VCU Later

I picked this in my bracket.

What a game, what a game, 1.8 seconds left in the game and the camera pans onto Christian Laettner. Not enough, no help for McRoberts, and Duke went out and played VCU’s game.

First off this is an open letter to McRoberts whom in my mind and posts I have dissed for being a semi soft overrated PF/C who scores on weak teams and fouls out against tough teams.

I was wrong.

What a great game dominating on the boards, actively offensive rebounding and altering almost ever shot that came to him in the lane. A great complete game for McRoberts and some huge moves to the hoop in the first 10 minutes of the game. Josh McRoberts ended with a career-high 22 points and had 12 rebounds.

Paulus scored a career-high 25 points for Duke, but even in this great onslaught of points he had Eric Maynor in his head and all over his dribble all night.

The color annoucers spent most of the game commenting on how exhausted Duke appeared due to an incredible press VCU never let up with.

I cant attest to the fatigue of Duke players, but the shots all hit short on the rim in the final minutes of the game and constant trapping forced Duke into tons of turnovers.

I do think though VCU never could get a lead in this game as they seldom turned the steals into points. On many fast breaks VCU failed to put the peach in the basket.

Throughout the game Eric Maynor all over Paulus and had him clearly frustrated.

I can only assume the pushing and after the whistle contact went unmentioned thanks to the ever-friendly Duke refs.

During the worst altercation of the game, Maynor looked as if he was pushed during a press, so he immediately fouled back hard with the body.

Paulus, “then after the whistle” turned to walk by and push Maynor. This all happened with the camera right on these two so even a Duke fan knows what he saw there.

The refs ran over to stop this from escalating in the way refs tend to handle Duke games.

The refs ran over to Maynor while Paulus walked away after having pushed Maynor. The refs got in Maynor’s face to apparently let him know not to “get pushed”.

Needless to say, Maynor didnt care for this biased reprimand and he got heated.

After all the drama and back to the game, Paulus and McRoberts were great but had no help. Silly “ticky tack” fouls and turnovers plagued everone not named McRoberts , and in the end gave VCU lots of extra possessions in a tight game.

In the end, Maynor came down pulled up hard like Chauncey Billups and popped the bottom of the net when it counted. The final possession was one too many.

Defense is a product of hard work and mental will, offense is a product of skill, coaching and nature. Defense takes much more energy and a source of deep motivation. VCU went all day long like Lance Armstrong, and VCU saw a nation televisional audience that believed they could win.

So they won.