The Duke Blue Devils do not expect much offensively from the post and rarely run their sets through it; most of their forwards' points come off offensive boards. But do not think the forwards' lack of scoring is a sign of lack of production. The front lin

2010-03-25

Duke Blue Devils

The Duke Blue Devils do not expect much offensively from the post and rarely run their sets through it; most of their forwards' points come off offensive boards. But do not think the forwards' lack of scoring is a sign of lack of production. The front line is physical and plays big and loaded with players with a nose for the ball. The front line players are also adept passers who can find open shooters off offensive boards.

The big three S’s of Scheyer, Singler and Smith account for nearly 70 percent of the Duke Blue Devils' points per game. It was thought going into the NCAA tournament that they would need all three clicking at the same time to keep moving in the tourney, but it has not been the case so far. This will probably not change in the Sweet 16 game, but as they showed they don’t need all three to play at their best to win, just maybe two out of the three is good enough. This is because Purdue has a limited offense, meaning the Duke Blue Devils can probably survive even if one of its stars is having an off night.

For all you doubters, this team is not a joke. The Duke Blue Devils have gone through the first two rounds covering against the spread with a 73 - 44 (Duke -24) victory over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and a 68 - 43 (Duke -6.5) beating the California Golden Bears. The Duke Blue Devils are loaded with weapons that Purdue won’t be able to stop. The Duke Blue Devils have the depth and size to overpower a weaker and depleted Purdue squad, especially with Robbie Hummel out.

Purdue Boilermakers

Chris Kramer was mostly a facilitator and a defensive force with Hummel in the lineup, but he is far more aggressive against the Aggies with more room to play. Texas A&M stayed off the senior to guard against the drive and begged him to shoot. But Kramer still got to the basket at will, very impressively. In overtime he scored six of Purdue's eight points, including the game winning layup. He'll have to create the same sort of simple baskets against the Duke Blue Devils.

The Purdue Boilermakers take care of the ball well, committing just 11 turnovers per game. They'll need that level of attention against an aggressive Duke Blue Devil defense that extends well beyond the arc and wins off of opponents' own mistakes.

The Purdue Boilermakers may have covered the spread in their first two games against Siena (Purdue -4.5) and Texas A&M (Purdue +2), but the Boilermakers have gone a 3 – 6 - 1 against the spread in their last ten games and are 14 – 18 - 2 against the spread for the season versus  Duke’s 20 – 13 - 2 against the spread.

www.sportsbook.com has the Duke Blue Devils as favorites by 8 points and the over / under is at 129.5. Purdue will not be able to stop the Blue Devils, and 8 points is way too easy for this Blue Devils team.

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