NCAA Lacrosse: Duke Beats Virginia, Displays Unrivaled Depth and Talent

Reigning Division 1 men’s lacrosse champions Virginia started the season as the No. 1 ranked team and with eight consecutive victories. Many pundits penned them as a good bet to repeat as champions thanks to stars like Steele Stanwick, Colin Briggs and Chris Bocklet.

Meanwhile, Duke opened the season at No. 3 but lost three games before the Cavaliers lost their first game. They dropped to No. 15 in the rankings and many analysts questioned how strong they were, specifically with a young attack line and an unstable situation in goal.

What some didn’t acknowledge or chose to ignore was Duke’s dominance over Virginia. That is until the two teams met Friday evening.

Prior to the game, the Blue Devils had beaten the Cavaliers 11 of the past 12 times they squared off. A 13-5 victory on Saturday in Charlottesville for Duke not only increased the team’s winning streak to eight games but also gave Duke the ACC regular season championship and the top-seed in the ACC tournament.

Duke, per usual, is getting better as the season goes along. They are working through the kinks, stepping up against big-time opposition in huge games and are playing their best lacrosse at the most important time of the season.

What did they do against Virginia to dominate from the get-go?

The contrast of styles has always been a factor in the Duke-Virginia series.

Duke, with coach John Danowski at the helm, likes to get up and down the field and really put on the pressure offensively. Virginia, under Dom Starsia and with smooth passer Stanwick at the X, likes to play more of a half-field offense.

The problem is that Duke does such a better job at establishing its transition game that Virginia has a difficult time keeping up that same pace. There are a number of factors that lead to this.

The first is the play of the Duke poles. The Blue Devils did a very good job on defense Saturday evening. They played a pressure-man defense that Virginia had difficulty breaking through. Duke has some big, strong and athletic poles that imposed their will on the opposition.

The slides on defense were effective and sophomore Henry Lobb stepped up in a big way, smothering Stanwick behind the cage and allowing him only one goal and assists.
The poles cause a lot of turnovers—Virginia had 14 turnovers compared to Duke’s nine—which led to a lot of fast breaks which the defenders were more than capable of taking charge of. Many of the defenders are talented enough and had good stick skills that they were able to go on the fast break and hang around on offense, even having two long-poles (Mike Manley and Luke Duprey) score goals.

The pressure wasn’t just applied on defense either. The offense continuously brought it to the Virginia defense. Duke outshot Virginia 42-33, including a 13-4 third quarter when the Blue Devils outscored the Cavaliers 5-0 and really took over the game.

Even with a lead, Duke never took its foot off the pedal; the final goal of the game came from Christian Walsh with 17 seconds left. Walsh was holding the ball but Virginia defensemen took some hard stick checks on him and didn’t defend him when Walsh wrapped around the crease and put the ball in the back of the net.

Duke could push the ball constantly because the team is so deep with so much offensive talent. Seven different players scored goals and two more tallied an assist each. The attack is young and talented, the midfield is deep and the defense has some good stick handlers and shooters as well. There are just so many weapons that it’s tough for teams to match.

While Duke was firing at Virginia at will, Blue Devils goalie Dan Wigrizer, the subject of much criticism this season, made some big saves throughout the game. He made 14 saves throughout the night and earned the win.

It was a total team effort that allowed the Blue Devils to continue to assert their dominance over the Cavaliers. It was Virginia’s second loss in its past four games.
Duke proved that they can play good lacrosse and beat anybody, even the best teams in the nation, and that its talent is as good as anybody’s as well.

The team is peaking at the right time and will be a tough team to play the rest of the way.

Photo of Josh Dionne from goduke.com

Virginia Men's Lacrosse Team Shows Resiliency, Wins NCAA Championship

AP Photo/Gail Burton

Call it perseverance. Or possibly stubbornness. But even through so much roster turmoil the Virginia men’s lacrosse team would not go away. They stuck together and despite the doubts and constant changing won the NCAA Division 1 championship.

