Zion Williamson was reduced to a spectator as Duke played UNC after suffering a mild knee sprain in the opening seconds of the game. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Carolina is preparing as if Zion will play, even though he won’t.

The Tar Heels already had their game plan for February 20th at Cameron, and Roy Williams said they will be ready whether Zion plays or not for Duke. Without him, the match-ups favor the home team, as proven for the last 39 and a half minutes of the first game.

Coby White versus Tre Jones will, hopefully, be better than they were in Durham, where White shot 3-for-14 and Jones 1-for-11. Each made one 3-pointer and combined to miss 12 other attempts.

Even if the Dukies can control Carolina’s transition game, they will have to score enough to win. R.J. Barrett will get his points for the Blue Devils but he is more of an NBA two guard and is likely to give as many back against Luke Maye and Cameron Johnson and the often-uncovered Garrison Brooks. Cam Reddish, perhaps Duke’s worst defensive starter, won’t be much help inside. And Marquise Bolden is soft as butter.

So how can a Zion-less team beat the Tar Heels on their home floor? You have to go back 18 years for the answer. In 2001, Carolina faced Duke on Brendan Haywood’s Senior Day after stunning the Blue Devils at Cameron earlier in the season. But this time, Duke was without starting center and future pro Carlos Boozer, who broke a bone in his foot against Maryland three days before the rematch.

National Player of the Year Shane Battier said after the game that Coach K “just told me to run around and make plays.” And he did with 25 points, 11 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 steals. He also drained four 3-pointers, which was part of Mike Krzyzewski’s game plan to go with a smaller lineup and shoot a lot of three’s – as in 38.

Jason Williams drilled seven 3-balls as the team made 14 from behind the arc compared to seven for the Tar Heels, which was basically the difference in the deflating 95-81 loss. Despite putting a smaller lineup on the court, the Blue Devils’ outside shooting and speed to get those open looks produced the victory. After the game, Krzyzewski smiled and said of Boozer’s absence, “You still have to beat Duke.”

So look for the Dukies to again shoot 30-plus 3-pointers. In the first game, they took 39 and canned only 9. If Luke and Kenny want to earn their 118th career victory on their Senior Day, the Heels have to contain R.J. as best they can and mind the Duke long balls they know are coming.

Unless, of course, Zion plays, which he won’t.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: Monday Night Showdown?
Is this the year for Duke-Carolina IV? Jay Bilas thinks so. Most college basketball fans cannot believe, with the schools going to the post-season virtually every year, that Duke and UNC have never met in the NCAA tournament. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels did play in the NIT semifinals back in 1971, with Carolina winning […]
Chansky's Notebook: Will The Chalk Hold Up?
The real ACC tournament begins today — with an asterisk or two. The chalk has prevailed so far at the ACC tourney in Charlotte, with the top eight seeds playing in today’s quarterfinal games. Seems like the old days when there were only eight schools in the original ACC, not the current subway jam of 15. But for the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Greatest Of This Time
Todd Melet) Going to Charlotte, the Roy vs. K debate doesn’t seem close. The so-called GOAT arguments are always tinged by bias for your favorite team or sentimentality. Some people still think Joe Montana is the greatest quarterback of all time when Tom Brady now has two more Super Bowl rings. The […]
Chansky's Notebook: Beware The Blow By
Transition defense will be the key to the Carolina-Duke rematch. So many angles exist for Saturday night’s blockbuster on ESPN, which strangely chose the 6 pm starting time after Zion’s injury and conflicting prognoses from Coach K’s day-to-day diagnosis and word from the Duke medical center that it was a 4-6 week knee sprain. And […]
Chansky's Notebook: Oh, No, Not Again!
Could you handle playing Duke three times for the third straight year? If the ACC tournament were this weekend, Carolina and Duke would in all likelihood be playing tonight in the semifinals – once again six days after their second meeting of the regular season. The tournament is still two weeks away, and things could change, […]
Chansky's Notebook: The Other Shoe?
When Zion’s shoe blew apart, college and pro basketball blew up. Three things happened after Duke’s lopsided loss to Carolina in Cameron Wednesday night, two of them captured on video. First came a blow-by handshake from Mike Krzyzewski to Roy Williams, coaches who always chat cordially before and after games. The second was Coach K’s press conference, […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kinder and Gentler?
Two ways the Duke-Carolina rivalry has changed. When the Blue Devils and Tar Heels play, it is almost always a great game, tough and taut for most of 40 minutes. The common denominator making the greatest rivalry in college basketball is both programs have been national contenders for the last 60 years. The one obvious […]
Chansky's Notebook: Nine Common Opponents
It’s Duke-Carolina week, so let’s start with common opponents. We’ll be hearing lots of statistics and metrics this week as the Tar Heels and Blue Devils tangle in the first of two contests this Wednesday night in Durham. Nine common opponents to date is one of them, and the results are fairly surprising. Duke has […]
Chansky's Notebook: Rally Or Meltdown?
The face of a champion and the face of a choker. You can watch basketball for the rest of your God-given life and likely never see anything close to what happened in the Duke-Louisville game Tuesday night. The greatest second-half comeback in Mike Krzyzewski’s Hall of Fame career could never have happened without the Cardinals […]
Chansky's Notebook: All-Around Sorry
What do I feel sorry about over that win that got away? I feel sorry for those fans, many of whom might have thought their team had no chance to beat Duke, but didn’t sell their tickets and yelled their guts out at the Dean Dome, trying to pull Carolina through. I feel sorry for […]
›