Tag Archives: Dick Vitale

Duke Stays Put At No. 7

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Three observations on this week’s Associated Press Top 25:

1. There’s a pretty sound consensus that Duke is the seventh-best team in the country. The great majority of voters slotted Duke No. 7 this week, with the Provo Daily Herald’s Jason Franchuk and WCMC Raleigh’s Tim Hall giving the Blue Devils their highest vote at No. 4. The voter most sour on Duke? Jeffrey Martin of the Houston Chronicle, who voted Duke No. 10 behind Kansas State and, most surprising, Mississippi, which wound up No. 15. Seth Davis and Jeff Goodman both had Duke at No. 8, while Dick Vitale — yes, even Dickie V has a vote — ranked the Blue Devils No. 6.

2. Bill Cole is bearish on the Tar Heels. As The Dagger noted yesterday, the Triangle hoops beat writer ranked North Carolina No. 23, just two spots ahead of Western Carolina. Go get ‘em, Catamounts!

3. Say hi to the little guys! Best part about monitoring the polls in December is watching the non-powerhouses pop up in the Also Receiving Votes subtext. A smattering of this week’s cameos: William & Mary, Richmond and Army. Looking for Cornell, the class of the Ivy League? Well, maybe next week.

After Win Over Wake, Duke Moves Up To No. 7

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Photo by Michael Naclerio/The Chronicle

Finally, Duke is moving on up again.

After slipping in the polls for three straight weeks, the Blue Devils jumped from No. 9 to No. 7 Monday after a two-win week that included a 101-91 victory over then-No. 8 Wake Forest Sunday. Duke was ranked No. 1 Jan. 26, but fell to No. 4 the next week, then to No. 7, then teetered on the edge of the top 10 last week.

Pittsburgh took over the top spot in the rankings for the second time this year after it beat then-No. 1 Connecticut last Monday. UConn fell to No. 2, with Oklahoma coming in at No. 3. North Carolina, which lost to Maryland Saturday, fell from No. 3 to No. 4.

Clemson moved up to No. 12, while the Demon Deacons fell to No. 13. Florida State, the ACC’s fifth team in the poll, finally cracked the top 25. The Seminoles sit at No. 23.

As for specific voters:

  • Two writers, the Orlando Sentinel’s Iliana Limon and The Olean Times-Herald’s J.P. Butler, had Duke at No. 5.
  • Ten voters placed Duke at No. 6.
  • Eighteen ranked Duke No. 7. On this list: The Herald-Sun’s Bryan Strickland, ESPN’s Dick Vitale and Chronicle alumnus (and two-time sports editor!) John Feinstein.
  • Seven had Duke at No. 8.
  • Six voted Duke No. 9.
  • Seven writers, including The Winston-Salem Journal’s Bill Cole, seeded Duke No. 10.
  • Twenty more had Duke outside the top 10. Notable voters: Dick Weiss (No. 11), Seth Davis (No. 12) and Will Vandervort (No. 19).

Yes, Dickie V., It Was That Hot In Cameron

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Photo by Chase Olivieri/The Chronicle

Whether you were in Cameron Indoor Stadium last night or you were watching in a much more comfortable position at home, someone probably mentioned how steamy it was inside. If you were one of the 9,314 in attendance, chances are you were commiserating with the person sweating next to you. And if you were one of the many more flipping through channels, your informant may have been Dick Vitale.

And if Vitale’s beads of sweat or the players’ constant slipping weren’t proof enough, I’m here to tell you: Yes, it was that “hot and balmy,” as North Carolina’s Bobby Frasor kindly said.

Have you ever been in a house—let alone a bandbox of a gym packed with almost 10,000 people side-by-side—without air conditioning? You walk in, and you hit a wall of heat. You’re uncomfortable. Then you’re flush. Soon you’re sweating. And by the time you realize your body temperature is acutely raised, your mouth is dry. Add 1,200 students screaming into your ear and having about five inches of personal space and that’s what press row felt like Wednesday. Without the flying specks of blue paint dotting your shirt. And it was worse after halftime, when the Northeast media elite cooled off in the press room, which felt like, well, air conditioning on a summer day.