Last season the Cavaliers made it to the Final Four before losing to eventual champion Duke. But the craziness began before then when defender George Huguely was charged with the murder of Virginia women’s lacrosse player and ex-girlfriend Yeardley Love. This weekend as his teammates celebrated, Huguely sat in a jail cell waiting for his trial, set for February 6.

The turnover continued this season. Star defender Matt Lovejoy underwent season ending shoulder surgery after playing in 10 games this season.

A pair of All-American midfielders—twins Shamel and Rhmael Bratton, considered the best players on the team—were suspended multiple times this season. Rhamel was suspended before the regular season finale and was ruled inactive for every game following.

Shamel was suspended three times total this season, his third the same team as Rhamel’s and leading to his dismissal from the team. Shamel finished the season fourth on the team in points (despite playing in only 11 games) and Rhamel finished sixth.

Before Virginia beat the University of Pennsylvania in a NCAA tournament tune-up, the team had lost four of its final five games, including getting bounced out of the ACC Tournament in the first round.

Even in the playoffs, things did not get any better. They needed overtime to come-from-behind and beat first round opponent Bucknell. The offense took another hit when third-leading scorer Colin Briggs was also suspended for the team’s NCAA semifinal game.

Somehow, though, the team made it work.

Having a young defense without Lovejoy, Virginia changed schemes. Notorious for having a pressure-packed man-to-man defense, the Cavaliers converted, mid-season, to playing mostly zone defense. In the NCAA Tournament Virginia surrendered double-digits in goals only once (the Bucknell game).

With the Brattons, the majority of the team’s offense relied on its midfield production. When both were gone from the team, the offense morphed and changed to get more production from its attack and work the ball from behind the net. Much like how the defense was successful, the offense scored double-digits in all its tournament games except for the championship round, when they scored nine goals.

And who was the hero of the championship game? None other than the previously suspended Briggs. The senior midfielder scored a career-high five goals.

“I definitely disappointed myself and let down the team on Saturday. I wanted to come back today and give everything I had,’’ Briggs told the media after the big win. “I got some open looks and was able to finish some shots.’’

It was very unlikely, all things considered, that Virginia would be hoisting the championship trophy at the end of the season. They were the lowest-seeded team (No. 7) to win the title and the first to do so with five losses (Virginia finished the season 13-5).

None of that matters though, because they are, in fact, champions. And they did so by overcoming adversity through teamwork. Instead of whining, the team banded together, adapted to every new situation, bought in to what head coach Dom Starsia taught them and executed.

What Virginia did was a true lesson in taking responsibility for one’s own mistakes and fixing them.

NCAA Championship: Brian Zoubek was Duke's Most Important Player

AP Photo/Amy Sancetta

The Duke Blue Devils have a ton of talented players. In the championship game victory over Butler the “big three”—Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, and Nolan Smith—combined to score 47 of the team’s 61 points.

No individual was more important in Duke’s run to the title game than center Brian Zoubek.

Looking back on the past three years, he was also the least likely candidate to be the missing piece that would push a talented Duke squad over the top.

In his first three years with Duke Zoubek’s struggles were obvious.

The seven-foot-one-inch, 260 pound center was a big presence in the paint that could alter shots, yet he was more of a liability on the floor.

He seemed to always be stumbling over his own feet, he couldn’t hold onto the basketball, and instead of going strong to the hoop he always looked uncomfortable with the ball, opting to pass back outside.

He had trouble getting up-and-down the court, made even worse by multiple surgeries to fix a broken foot. Because of his awkwardness and size, he would continually get into foul trouble as well.

It seemed more trouble to put him on the floor than he was worth.

Zoubek stuck it out though, and it paid off.

Duke has been in desperate need for a strong inside presence since Sheldon Williams graduated in 2006. Since Williams left, the Blue Devils have been severely lacking in rebounding, interior defense, and toughness. So just because of his sheer size Zoubek would always remain a thought, even if it was a thought buried deep in the back of Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s head.

The lack of an inside game could very well explain Duke’s lack of success in the NCAA Tournament recently.

