from 5 to 4

i know that there are still 4 more NBA games in progress right now but after the night we have had in NCAA hoops i had to get on right after the biggest upset of the season happened, i knew going into the game that FSU would be a great match up for Duke especially the way Plumlee has not been showing up the past few games, i knew FSU would pressure Duke all night which they did Duke had only i believe 6 points from their bigs all night, they really took living and dying by the 3 to a whole new level this game, i knew it would be hard for them to drive with FSU size and the way they play defense but i thought Smith would try a little harder to drive into the teeth of that FSU defense and at least try and get to the line but that didnt happen they settled for the 3 point shot all night even after starting 0-10 from beyon the arc and only going i believe 4-17 for the first half, you would think they would try and set the bigs up for some points in the paint but it looked to me like the bigs wanted no part of the offense from a scoring stand point and if your not gunna score at least pull down some offensive boards which they didnt do i saw Plumlee not even try for 2 or 3 easy offensive boards in the first half i mean not even jump, if he would at least make an effort to get up there and try and pull it down i bet he comes up with at least 3 or 4 a game. From early on though it just seemed like every big shot for FSU was falling and nothing Duke threw up would go, they shot 28% from the floor in the first half, they were getting key turnovers though that were keeping them in the game. I thought that coach K would coach em up at half and that the Blue devils would come out strong, but that didnt look the case when they came out until Singler got hot from beyond the arc and really kept Duke in it in the second half and when he got a little cold Nolan Smith hit a few big 3's but it just wasnt enough FSU's defense was outstanding. While Singler finished with 20 points he only had 2 in the first hald which really shows you how much Duke relies on him not just to score points but to creat shots for other players but when you have one of the best defensive players in the nation guarding you all night it takes awhile to get involved in the offesnse how your used to being involved i really think Singler being a non-factor early really is what killed the Blue Devils in this one that and just all the second chance points FSU got from all the rebounding they did. Just like in the first half FSU kept getting the bounces to go there way, having a 3 going long bounce about 5 feet straight up and drop back in for the bucket and Duke's 3 point shots were in and out all night, not to take anything away from FSU they were great especially on the defensive end and they had a huge night from Singleton and Kitchen on the offensive side which was another big reason they pulled this upset off.

  Back to the first game of the night Louisville vs. Nova early on in this one it looked like Louisville was gunna pull the upset on Nova with the pace they were playing at Nova couldnt keep up not to mention Louisville hit almost all of its 3 point shots in the first half. But once the second half started Nova figured out that all they had to do was press the 3 point line and make the 3 point shots tougher for Louisville and slow their pace down and there is just no way that Louisville could beat them, another thing that happens when you take a lot of 3 point shots is you dont get that many free throw chances which can really come back to hurt you in the end. Think about it Louisville only had 7 freethrow attempts all game and hit 6 of those 7 that is only 6 points but they obviously shoot well from the line why not try and get there more. Nova on the other hand had 23 free throw attempts and converted on 18 of them giving them 3 times as much production from the charity stripe then Louisville accounting for 12 more points then Louisville. The other game that was going on at the same time as the Nova game was the Pitt vs.Goergetown game i was watching this game to start with since i hadnt seen Pitt play all year and they are a team i really like to go deep in March and tonight just proved my point even more, they are so good on both sides of the ball and they can hurt from beyond the arc and they can attack the basket with their guards or their bigs can come up with point they played suched good defense and they had an amazing start from beyond the arc from Ashton Gibbs who hit his first 3, 3 point attempts and ended the night going 5-10 from beyond the arc with 22 points all together, Pitt just dominated the first hald the Hoyas had a little fight in them in the second half but they just were not good enough to beat Pitt.

I am waiting for the rest of the NBA games to finish up but so far i am 6-4 tonight with which isnt that bad i am really surprised the Bulls lost to the Bobcatts and i am really upset that the Mav's cant seem to get it together without Dirk, if they are gunna contend in the playoff's they need to be able to win without Dirk. Obviously they are gunna have him in the post season (knock on wood!) but what if he is having a bad night or gets into foul trouble or something i mean i know that he is the guy in Dallas and i know they run their offense through him pretty much but you got guys there that can score, and you got a few tough defenders now so i dont see what seems to be the problem why they cant get it together and start winning like they know they can with or without Dirk, i mean obviously we see how much he means to that team. I will get back on in the morning and finish my NBA stuff in the morning  and will talk some more playoffs and i am finally getting caught up on my hockey for the year so tomorrow i will try and post on the NHL.