Duke and George Washington match up Saturday in Greensboro. On Friday at his news conference, Mike Krzyzewski said, “We must take better care of the basketball.” The Devils committed 20 turnovers last night against Southern -- seven of them by freshman point guard Greg Paulus. That can’t happen Saturday.
That’s what G.W. does, that’s their game – to try and force the turnover. They come after you. George Washington is tall and athletic and their game is to wreak havoc on the defensive end, and that’s what they did last night in their 18-point comeback against UNC Wilmington.
The Colonials said Friday in their news conference that what they want to do is put the pressure on and try and rattle Paulus. Now, Paulus was off his game last night, but he’s a veteran now and he knows it’s very important for him to keep his poise. He certainly did that in the ACC tournament.
Also Duke needs to have more players than J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams score. They accounted for 58 of Duke’s 70 points, and that’s ridiculous and that won’t do it against a good team.
George Washington has much to prove. This team lost just twice during the season but received an eighth seed. Of course, they played a weak schedule and I remember well the beating they took at N.C. State.
I think this will be a good game. Duke should win -- they have two of the great players in college basketball -- but those guys need help. McRoberts, Paulus, Nelson, and Dockery have all come through at some point in the season, and they need to step up Saturday and I’m sure they’ve heard an earful about that on Friday.
Duke knows the pressure is coming, but as Paulus said Friday, “We know that, that’s the way they play, that’s their personality. And we’re just going to try to be Duke.” And at 31-3, being Duke is usually a pretty good formula.
The game tips off Saturday at 1 p.m. and you can watch it on WRAL-TV.