The last time the Blue Devils won the championship was in 2001. Since then, the school had been a number one seed four times but failed to reach the championship game. Zoubek’s class have seen the team get bounced in the first round, second round, and Sweet 16—certainly not up to the standards and expectations set at Duke.

The team has lived and died by the three-pointer. It would seem that in the biggest games more times than not they died by it. There was never any post presence that would corral in those misses or provide a solid steady presence on offense when the team needed to stop shooting.

Quietly Zoubek increased his minutes played per game, points per game average, rebounds per game average, blocked shots per game average, and his turnovers per game went down. They were never by large increments, but just enough for people to not give up hope on the big man, even if productivity seemed light years away at times.

This season, his final collegiate year, Zoubek came in healthy and in shape.

He set career highs in games played, minutes played per game, points per game, and assist per game. He grabbed an astonishing four more rebounds per game and shot a career-high 63.5% from the field.

Even more important is that he did the most of his damage down the stretch.

From the start of the season, November 13, through February 10—a stretch of24 games—Zoubek had played twenty minutes or more only three times. However he was given the opportunity to start against Maryland in the team’s next game and he seized the moment, scoring a season-high 16 points and grabbing a season-high 17 rebounds in a 77-56 Duke victory, and has started every game since.

Since that game, Zoubek has averaged 6.6 points (more than two points higher than his career average of 4.1) and 10.1 rebounds per game (just under six more boards than his 4.3 career average). He grabbed double-digits in rebounds nine games out of 16 and recorded three double-doubles.

As the season went on, Zoubek gained more and more confidence. The Blue Devils also became a tougher team because of their new-found post presence.

While Singler, Scheyer, and Smith carried the brunt of the scoring load, Zoubek did all the dirty work; grabbing rebounds, setting screens to open up the shooters, altering and blocking shots on defense, and trapping the ball as well.

Without his increased production, without Zoubek stepping up to the challenge, Duke does not make it to the championship game.

Despite being in foul trouble for the majority of the game, they also wouldn’t have won it without him.

Six of Zoubek’s 10 rebounds in the title game were offensive, giving Duke second chances for points when their shooters failed to connect.

On Butler’s last offensive possession Zoubek covered the inbounder, and did a good job sliding out and getting in Gordon Hayword’s face as he attempting a runner, altering the shot just enough so that it went long and hit the back part of the rim.

Zoubek then grabbed the rebound and didn’t lose the ball, sending him to the free throw line, where he would sink the first shot calmly (he missed the second intentionally to force Butler to make a long-last ditch heave rather than allow for them to send in a long inbounds pass, creating an easier shot).

It was a long journey for Zoubek, but in his senior season he finally produced at the level he knew he was capable of playing at.

He also gave the University the strong, tough post presence it needed.

When they stood on the podium after the game, Zoubek held onto the trophy like he was never going to let it slip away from his grasp, just like he improved his ability to hold onto the basketball.

Making a Monster

Photo Credit. Smith/AP

Basic rule of thumb for all athletes: Be careful what you do because someone will see it.

In this day of 24 hour sports news coverage, flip cams, cell phones that take video, and the Internet and YouTube nothing will go unseen.

University of New Mexico women’s soccer team player Elizabeth Lambert didn’t get the memo.

During a November 5, 2009 Mountain West Conference semi-final game against Brigham Young University Lambert, a junior, was involved in incredibly unsportsmanlike plays including elbowing a girl in the back and pulling another player down by her ponytail. Although she was involved in a number of heinous incidents on the field only got her a yellow card, but the video footage has resulted in further disciplinary action and made her one of the most infamous athletes in the country as well as one of the biggest sports villains.

ESPN aired the game footage as part of a highlight segment on SportsCenter and the video was then posted on its YouTube page.

To date, the video has been viewed 1,275,126 times and generated 1,889 user comments. No video from that same day has been watched even 8,000 times, the closest being the Play of the Day video featuring a LeBron James slam dunk, viewed 7,160 times (with five comments attached to it).

The footage forced the hand of the school to suspend the defender indefinitely for her actions during the game. The suspension was supported by the conference citing that Lambert violated its sportsmanship policy.

