Which buzzer-beater was better?

The 2011-2012 season isn't over just yet. But it's quite possible that we've already seen it's two most-signature moments.

Indiana wasn't supposed to beat Kentucky. Sure, it was at Assembly Hall, but this Hoosiers team was still a year away, right? Yeah, Kentucky and Indiana are two legacy programs, but even with Assembly Hall on the brink of eruption, there was no way Indiana was going to beat the Wildcats.

Duke dropped back-to-back home games against Florida State and Miami. The Blue Devils had no superstar leader. Austin Rivers, their all-world freshman, was struggling. People started to doubt Duke. Hell, Duke started to doubt Duke. The North Carolina Tar Heels just had to much size, too much talent, too much everything. Duke was going to keep the game close, but North Carolina would win.

Then Christian Watford happened.





Then Austin Rivers happened.



But which was better?

That question is much more difficult to answer than you may think.

If you are a fan of Kentucky or North Carolina, it's probably a bit easier.

But really, which was better?

The conventional wisdom will suggest that River's shot was best, as it should. That's a shot that kids in North Carolina emulate in the backyards, in their driveways, and on the playground. That's a shot that will forever be stored in the highlight videos for future Tobacco Road showdowns. His team was trailing late, somebody needed to step up. That shot will be replayed, re-aired and rehashed from now until forever.

But Rivers' shot was nailed in the unfriendly confines of The Dean Dome. His shot wasn't set up, rushed or hurried, there were certain elements of "the moment" that were lacking from this shot.

What Watford's shot lacks in historical significance, it makes up for in "spur-of-the-moment" pandemonium.

His shot was the result of a nice drive to the basket by Verdell Jones. His release had just a hint of "step back" to it. When his shot went through, he struck a pose. A beautiful, beautiful pose. Then there was the court-storming. If you ever want to know when/why/and how to storm a court, use that video as a guideline. It was magical. It was marvelous. It was the perfect court storm.

But both of these shots explain why sports are better than any movie or any TV show. You can't script it. You don't want it scripted. The best things in life happen when you least expect it.

So maybe Watford's was better, and maybe Rivers' was better.

And maybe, when it's all said and done, there will be another moment, one we don't know is going to happen, one we can't explain, that will trump both of these shots. Continue reading...

Duke needs Austin Rivers to be 'the man'

Before we get into the meat of this post, before we spend anytime analyzing what happened in Duke's 85-84 win over UNC in the Dean Dome or how the Blue Devils were able to erase a ten point deficit in the final two minutes, let's all sit back and admire how the game ended:
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POSTERIZED: DJO has hops like that?

If this week has proven anything, its the extreme uselessness of BIAH's second in command.

The Trizzle took over the blog for a week, and by day number two he was already too lazy to finish the dump. What has this world come to?

I'm taking a break out of my busy schedule of eating too much, drinking even more, and sitting my ass on the beach to try and provide you, our all-important readership, something with which to pass the time. And trust me, you'll enjoy this.

You wanna know what Darius Johnson-Odom looks like windmilling an alley-oop from Austin Rivers?:



I knew you did.
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Austin Rivers must be a fan of Mortal Kombat

Austin Rivers, the top-rated recruit in the class of 2011, took to Twitter last night to make a few announcements regarding his freshman season at Duke.

Rivers, who wore the No. 25 jersey throughout high school stated that he would be donning the No. 0 uniform when he arrives in Durham, NC. He will become the first Blue Devil in school history to wear that number. He decided to change numbers because his high school number has been retired at Duke in honor of Art Heyman. So he chose the No. 0 to signal a fresh start at the next level.

That's all well and good. Zero isn't a bad number, and clearly he thought it out, so good for him.

Now, the announcement of his new number isn't new, but the second part is. And it's that part which really grinds my gears.

Now, Rivers may be the top incoming freshman in the country, but he still has a lot to learn.

You cannot give yourself a nickname. It's practically an unwritten rule of the schoolyard.

Dwayne Wade didn't tell people to call him "Flash". Earvin Johnson didn't legally change his name to "Magic". Harrison Barnes didn't ask people to refer to him as "The Black Falcon". And as much as we probably want to assume that LeBron James anointed himself "The King", some dorky high school kid probably did.

That is what makes nicknames so cool. A great one is never thought about, it just happens.

Again, Rivers is the top recruit in the country (well either No. 1 or No.2 depending on who you ask), but he's still a freshman. In fact, he's not even a freshman yet. Just imagine the scene if first-year Rivers walked into the locker room and asked junior Andre Dawkins to refer to him as Sub-Zero.

I'm certain Rivers would spend the rest of his freshman season being refered to as "Sonya Blade".
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Be afraid ACC fans, be very afraid

Austin Rivers is the No. 1 recruit in the country.

