America’s greatest sports rivalry resumes Saturday when #4 Duke visits #14 UNC. The focus will naturally be on freshmen stars Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson, but that’s an oversimplification. First, there are a number of good players on both teams and second, it’s not like those two don’t know each other. They do, and well.
They played together on the Nightrydas Elite AAU team and did well as teammates, with Cayden Boozer feeding both of them.
As far as these two go, the main question is which one
has improved the most since their AAU days and it’s probably Wilson. That’s no insult to Boozer though, who was fully formed as a basketball player at a young age. Wilson grew later and while he’s more athletic, most people would agree that he’s not as polished as Boozer is at this point.
Wilson is a tremendously gifted athlete and coltish. He at times seems like he could, in the old phase, jump out of the gym. He’s absolutely an NBA talent and will go very high in June’s draft.
He and Henri Veesaar are the heart of UNC’s offense. The 7-0 Veesaar is a bit more versatile, particularly as a three point shooter, but any way you cut it, they are a formidable pair.
Hubert Davis surrounds them with 6-3 senior Seth Trimble, 6-6 freshman Luka Bogavac, 6-5 freshman Derek Dixon, 6-2 Kyan Evans and 6-6 sophomore Jonathan Powell.
And that’s been a bit of a problem at times for UNC.
The Tar Heels have rounded into form lately, but the backcourt rotation has been a challenge. Trimble is strong and athletic and he deserves to start. Evans started for a good bit of the season but he’s been supplanted lately by Dixon.
Six-foot-ten junior and Chapel Hill native Jaren Stevenson was starting until the loss at Cal. For the last four games, all wins, Davis has opted to start Wilson, Veesaar, Dixon, Trimble and Jaydon Young.
That’s worked really well although UNC narrowly avoided disaster against Syracuse, coughing up most of a 32 point lead before holding Syracuse off down the stretch.
UNC’s biggest problem this season has been inconsistency, which was sort of encapsulated in that game. You see that a lot in Bogavac, although he’s been pretty consistent in the last few games.
All that said, emotion will probably make previous inconsistency irrelevant in this one. Remember last year?
Duke had a very potent team with Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach along with Sion James, Tyrese Proctor, Maliq Brown, Pat Ngongba, Isaiah Evans and Caleb Foster, among others. Yet UNC, which struggled a lot last season and got blown out in Cameron, gave Duke all it wanted in Chapel Hill and even more so in the ACC Tournament: Duke was up by 16 with 8:12 left.
The Blue Devils held on to win 74-71. That’s just how things go in this.
Duke is cruising along at 20-1. Cam Boozer has been a revelation, with one coach, we think Kyle Smith, comparing him to Tim Duncan. He just doesn’t seem to make many mistakes, other than turnovers, which have been a bit of a problem. But he’s always calm and makes great decisions, especially later in games.
Ngongba will probably get Veesaar defensively, though with as much switching as Duke does, that doesn’t matter as much as it might. But Veesaar will draw him outside, which will leave Wilson a lot of opportunities inside. Both big guys could get Duke defenders in foul trouble, which is a real concern.
The thing about this game is that it often comes down to emotion. You can say that about any rivalry of course, but try to find one where the teams push each other to greatness like this one does.
Typically the home team will have an emotional advantage and that’s a lot to overcome. Factor in Duke’s tendency to start slow this season and that’s one more thing to worry about. You really don’t want to give yourself a hill to climb in Chapel Hill.
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