The video has made Lambert into a YouTube sensation and she will forever be notoriously known as the “ponytail girl”.

Lambert has finally spoken out on the incident and the video may have caused her to take a step back, review her actions, and force regret and sorrow.

“I look at it and I’m like, ‘That is not me,’” Lambert told The New York Times in an article published on November 17. “I have so much regret. I can’t believe I did that.”

Lambert does say some parts of the video are taken out of context, either because they were inadvertent mishaps or they were part of the physical give-and-take of the match. However, the video doesn’t lie: the ponytail haul was not incited and is despicable enough to stand on its own.

The Times piece does say that Lambert is seeing a clinical psychologist to better understand her actions and will speak to youth teams about sportsmanship and to learn from her mistake.

Still, her reputation has been tarnished and the video going viral has had an extraordinary amount to do with it.

The majority of the coverage has been focused on making Lambert the villain in this case, but some coverage should be given to spotlighting other “accomplices” of Lambert’s crime.

The referees should most certainly face some blame. The refs can’t see everything, but in a soccer game there are at least three of them, one in the middle and one on each sideline. How none of them noticed any of the fouls except for one trip is abhorrent, especially not catching the ponytail yank. Some of the fouls were also committed while Lambert was on the ball, so at least the center referee should have been watching. When you let this type of play slide, it only manifests itself into something bigger.

What were Lambert’s teammates thinking during all of this? While Lambert says it was a physical match, she went above and beyond to inflict pain. Her teammates have a responsibility to recognize what Lambert did was wrong, and at least get her to calm herself. Someone from BYU could have retaliated, on either Lambert or another New Mexico player, and the game could have been even uglier.

Also, responsibility and some blame should fall on the head coach Kit Vela’s shoulders. Lambert’s actions were reprehensible. How does Vela allow for her to stay in the game and continue to make infraction after infraction? The coach is the figurehead of the team, especially in college athletics, and should hold true to the school’s, conference’s, and entire NCAA’s sportsmanship policies. No player and no result should be above fair play. It is Vela’s job to recognize Lambert’s actions and pull her from the game.

Alas, Lambert is still responsible for her own actions. The moral of this story is to always be on your best behavior, even when you think someone isn’t watching, because they are and then they’re going to share it with the world.

Video from Youtube.

Parting shots from Detroit

AP Photo/ Amy Sancetta

Ford Field hasn’t seen that much excitement in quite some time. The home of the putrid Detroit Lions hosted the NCAA Final Four, and although the title game wasn’t very close, there was still something to smile about at the end of the day, unlike when people leave Lions games.

Detroit hasn’t had much to smile about lately. On the playing field, the Lions couldn’t win a game, the Tigers were being picked as a possible World Series contender but wound up not even contending for a playoff spot, and the Pistons have fallen from grace and are no longer the team that went to six straight Eastern Conference finals (I would also be frowning if this was my team's logo at one point, when they were known as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons). Off the field, and more importantly, the city has been hit hard by the economic recession because of its strong ties to the automobile industry. So not only did the Final Four brighten up the city, but there was hope provided by home-state Michigan State University beating defending champion Kansas and number one overall seed Louisville to reach the Final Four. They continued their magical run by beating the University of Connecticut and moving onto the championship game. While they could not bring home the championship, they gave the city something to root for, something to feel good about, in a time where good things have been hard to come by.

The team that was cutting down the nets Monday night was the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Tar Heels. The Tar Heels were definitely the most talented team in the tournament. More important than talent, they were the hungriest team. They were the ACC regular season champions, but not everyone was on their bandwagon coming into the tournament. They had some bad losses on their resume; losing to Boston College after they had just lost to Harvard as well as losing to Florida State in the semi-finals of the ACC tournament. But that just goes to show you that one game, win or lose, does not make or break an entire season.

You see, UNC was embarrassed by Kansas in the Final Four in 2008. That left juniors Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green—who came to the team the year after they beat Illinois—and star sophomores Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington without a championship. So instead of bolting to the NBA, they all came back for another season at Chapel Hill, determined to finish as champions. And that is exactly what they did. They dominated the field, winning each game by double digits.