He's also committed to Duke.

And judging by this video, which is a compilation of highlights for a 42 point performance he had at the City of Palms high school event this week, its not difficult to see why:



Most believed coming into the season that Kyrie Irving would only be spending one season in Durham. His performance through the first month of the season only backed up that sentiment.

But let's say for argument's sake that this toe injury keeps Irving out for the rest of the season. Is he still a lottery pick? Probably. But maybe it lowers his stock enough the he comes back next season.

Imagine that Duke back court with Rivers and Irving. Yuk. Ikes.
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Austin Rivers is a Dukie

This afternoon, Austin Rivers surprised just about every by committing to Duke.

The surprise, however, was in the timing of the commitment, not the end result. Rivers had stated that he was going to take his three official visits -- to North Carolina, Kansas, and Duke -- before making an announcement.

But seeing as he had already made his decision, what was the point?

"I didn't want to drag this thing out longer," Rivers told Evan Daniels, a recruiting analyst for Scout.com. "I didn't want it to grow where I was comparing Duke and North Carolina and Kansas. I just knew I wanted to go to Duke. I didn't see a point in dragging this out any longer."

No surprise, Austin Rivers is headed to Duke.
(photo credit: Orlando Sentinel)

Rivers, a Winter Park native, originally committed to his home-state school Florida as a freshman back in 2008, but has since wavered on that commitment. He reportedly fell in love with Duke last winter on an unofficial visit to the school, and just about everyone has believed this result was only a matter of time.

Nevertheless, this is a huge get for Coach K. Rivers in the consensus No. 1 player in the class of 2011. A combo guard, Rivers is a pure-bred scoring machine with NBA pedigree -- he is the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers. He's 6'4", he has impressive athleticism, he can get to the rim and finish, and, most importantly, he is an absolutely deadly shooter with a killer instinct, in-the-gym range, and a knack for burying difficult jumpers.

Considering that Duke was able to land Kyrie Irving, who was regarded by many as the best point guard in a loaded class of 2010 back court players, this is a great sign for the direction of the Duke program, a program many thought was in trouble just a few short years ago.

Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler graduate this year, and there is a reasonable chance that both Irving and Mason Plumlee bolt for the NBA Draft after this season. Even if that is the case, Rivers will still be joining a back court that will have, at a minimum, Seth Curry, Andre Dawkins, and Tyler Thornton. Throw in the three talented freshmen (Michael Gbinje, Marshall Plumlee, Tyler Adams) joining a front court that should return Miles Plumlee, Josh Hairston, and Ryan Kelly, and Duke's future looks as bright as ever.

How bright?

I've already gotten a text from a Duke fan friend of mine saying "Three peat?"

To put the proverbial cherry on top, Rivers made his commitment just one day before he was supposed to head to Chapel Hill for an official visit with UNC.

I bet the Cameron Crazies are loving that.


As we always do, here are a couple of videos that should demonstrate just how good this young man is going to be:



How about this one, where Rivers crosses up John Wall, then rips him on the very next possession:



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The Austin Rivers Diary should be fun to follow, unless he doesn't pick your school

Austin Rivers committed to the Florida Gators back when he was a freshman in high school, but that didn't stop him from paying mind to the interest he was getting from schools like Duke.

Think of it as an open relationship. Rivers, who grew up about two hours from Gainesville, cared about Florida like you care about your high school sweetheart, and while s/he will always hold be special, sometimes you just need to see what else is out there.

That is exactly what Rivers, who is the consensus No. 1 player in the country, decided to do back in April when he decommitted from the Gators. Now, Rivers is the most highly sought after recruit in the country, handpicking Duke, North Carolina, and Kansas as the three schools he'll allow to be his suitors.

Not a bad group to be chased by.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this process is that Rivers will be posting a diary of his recruitment over at High School Hoop. In the first installment, Rivers talks about getting to know the coaching staffs at Kansas and North Carolina, his relationship with the Duke coaches, and the in-home visits he had will all three programs. He will also be posting about his official visits when they happen.

Interesting stuff, as Rivers provides us with a look into how an athlete handles the recruiting process.


I clearly haven't watched Rivers as much a lot of people, but based on the AAU games ESPN U broadcast and mixtapes like this, I see a lot of Jay Williams in his game.



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Austin Rivers eliminates Florida

On Thursday, Scout.com's Evan Daniels reported that Austin Rivers, the consensus No. 1 recruit in the class of 2011, was down to just three schools -- Duke, Kansas, and North Carolina.

"Those are the three schools I'm going with right now," Rivers told Daniels. "I'm planning to visit all three."

