Duke Falls Victim to History, LSU

Watching LSU triumph over the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils last night incorrigibly reminded me that “those who do not learn from the past are destined to relive it.”

In 2002, the Blue Devils encountered a hungry, athletic, and dangerous team led by a tall, lanky forward who would simply have the game of his life. All night Duke was smothered by an unabashed, suffocating defense. This team forced the kids from Durham into one of their worst performances of the season. And as timed ticked down, Duke was let down by their superstar, the consensus All-American, and player of the year. The setting was Lexington, Kentucky. The team: Indiana. The all-star: Jason Williams.

Not learning from their previous failures, the ill-fated Devils were forced to relive that tragic night, when some of the university’s greatest players were unceremoniously usurped from college basketball, unremorsefully cast aside. Last night, Duke was caught in the perfect storm. They faced a team that was hungrier, more athletic, and overall primed for exploiting the potential weaknesses in the Blue Devils’ game. This time it was Tyrus Thomas (not Jared Jeffries) that played the role of the unconscious athlete who punched in his career game. And J.J. Redick assumed the role of the college superstar rendered nearly ineffective from brazen defensive game-planning and execution.

Just as in 2002, the top-seeded Blue Devils were eliminated from the sweet sixteen falling embarrassingly short of the national championship game, its players looking like shells of their former selves. But make no mistake, this was not the undoing of J.J. Redick, it was the seemingly mechanical dissection of the entire Duke squad. Stifled by LSU’s apparent triangle and two defense, Redick continually created open shots for his fellow teammates who proverbially “dropped the ball” time after time. This was a team that shot an unheard of 29% average from the field and scored a season low 54 points.

All credit in the world goes to John Brady and his team, much like Mike Davis and his Hoosiers. Each prepared a brilliant game plan and executed flawlessly. Neither LSU nor Indiana played the role of the meek David, compared to Duke’s Goliath. Rather, like Buster Douglas, each team showed that on the right night, with the right desire, and a serious right punch, an ostensibly overmatched opponent can rise up and pickapart the champ.

History doesn’t always repeat itself. Sometimes it just screams, “Why don’t you listen to me?” Hopefully Duke will this time.