However, UNC could be in a state of transition now. Hansbrough and Green will graduate, as will guard Bobby Frasor, who filled in for Lawson while he was injured during the ACC tourney. Marcus Ginyard was also a senior this year, but because he missed all but three games with a broken foot, he will petition the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility. Now that they have won the championship and the great senior leadership they had will be leaving, we will probably see juniors Lawson and Ellington leave early. There is also the possibility that junior forward Deon Thompson and freshman forward Ed Davis—a 6’10” big man—will also test their draft stock.

While there is the possibility that everyone who is eligible to will come back, it’s more realistic that Lawson and Ellington will leave on top. With the potential for eight players leaving, the Tar Heels could be in trouble. It wouldn’t be impossible to win—’08 champs Kansas lost their starting five to the NBA and still managed to make it to the Sweet 16 in ’09—however, it will be extremely difficult for such a young team to compete against more experienced squads, especially in the tough ACC. Head coach Roy Williams (who was a part of this hilarious commercial that aired during the tournament) will restock the team with talented recruits and will make sure they are ready to compete with the best in the nation, but expect some growing pains. A second issue to consider is how hungry will the player’s be to repeat? The team’s drive this season pushed them into the Final Four. If Lawson and Ellington return, it would be to become the first back-to-back champions since Florida in 2006 and 2007, and expect them to keep the Tar Heels intensity high. If a number of players leave, however, will the younger guys be ready to take over at the same level as their former teammates?

All those questions will be answered in time. For now, the Tar Heels will enjoy their latest championship. And everybody else will put the bulls-eye on their backs as they look forward to the 2010 Final Four in Indianapolis.

And Detroit will hope the Red Wings at least stay on top in the NHL to keep their high from the ’09 Final Four.

Highlights of the 2009 Division I men's basketball championship game between UNC and MSU.

Oh, how Sweet it is

We’ve reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. The Eastern region consists of all chalk—the top seeds: top seeded Pittsburgh, second seeded Duke, third seeded Villanova, and fourth seeded Xavier. The teams are set to face off Thursday night in Boston; Pittsburgh against Xavier and Duke against Villanova, with the winners squaring off against each other. The teams held open practices at TD Banknorth Garden Wednesday afternoon, each for 50 minutes with 10 minutes in-between. I was able to catch Pittsburgh and Duke prepare for their next round matchups.



Pittsburgh had a light practice, mainly a shootaround. The bigs worked on posting up and then popping out. DeJuan Blair, a candidate for the Naismith Player of the Year award, used this drill to work on his range, popping out and nailing quite a few 3-pointers. Don’t expect to see him shoot from that far out in the game against Xavier though; in his two years at Pitt he has never attempted a 3-point shot in a game. Blair also took it to the rim frequently during drills and free shooting. He is a powerful player and every time he slammed it home, he tried to take the backboard down with him, like Shaquille O’Neal in his heyday.

The Panthers worked on free-throws, and during shooting, an impromptu jumping contest broke out, where redshirt sophomore Gilbert Brown and senior Sam Young impressed with their leaping abilities, wowing the crowd by continually reaching higher than the box on the glass. Young even almost hit his head on the rim.



Every player on Pittsburgh then took one half court shot, in case they ever needed a desperation heave in the tournament. Senior guard Levance Fields was the last player to shoot and the only one to make one. The Panthers ended their light workout five minutes early.





Duke took advantage of Pitt’s early exit and took to the court 10 minutes early. It was clear from the beginning that Duke meant business. Their practice jerseys were tucked in, and, unlike Pittsburgh, began the practice with a few end-line to end-line jogs, stretching, and even jumping rope. Surprisingly, Duke held a legitimate practice. I’ve never been to a Blue Devil practice before, but I can imagine this was a relatively close representation. Rather than just a shootaround, they actually went through different shooting and shuffling drills. Everything the Duke players did, they seemed to do with a great sense of urgency. It was all business—that is until they went to layup lines and junior Gerald Henderson and freshman Elliot Williams started having their own dunk contest, Henderson leading the way with a 360 and a windmill.