Missing from that list? Florida, the school just two hours away from his Winter Park, FL, home that Rivers committed to as a freshman in high school. While Rivers is one of the bet pure scorers to come out of high school in recent years, the Gators likely will be fine in the back court come 2011. Bradley Beal, a top ten recruit nationally, is still headed to Gainesville, Rutgers transfer Mike Rosario will become eligible, and Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker still have plenty of eligibility left.

And, uh, yeah ... Rivers is good:




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Holy Austin Rivers

If you're on twitter, you should probably be following me @ballinisahabit. Because I'm awesome.

But you should also be following Jeff Borzello. Borzello writes about college hoops for a few different places, and he was lucky enough to be in attendance at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, MA, this weekend. Now, there were a couple informative tweets throughout his visit, mostly game updates or thought on a certain prospect, but the one that caught my eye went a little something like this: "Holy Austin Rivers ... unreal dunk."

As a dunk junkie, I don't think I need to explain that that tweet piqued my interest.

So after some quick youtubing this morning, I've found a video of the dunk.

And yes, Holy Austin Rivers is just about the best way to describe this:



Yikes!

Anyway, Winter Park would go on to win (not that any of you cared), but Rivers went down with what initially appeared to be a knee injury, but is apparently nothing worse than an ankle sprain.

Rivers, who is the son of Celtic's head coach Doc and the younger brother of Indiana's Jeremiah, is and has been committed to Florida, but has shown a lot of interest in Duke over the past year, and was quoted as saying that he will be going to a Duke game soon.
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Coach K is hitting the recruiting trail hard

I don't think anyone will argue with me if I say Duke has one of the best basketball programs in the country.

But over the last few seasons, Coach K's bunch has not been as dominant as they were in the 90's. Since 2001, the Blue Devils have made it past the Sweet Sixteen just once, a 2004 run to the Final Four. They have reached the tournament every season with a smattering of ACC regular season and conference championships thrown in there, which would be a great run for just about any program in the country.

But we are talking about Duke.

Expectations are high down in Durham.

The reason why the Blue Devils haven't been the same Blue Devils is a tough question to answer. Have they had a dominant play maker in their back court since Jason Williams left? Are their stars too soft to handle the pressure of playing in March? Do they rely too much on the three? Does the team break down by the end of the season?

This image has been a common one for recent Duke teams.
(photo credit: photobucket)

The bottom line is that Duke just hasn't been getting the same caliber of talent into their program of late. Instead of landing a Christian Laettner, they get a Josh McRoberts. Instead of Jason Williams, its Jon Scheyer. Elton Brand is now Lance Thomas.

I don't mean to be speaking ill of the current Dukies, because these are still kids that are playing for a team that wins 25-plus games a year in the ACC. That is very impressive. But Thomas, Scheyer, and McRoberts are not going to be making NBA all-star teams. And as we have said time and time again, that NBA ready talent is what you need to win titles in college.

So is the issue recruiting?

It seems to be a fair argument, as Coach K has just missed on quite a few big time recruits over the last couple of summers. Patrick Patterson, Greg Monroe, John Wall, and Kenny Boynton are just a few of the big names that flirted heavily with the idea of playing for Coach K.

Imagine a starting line-up of those four and Kyle Singler.

Scary, right?

But things may be looking up for the Blue Devils.

Kyrie Irving is a consensus top 10 recruit in the class of 2010 (9th by Rivals, 6th by ESPN, 5th by Scout). For most of the summer, it was believed that Indiana and Duke were the two leaders to land his services. But last week, Irving announced that he would not be taking an official visit in Bloomington, putting the Blue Devils squarely in the drivers seat according to most media outlets.

Is Kyrie Irving headed to Durham?
(photo credit: Herald Times)

Irving's official visit to Duke over the weekend only added fuel to the fire. Adam Zagoria reported yesterday that the trip was an overwhelming success as the Crazies were out in full force. Irving raved about his trip on Twitter, and if Justin Young or Jeff Goodman is to be believed, a commitment is imminent.

But there's more.

Most believe that Harrison Barnes, who is arguably the best player in the class of 2010 (1st by Scout, 1st by ESPN, 2nd by Rivals), has favored Duke for a while (he takes his official visit there on October 23rd), but that may have changed after his trip to see the UNC alumni game.

Austin Rivers, Doc's son and Jeremiah's brother, is a top ten recruit in the class of 2011 and has long been committed to Florida. But he recently took a trip to the Duke campus, and some believe he may now be choosing between the two schools.

And do I need to mention that Irving's teammate at St. Patrick's in Michael Gilchrist, a 2011 recruit that may actually be the best player in the country.

While it may be all speculation right now, if Coach K can finally land two or three of these kids, would any be surprised to see the Devils celebrating in Houston in 2011?

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