listen, Duke, the Crazies, it’s all overrated.
It’s an old gym, small, not what Dickie V said it was.
As the years went on, I began thinking, give them another chance.
I mean, my only other ACC game there was over winter break.
So it was that I was back in Cameron for another UVA-Duke game, on Saturday.
Duke kicked Virginia’s absolute ass.
‘Twas never a game. Duke got out to a 25-point lead in the first half, won 73-48.
It was loud for, like, 90 seconds.
Maybe it was just because they kicked our ever-lovin’ ass.
It’s hard to judge otherwise.
The acoustics are bad, the views from the cheap seats – I was three rows from the top – are good.
My seats in the supposed media section at JPJ aren’t as good as the seats three rows from the top in Cameron.
But the Crazies?
Overrated.
They seem to have a good time, but it’s so cliché.
The most memorable chant from them was after Ryan Dunn missed a tip dunk after a foul was called on Duke in the first half.
“You can’t dunk.”
That’s what the white-privileged kids chanted for 10 seconds or so.
Not one of those chunky-ass privileged assclowns can make a damn layup, and that’s what they had to offer?
Dunn, for the record, had two dunks in this one.
Final verdict: beautiful campus, amazingly cheesy baseball stadium (though they have Bojangles in the concessions), nice adults, the kids, not as smart as advertised.
The difference: at the rim
Virginia, because coach Tony Bennett game-planned for his guys to run the mover-blocker offense that doesn’t fit his team this year, scored just 48 points, the fourth time in five games scoring in the 40s.
Play even a decent amount of D, though, and this one is decently close.
Duke won this one because it held Virginia to 48, and also because Duke was 18-of-29 at the rim.
This was mostly Kyle Filipowski (5-of-6 at the rim in the first half, 7-of-10 for the game), Mark Mitchell (3-of-4) and Sean Stewart (3-of-6).
Virginia, meanwhile: ugh, 8-of-17 at the rim.
Twenty of the 25 points in difference in the margin was right there.
Sorry to harp on this
But somebody needs to do it. Andrew Rohde played 23 minutes, had one point, and that was a free throw with 20 seconds left.
He airballed the back end of that two-shot foul.
One point, 0-of-3 shooting, all missed threes, three assists, two turnovers, in 23 minutes.
Bennett went with Rohde in his starting five in the second half; kid got 14 minutes in the second half.
Does he have compromising photos of somebody?
Asking because, the minutes for a guy with that level of productivity makes no sense.
Here’s a number for you
I referenced above that Virginia was 8-of-17 on shots at the rim.
How about this one: 9-of-38 on jumpers.
What the actual f—.
Fifth observation
There’s not a bad seat in that place.
And the drive down is so easy.
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Chris Graham