The team then went into 5 v. 5 full court drills, utilizing the shot clock. Another difference between Duke’s and Pittsburgh’s practice was the defensive chatter. The Panthers’ practice was relatively quiet, but the Duke players talked and yelled out defensive calls, even during the shuffling drills.

Then they split into bigs and guards and wings, but it was still a workout. The assistant working with the post players had a pad that he would actually hit the players with, to mimic the force from an opposing player. They actually took a water break, another difference between the two practices, and finished with a shootaround.

The two practices were vastly different, but they both did some unique things that I liked. Practicing the half court shots was a good idea by the Pitt coaches. You never know when you’re going to find yourself in that kind of predicament in the tournament, and it can’t hurt to work on it, especially at practice the day before your biggest game of the season to date. For Duke, I liked the intensity and urgency they brought. Most teams go through a light workout in these kinds of practices, but for Duke, they treated it as if it were business as usual. The practice wasn’t necessarily taxing, but they worked hard and showed why they are not only one of the elite programs in the ACC, but all of college basketball as well.

Both teams will be ready to go tomorrow night. Anticipate some good basketball from all teams, Xavier and Villanova included. It will be a dogfight to see which of the four earns the right to take a trip to Detroit and a chance at the national championship.

Leading Lion

All photos courtesy of Meghan Robinson.

Meghan Robinson is the only upperclassman on Emerson College women’s lacrosse team. The defender has earned the role of being one of the team’s captains.

Co-head coach Katie Shannon praised Robinson’s leadership qualities, saying, “She is in a tough position being the only junior on the team, but she takes pride in her leadership and the younger players really look up to her.”

However, her lacrosse career almost never made it to this point, on a couple of occasions.

Robinson started playing lacrosse in seventh grade. She continued to play at her high school, Springfield Township, in Philadelphia. She was a two-year letter winner, but every season she questioned whether she should stay on the team or quit.

“I didn’t like the team or the coach,” she said. “People’s hearts weren’t in it. The coach would say one thing and do another. It was bullshit.”

Amidst the frustration, she never acted upon her inclination to quit.

“I almost quit, but I never had it in me,” Robinson said. “I just kept telling myself, ‘Just one more year,’ and that it would be my last chance to play sports.”

Robinson never had the intention of playing lacrosse in college. She was going to focus on academics. Robinson knew she wanted to go to a college in a city. She visited Boston College and loved the campus and the city of Boston. As far as academics were concerned, she wanted to do something involving television, reporting, and possibly film. That’s when a friend suggested Emerson to her. One morning, Robinson and her family made an appointment to tour Emerson in the morning and Boston College in the afternoon. However, they wouldn’t need to go to that second meeting.

“I loved Emerson,” Robinson said. “I didn’t want to go to Boston College anymore. Emerson had a great location, it was a small school, and it had great programs and opportunities. It just felt right being here.”

Robinson applied early action to Emerson but was deferred to the spring semester. She weighed her options of going somewhere else or waiting until the spring and decided there was no other college she would rather be at. That semester off was also where she got the inspiration to play lacrosse for the Lions.

“I started watching this show ‘Two-A-Days’ on MTV, about this high school football team,” she said. “It was really nostalgic for me and I realized that I really missed sports. So I contacted [former head coach Mike] Blanchard, and he said I could absolutely play on the team.”



The trip down nostalgia road didn’t last very long. “I almost quit after the first week. I thought the girls were mean,” Robinson said. “I was a bit presumptuous and thought everyone was clique-y. But I stuck it out and I’m glad I did. I’ve made some of my best friends playing lacrosse.”

Her coaches and teammates are glad she stuck it out too.

“Meg makes my job as coach easier,” said her other co-head coach, Gail Decker-Wittman. “I know that if I ask her to do something or take care of something that it will be done.”

Shannon mentioned how valuable Robinson is because of her skill-level. “She is the last defender on the field before the goalie, and I have all the trust in the world in her,” she said.

