Rush The Court

Games #208-209.  It’s ACC Semifinal Saturday, with Duke and Carolina seemingly on a collision course for a third matchup.

1:00 pm.  UNC vs. Clemson.  Third time’s the charm? Clemson has fallen to North Carolina twice already this season, but comes into the semifinals with all the momentum that a dismantling of Boston College can buy. Additionally, Clemson comes in knowing that they have been close in the past. In the last meeting between these teams at Clemson, the Tigers came within two points and four seconds of upsetting the Tar Heels. In North Carolina, Clemson faces a team not so different from itself: both teams are elite defensive teams who sometimes struggle to score against other defensive-minded squads. Yet while North Carolina seeks to run, Clemson plays at a fairly slow pace. Expect Clemson to burn through every second of the shot clock as they try to control the tempo and increase their odds at an upset. Of course, this was the same strategy that Miami used, fairly successfully, until North Carolina’s stunning comeback..

3:15 pm.  Duke vs. Virginia Tech. After Virginia Tech’s surprising comeback against, Florida State, the question that the Hokies have to answer is whether or not they have the legs to take on this Duke team. The shorthanded VT team has leaned on stars Malcolm Delaney and Erick Green to play nearly 40 minutes each of the past two nights. With this Duke game coming less than 15 hours after their late-night victory, it seems likely that the Hokies will be exhausted. That said Malcolm Delaney and his team have played iron man minutes the entire season and showed a steely resolve against the Seminoles. The question for Duke hinges on Nolan Smith’s toe: Will the Player of the Year candidate even suit up? It’s a tough break for the Blue Devils, but Seth Curry showed himself to be a capable point man in the closing minutes against Maryland. Even more intriguing, Kyrie Irving’s tantalizing warm-up before the Maryland game suggested that the sensational freshman isn’t too far off from a return. Does Smith’s injury accelerate the timetable? Virginia Tech only lost to Duke by four points in a win that leaned heavily on Smith’s 18-point performance. Will his absence tilt the scales or will the sheer exhaustion of Seth Greenberg’s team be too much?