This is your brain on Duke Kool-Aid, sportswriters.
You assign a guy who knows nothing about the ACC, to write up a preseason power ranking for the basketball squads. Let’s focus on some of the more ridiculous statements(my statements will be in these things)…
2) Duke – The loss of Gerald Henderson to the NBA and the transfer of Elliot Williams to Memphis will keep the Blue Devils from being an elite team in the 2009-10 campaign(On the right track…). But that doesn’t mean they won’t be good(Okay). The lack of depth on the perimeter will force Duke to become more of a threat down low, where Miles Plumlee must develop into a significant contributor. Freshman point guard Andre Dawkins left high school a year early to enroll at Duke. His performance will be key(How, possibly, from all that, do you end up concluding they are the second best team in the ACC? Absolutely ridiculous).
3) Wake Forest – Jeff Teague and James Johnson are gone, so the Demon Deacons won’t be nearly as good as the squad that was ranked No. 1 for much of the 2008-09 season(What ACC basketball season was this guy watching?). But it’s not as if Wake Forest won’t be a threat(No, it is.). Al-Farooq Aminu is poised for a breakthrough year after bypassing the NBA to return for his sophomore season, and center Chas McFarland and Tony Woods provide an underrated presence down low. Ishmael Smith takes over for Teague at point guard..(Wake Forest could be solid, but 3rd? Not happening.)
6) Clemson – No team has underachieved the past two years as much as the Tigers, who have now lost back-to-back first-round games in the NCAA tourney(Right, I remember all those media outlets that were hailing them as being the ACC’s best preseason…it was everywhere…or not). It’s a shame because Oliver Purnell’s squad has been loaded with talent – and it will be once again in 2009-10(First part of sentence not totally correct, second part of sentence is true). Trevor Booker, a returning All-ACC selection, is a beast on the boards. Demontez Stitt returns at point guard while highly touted newcomer Noel Johnson will help ease the loss of sharpshooter Terrence Oglesby, who left school after two years to play overseas(Not really comparable players there).
8) Florida State – Standout guard Toney Douglas spearheaded a phenomenal season for the Seminoles a year ago. The question now is whether they can maintain the momentum. Douglas is gone, but head coach Leonard Hamilton says that Derwin Kitchen is more than capable of filling his role. No Seminole, though, is causing as much buzz as center Solomon Alabi, who could play his way into the NBA draft lottery with a successful season. Freshman Michael Snaer is one of the ACC’s most touted newcomers(Nice, appropriately positive piece on the ‘Noles, but 8th!? Are you serious? They will compete for the ACC this season).
10) Boston College – Even with four starters returning, B.C. may be in for a rebuilding year(Or you could have no idea what you are talking about). That’s how much departed star Tyrese Rice meant to the program(Uh, sure.). Rice averaged 16.9 points and 5.3 assists in leading the Eagles to a 22-12 record last season. Joe Trapani, Rakim Sanders and Cory Raji are back after combining to average 36.2 points and 17.1 rebounds last year, so the cupboard is far from bare. The Eagles, though, have only one senior (Tyler Roche) and no proven three-point threat(Which is actually a solid point–3 point threat is a necessity for any NCAAB team to succeed).
I only do this from time-to-time, but you have to hold these bigger media outlets to a high standard. This guy really does not give me any sense of expert-ness on ACC basketball. Sorry for the intrusion into football talk, ACC basketball will not be a topic for a couple months now unless another piece draws my ire.