Fellow captain Maeghan Ross is very close with her teammate. The two were former roommates and Ross has a lot of respect for Robinson and what she adds to the team. “I think she is the best teammate ever, she’s so hard working,” Ross said. “She brings a sense of excitement, leadership, intensity, and dedication.”

While Robinson is a valuable piece to a Lions team that went to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship game last season, there is still room to improve.

“Her weakness is she is too nice,” said Decker-Wittman. “Sometimes in sports you have get a little mean. Meg doesn't do ‘mean’ well.”

Being a defender, Robinson agreed that she needed to get tougher. “I want to be more of a presence on defense. I want to be more of a threat,” she said. “I need to be more physical.”

Still, Robinson says her most important job is to be a leader. “I’m a team player. I want to make sure everyone does their best,” she said.

With Robinson leading the way, the Lions are not only poised to return to the GNAC championship, but determined to win it all.

Game of the Knight

AP Photo/Joe Cavaretta

Thursday night’s ESPN college basketball doubleheader started off with a matchup between the Duke Blue Devils and the St. John’s Red Storm. Covering the game for ESPN was play-by-play man Brent Musburger, color commentator Bob Knight, and sideline reporter Holly Rowe. Musburger and Knight are two highly respected individuals in the world of college basketball so it made sense to have them cover a game with such a high profile program like Duke.

Before the tip-off Musburger and Knight explained why the game was important for both teams. This was a great way to start because it told the viewer what was at stake and why they should want to watch this game. They described that Duke was on a two-game losing streak and needed this game to snap out of their funk, and for St. John’s it was an opportunity for their young squad—all five starters were sophomores—to play in a primetime matchup for a national audience against one of the premier schools in the nation.

Knight was a great “X’s and O’s” guy as a coach and that has carried over into his career as an analyst. During the game he does a great job of identifying what the team is doing and why it works or doesn’t work, as well as what they need to do to get a better result. The viewer can come out of Knight’s broadcast with a better understanding of the intricacies of basketball, just like they were being coached by him at the University of Indiana.

Musburger does a good job of “driving the bus” and bringing up good discussion points for Knight to analyze. However, on this night, he seemed too low-key. It almost sounds like he was working through a cold. His voice was really low, soft, and delivered in monotone. You really had to pay close attention to understand what he was saying.

Knight, as informative as he was, was also a bit dull covering the game. Neither Knight nor Musburger had any excitement in their voice. As a sport fan, the viewer gets excited by a great play, and I think it’s OK if the announcer gets excited too. Part of the allure of sports is the entertainment value and watching someone do something incredible that the average person can’t do. Yet neither seems to be affected by any singular moment. Maybe it’s because they have both been around for so long and have seen so much that they are, in a way, desensitized. At one point in the game Duke forward Lance Thomas lunges for a defensive rebound, collects the ball, and as he is falling to the ground he throws a full court pass to teammate Elliot Williams, who scores a lay-up. Knight claims this play is at least one of the top five passes from the season, but there is no excitement in his voice. His tone describing the play is the same as when he was describing the type of offense Duke was running. As the game goes on, this becomes a much bigger problem.

Duke took control of the second half, dominating a young St. John’s team. The announcers aren’t exciting, and now the game isn’t exciting either. Without that excitement, the viewer starts to drift away from the game. I was no longer fully interested knowing that Duke was on their way to an easy victory, and the announcers didn’t do much to keep me interested. However, St. John’s didn’t quit, and with about three minutes left they made a comeback, closing a double-digit deficit to only eight points. The announcers were still delivering in their monotone voices though, without any inflection of excitement or amazement, and I didn’t even realize how close it was getting. What could have been an exciting comeback just passed me by because the announcers couldn’t draw me back in.

By excitement, I don’t mean that they had to be like Dick Vitale. Vitale seems to be excited about everything and as the game goes on it gets to be a little over the top and irritating. However, Knight and Musburger were too dull and in a game that wasn’t very close for most of the time, it really made me less interested in watching it, undoing all the good work they did earlier in the game.

That would be the one area that needs to be improved. Otherwise, the knowledge that Musburger and Knight brought to the telecast was excellent.