Inside the College GameBy:

By Brian Cerone

Star emerging

Duke basketball means something. Even the sound of
it rings success. But recently, Duke basketball has not been the same. They have
been a mainstay in the top 25 polls, but have taken a step back over the past
few years from the program that was a consistent final four contender. This year,
there is a reason that they have a good chance of getting back to being the top
program in the country, and his name is Gerald Henderson.

	Gerald Henderson

Duke has not reached the Elite 8 since 2004, and they have
not reached the Sweet 16 since 2006. In the past few years, Duke has been a one-dimensional
team, they live and die by the 3-point shot. Consequently, they would win some
big games when they shot well, but then would occasionally lose to sub-par teams
because they shot poorly. Duke has been missing a player who could consistently
score the ball night in and night out. Gerald Henderson has developed into the
type of player that Duke has been lacking.

We all know that Henderson is an incredible athlete. He can run and jump with
the best that college basketball has to offer. But, in Henderson’s first two years
at Duke, the game plan versus him was to force him to shoot. Coaches would tell
their players to give him a step, and let him shoot, rather than let him get all
the way to the hoop. Now, coaches cannot say that anymore. It’s not that he has
developed into one of the best shooters in the college game, or even on his team,
but he’s improved enough to make defenders respect his shot. His developed jumper
has opened up his ability to get all the way to the hoop, which is devastating
for opposing teams.

Henderson’s new all-around game has brought Duke back to the level that everyone
expects them to be at. With Henderson consistently putting pressure on defenses,
it has made the Blue Devils deadly because of the shooters surrounding him like
Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, and Greg Paulus. In the past four games, all wins,
Henderson has averaged 22 points on 61% shooting from the field and hitting 8
of 11 three-pointers. Most recently, versus North Carolina State, Henderson completely
took over, scoring 17 or his 21 in the 2nd half of a game that Duke trailed at
the half by four, but ended up winning by 17.

Henderson and the rest of the 2nd ranked Blue Devils will have a chance to show
how legitimate they are next Wednesday when they travel to the top ranked Demon
Deacons of Wake Forest. It will be a game between a couple of final four contenders,
and a chance for Henderson to further extend himself as a top player in the college
basketball game. Don’t be surprised if it happens.

Since there have been some big-time performances over the past couple
weeks, let’s take a look at the top 5 performances this year:

Top 5 single-game performances this season:

Jodie Meeks at Tennessee: Today in college sports we always hear about school
records being set. But the scoring record at Kentucky?? Basketball?? That’s out
of reach, right? No, Meeks set it last week with 54 points at Tennessee. He was
unconscious. Meeks shot 15/22 from the field, 10/15 from 3-point land, and a perfect
141/4 from the line. Also, he had 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and only 1 turnover in
a 18 point win. It was as close to a perfect game as we will see. Don’t think
it was a fluke of a performance for Meeks either. He also scored 46 points in
34 minutes in a previous game this year.

Jeff Teague vs. North Carolina: When North Carolina came to visit last week, it
was supposed to be the game that broke the Wake Forest bubble. Teague didn’t think
so. With 34 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, the sophomore guard completely
outplayed opposing point guard Ty Lawson (9 points, 5 assists), and led the Demon
Deacons to a 92-89 win and remained undefeated for the year.

Wesley Matthews at Rutgers: Marquette has been the surprise of the Big East so
far, winning all five conference games and currently resting at the top of the
standings. Matthews, a senior, has been efficient all year, but never more than
a game last week at Rutgers University. Matthews shot a perfect 10 for 10 from
the field and scored 23 points as the Golden Eagles barely edged out Rutgers,
81-76.

Blake Griffin vs. Davidson: While it was Stephen Curry of Davidson that got all
of the hype after this game because of his 44 points, it was Oklahoma’s Blake
Griffin that was the best player on the court. The sophomore had 25 points and
21 rebounds, and in a much more efficient shooting night than his counterpart
Curry, he made 7 of his 11 field goal attempts and shot 11 for 12 from the stripe.
More importantly, Griffin outlasted Curry’s scoring binge as Oklahoma won the
game 82-78.

Luke Harangody vs. Georgetown: In a game versus the 10th ranked Hoyas, last year’s
Big East player of the year took over. Harangody scored 31 points and ripped down
11 rebounds while shooting a perfect 9 for 9 from the free throw line. Notre Dame
went on to win the game 73-67.

Game Notes:

Uconn’s Jeff Adrien is starting to assert his leadership on a young Huskie team.
The senior, now leading Uconn in scoring at 14.5 ppg, is shooting 64% from the
field in Big East play. After losing the Big East opener to Georgetown, the Huskies
have won 5 straight, with Adrien collecting double-double’s in 3 of them. UConn
has their hands full this week, playing #21 Villanova on Wednesday and at #19
Notre Dame on Saturday… Perhaps the biggest game of the week is on Wednsday night
as well. 9th ranked Clemson Tigers travel to Chapel Hill to take on the 6th ranked
Tar Heels. This is a big game for both teams as Clemson is trying to prove that
they can win a big game and North Carolina is trying to get back on track after
starting out 2-2 in the early ACC play, a conference in which the Tar Heels were
predicted to dominate… Michigan State was embarrassed by UNC on December 3rd,
losing by 35 points. But, it seems that they have learned from that game because
they haven’t lost a game since. They have won 11 straight games by an average
of 15 points since the North Carolina fiasco. Raymar Morgan is beginning to become
the star that everyone expected him to be, averaging 15 points and 7 rebounds
and shooting almost 60% from the field.