adjust to the trials and tribulations of a season, though, and the team moved ahead hungry to make a run that would end with another chance to see the President of the United States. A few days before the seniors' final home game, Scheyer was seated at a table with fellow seniors Thomas, Zoubek, manager Eric Skeffington and the Krzyzewski family for the annual Senior Dinner with the K's. Coach K was present with Mrs. K and their three daughters, and each player was asked by the K women about their favorite moments at Duke. When it was Jon's turn to respond, he stated assuredly, "I haven't had mine yet." Two nights later, Scheyer went for
20-7-5 in an ideal 82-50 Senior Night demolition of North Carolina. Then, with 18 seconds left and Georgia Tech mounting a furious comeback in the 2010 ACC title game, Scheyer hit a brave three-ball with the shot clock winding down to push Duke's lead back up to four, essentially icing the game and securing the ACC crown for Duke. Had Jon experienced his moment? He didn't think so, and two weeks later Duke was in Houston battling Baylor with a Final Four bid on the line. "There was a TV timeout with under four minutes in the second half,"
remembers Jon. "We were down by one [Duke trailed 61-60]. There was 3:36 on the clock. I came to the bench and was kind of looking around. I thought, 'This is it. It was a three-minute game for our season, everything you've been working for your whole life.' I smiled and went for it. That was the most surreal moment. That is a moment I'll never forget." Trailing by one and facing an athletic and quick Baylor team, Duke
responded with a closing effort three years in the making. The Devils knew from experience this game would be won down the stretch by the team that defended harder, rebounded better, and played tougher. First, Smith drew a foul, making the initial foul shot to tie it before missing the second. The ball bounced high off the rim and Thomas made a move for it. "I just kept my eye on the target. The rebound was in my reach. It was either me or him, and I wanted it. I wanted it bad." Thomas grabbed the rebound and handed the ball to Singler, who passed to Smith for an open three-pointer. Bingo. When the Blue Devils followed a defensive stop with a Scheyer three-pointer, they had virtually locked up a trip to the Final Four. Thomas added a putback dunk plus a foul after an offensive rebound for good measure with 1:36 remaining. "We have size, but we have to play a lot smarter," said Thomas after the
win. "They had the athletes, clearly. Those guys played way above the rim. But we use our talents. We use what we have."
WIN WITH CHARACTER Coach K, during his team’s Big Dance run:
"People know who we are. We're not a great team; we're a very good team that's won a lot of games. Maybe that's why you don't get that type of recognition. We're not going to just go out on the court and [have the other team say], 'Wow, they're going to kill us. These guys are unbelievable.' We've got to work together to make it happen. That's why I like my team so much, because they've done that all year long. I never had a group exactly like this one. Again, we’re not a great team, but we are a really good team. And we have great character. To be around that character on a day-to-day basis is so fulfilling for me.”
Duke's win over Baylor set up a rematch with a West Virginia pro- gram that had dispatched the Blue Devils two seasons ear- lier. This time, though, it was the Blue Devils who were the aggressors and Duke saved perhaps its most complete performance of the season for the national semifinal.
The Devils jumped out to a 31-21 lead and cruised to the 78-57 win. After getting outscored in second-chance points by 12 in 2008, Duke netted 19 points off second-chance opportunities compared to seven for WVU. Duke hit 13 triples and won going away with 40 minutes of hard-nosed basketball. "We felt comfortable no matter what they did," Scheyer said afterwards. "Toughness is the absolute biggest thing you need to have in this tourna- ment," Zoubek said. "I think this year we have a lot more than we have had in the past. That, combined with our experience, makes us feel confident. We're a little bit tougher physically this year -- we definitely hit the boards more and we play defense harder -- and mentally, we have a lot of poise."
IMPROVEMENT NEVER STOPS Coach K, after Duke advanced to the national championship game:
"I just think we keep getting better. We've gotten better throughout the year. And we got better this week. I think this is a really good team that has a chance to do something great on Monday night."
The night before Duke was set to take on Butler in the 2010 NCAA National Championship Game, the media had flipped Duke from the unheralded underdog No. 1 seed to Goliath in a matchup versus David. Butler was ranked eighth in the coaches’ poll at the time, and entered the game riding a 25-game win streak playing six miles from their campus. Certainly the Bulldogs had a rare story, but Coach K felt his team's story was better. And that's exactly what the Duke leader told his staff as they sat together just prior to one final team meeting the night before a 2009-10 game. Coach K felt his group had come too far and been through too much to lose on Monday night, and his main goal in meeting with his team was to infuse the confidence he had, while not allowing the swirling storylines to influence his team's emotions. At that final meeting, Coach K handed out the team's 10 standards the group had established together at the start of the season. The standards -- such as “compete,” “have a final mentality,” “have togeth- erness,” “be enthusiastic” -- had been met by the Duke team all year and Coach K told his group there was no reason to veer off course now. "Everything about his demeanor right now is winning,” Thomas said about Coach K before the title game. “He’s confident. We’re confident as well. He’s very excited right now. He’s excited to coach us and we’re definitely excited to play for him.” “It’s his 11th Final Four, which is pretty ridiculous when you think about it,” said Scheyer. “Even though he’s been to a lot, you know he wants it just as much as all those. When you look at him, you see poise, you see confidence, and that helps a lot when you see that in your coach all the time.” Confidence, poise and togetherness would be required at the highest level against Butler.
BE A GREAT TEAMMATE Coach K, after winning the national title:
"I love this team as much as any I've coached. They're more of an old-time team. They've grown up together. This team will be brothers forever. It's as close a team as I've ever had. They've been spectacular to coach.”
“This is the best team I will ever play on in my life.” LANCE THOMAS
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