Strangely, though, Cameron felt warmer two hours before the game, when I stood on the court with no one in the stands. The atmosphere was eerie, the type of scene that makes you remember you’re about to have the best seat to the best rivalry in college sports. The band warmed up, Vitale held court by the Tar Heel bench and Jon Scheyer hoisted shots. He was the only player on the floor. I talked with Kevin Cullen, Duke’s video coordinator, who was walking around with a jacket, which he said would be strictly taboo hours later.

I certainly sympathized with him. After all, I had contemplated sporting a blazer to the biggest game of the year—that is, before I realized I didn’t have time to take it to the dry cleaners today.

NBA Announcing Team To Call Duke Game

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If you were looking forward to spotting Dick Vitale and Dan Shulman in Cameron Indoor Stadium for Duke’s Jan. 7 matchup with Davidson, you’re out of luck.

A new trio of voices will call Duke’s anticipated game against the Wildcats, but the analysis might sound familiar. ESPN’s NBA announcers Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and Mike Tirico will have play-by-play and color duties in Cameron, while Vitale and Shulman will call the subsequent NBA game between the Nuggets and Heat.

Vitale and Shulman have both worked NBA games before, but only Tirico has called college games from the booth. ESPN executive Norby Williamson told USA Today that the shift is an effort to “make connections between college and the NBA.”

That type of cross-promotion is great and all, but in our opinion, this isn’t the best time to do it. There are plenty of high-profile college games that the NBA crew can call, but this year’s edition of Duke-Davidson has a decidedly college feel to it: Traditional program vs. upstart small school in a tiny but packed gymnasium featuring some of the best college players that may never make it big on the pro stage. Vitale’s voice has defined those games over the past few years. Stephen Curry coming to Cameron deserves the attention of a screaming Vitale, not the more technical analysis of NBA analysts.

For all of his flaws, Vitale knows college basketball or is at least accustomed to it–something that can’t be said of the NBA team.

“I’ve never been to Cameron Indoor Stadium, and I can’t wait to see the atmosphere in person,” Van Gundy said in an ESPN release.

Some words of advice to Tirico and Co.: Follow Curry, Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson at all times, and you might impress Vitale and Shulman, who we can only imagine will be watching intently on a small screen in Denver.

Q&A With Steve Wojciechowski

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Have you seen a point guard situation at Duke as unique as the one this year?

We look at it as a real positive, to have two point guards, guys who are both high-caliber ACC-level point guards is a strength of our team. They can play separately, they can play together, and they both bring different things to the table. Greg has great experience, he’s been a really good player for us, and Nolan has done a great job for us early in the season. We’re really pleased where both those guys are. We need to get Greg back to 100 percent healthy, and when we do, he’ll be even better.

We know about Greg’s forearm contusion, but is his knee injury still lingering?

I think it feels very good. The thing that most people don’t know is that he was out most of the summer, and as a player, when you miss those large chunks of time, that’s not an easy thing. He’s continued to work himself back. For the most part, I think he feels good. He’s anxious to do whatever it takes to help our team win.

It’s often said that being the Duke point guard is like being the Notre Dame quarterback—it’s a really scrutinized position. Does that lead to a sort of fraternity of Duke point guards. Do you stick together more than other positions because of that?

One of the benefits is guys have been through it, the highs and lows of playing a position that’s scrutinized. There are many more positives that come from it than there are negatives. One, you get a chance to play in big games, on the biggest stage, where everybody’s watching. When you do well, you reap the rewards of that. When you don’t do well, you have to face those things, too. As a competitor, I would think most competitors would want to be in that type of situation.

Speaking of competition, have you gotten a chance to see North Carolina play yet?

We were out recruiting and I got in last night to catch it, and as soon as I turned it on, I heard [Dick] Vitale saying, “I’m watching an NBA team.” I wanted to make sure I had it on the right channel. But they’re outstanding. They’re the best team right now. But the best team doesn’t always win, and that’s why you play the games.