ACC BALLERS: March 2009

Monday, March 23, 2009

Sweet 16...Only Duke and UNC left.

After the first weekend of the tournament it has become apparent that the ACC was not as strong as it appeared to be throughout the year. Several teams lost on the first day (Clemson, Florida State, BC) while another team (Maryland) got demolished by a Memphis team that didn't seem to concerned with the match up to begin with (link).

Here are the ACC games up next:

South region:

3/27 - #1 UNC - #4 Gonzaga at 9:57pm

East Region

3/26 - #2 Duke - # Villanova at 9:57pm

Both should be great games.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Gerald Henderson is the Dunk Champion and his Duke Blue Devils are ACC Champs!

By unanimous decision (49%) Gerald Henderson has been voted as the best dunk artist in the league by our loyal followers. Henderon has been sensational all year long and perhaps the timeliness of his dunks like this

is what stuck out in the minds of voters. Congrats Gerald.

It's been a long and exciting season in ACC basketball full of interesting twists and turns. Carolina seemed unbeatable early on until Boston College went down to the Dean Dome and knocked them off. Meanwhile a slowly developing back story was the emergence of Jeff Teague and the Wake Forest Deacons. The Deacons won their first 16 games before falling to Virginia Tech at home. The only normalcy during this period was Clemson's hot start. They even routed Duke at home in one of the most lopsided ACC games I have ever seen. In the end though, after the regular season and ACC tournament had been settled, it was the Blue Devils of Duke that came on top. This is how the did it.

Second Round:

3/13

9:30pm - #6 Boston College 65 - #3 Duke 66 (box score)

This was close the entire game and tensions grew during the last 5 or 6 minutes. BC's Biko Paris hit a huge 3 pointer with a bit under 5 minutes left to close Duke's lead to 1. The teams would continue to trade baskets but Rakim Sanders' 3 point shot at the end came up short.

Semi-Finals:

3/14

4pm - #7 Marlyand 61 - #3 Duke 67 (box score)

The Terrapins gave a valiant effort but in the end John Scheyer was too much for them to stop. The Blue Devils' junior guard had 22 on 6-12 shooting to but Maryland away.

Championship Game:

3-15

1pm - #4 Florida State 69 - #3 Duke 79

Duke came out on fire as Singler, Scheyer (29 points), and Henderson went 12-23 from 3 point range. Florida State looked as though they didn't know what hit them. It was well into the 1st half before the Seminoles decided to join Duke in the game but by that point Duke had more than found their rhythm. The score doesn't show how truly lopsided this game was.

All Tournament team:
(1st team)

Duke: John Scheyer (Tournament MVP), Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler

UNC: Tyler Hansbrough

FSU: Toney Douglas

(2nd Team)

FSU: Soloman Alibi

UNC: Wayne Ellington

Maryland: Greivis Vasquez, Eric Hayes

Georgia Tech: Lewis Clinch

Final ACC Standings (in conference, overall):

1. North Carolina: 13-3, 28-4
2. Wake Forest: 11-5, 24-6
3. Duke: 11-5, 28-6
4. Florida State: 10-6, 25-9
5. Clemson: 9-7, 23-8
6. Boston College: 9-7, 22-11
7. Maryland: 7-9, 20-13
8. Miami: 7-9, 18-12
9. Virginia Tech: 7-9, 18-12
10. North Carolina State: 6-10, 16-14
11. Virginia: 4-12, 10-18
12. Georgia Tech: 2-14, 12-19

NCAA Tournament Starts up on Thursday and the conference has 7 teams. Should be pretty exciting and we'll get you caught up on the games as they come. Enjoy it!

Monday, March 2, 2009

ACC Balllers: Who is the best dunker in the ACC?

It's that time of the year again. A time to reflect on all the great plays we've seen thus far this year. ACC season is winding down and the tournament looms, why not look back on the best dunks of the season, and determine who the best dunker is.

Here are the rules: I'll show you a bunch of dunks all week long. You'll watch as many dunks as you can and determine which ACC player throws it down the best. Here goes:

1. Gerald Henderson, Jr, Duke