Remember when Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski announced his retirement a year ahead of time? There were a lot of fans around the ACC who thought he wanted a farewell tour.
When Mike Krzyzewski took the Duke job, it took him a little while to figure out how to recruit here. At first he swung for the fences and cast a wide net, most of whom he missed on.
Duke hammered the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 93-46 Sunday, and extended their winning streak to 10. One of the defining characteristics of Kara Lawson’s Duke program is a rugged defense and that was in play here: Duke forced 15 turnovers and held Georgia Tech to 3-15 on three point attempts (20%) and 16-58 overall (28%).
We’re back with another DBR Bites as we continue to discuss the ramifications of Darian Mensah entering the transfer portal at the 11th hour, leaving Duke having to answer a ton of questions about who will be their starting quarterback next season.
For the second game in a row, the Blue Devils showed that indeed they are the same defensive team they were earlier in the season. After 5 straight games where the Blue Devils allowed their opponents to shoot 50% or better from the field for an entire game – something had to give.
In Saturday’s ACC Action, Virginia slipped by SMU 72-68, Louisville hammered Pitt 100-59, Clemson dispatched Miami 69-59, Virginia Tech took down Notre Dame 89-76, Georgia Tech surprised NC State 78-74, BC knocked off Syracuse in overtime 81-73 and Wake Forest survived Florida State 69-68.
A while back, probably in 2009 if memory serves, we got a tour of Duke’s practice facility. It was really nice in so many ways, highly impressive. When we got to the court, there was a guy putting up shots we didn’t recognize at first, but it was Kyle Singler.
Red Auerbach put together a phenomenal dynasty in Boston, starting in 1956 when he schemed and maneuvered to land Bill Russell. But Russell, as great as he was, couldn’t win titles on his own, and so Auerbach put pieces around him to keep his team winning.
After holding Cal's top two scorers to a total of 18 points, Duke basketball would go on to beat the Golden Bears, 71-56, on Wednesday night. The No. 6-ranked Blue Devils then dominated defensively in their 80-50 road victory over Stanford on Saturday night.
You know those slow starts we’ve seen from Duke this season? Didn’t happen at Stanford as Duke started hot and won, 80-50. Duke’s size and talent presented huge problems for the Cardinal, especially in the first half.
The Duke basketball program (16-1, 5-0 ACC) entered the 2025-26 college basketball season regarded as one of the best teams in the nation, and through the midway point of the campaign, has firmly established itself as a true National Championship contender.
In Saturday’s ACC Action, Virginia visits SMU, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech tangle, Georgia Tech drops in on the Wolfpack, Syracuse and BC play in Beantown, Miami jets up to Clemson, Wake Forest plays Florida State, Louisville stops off at the Zoo and Duke and UNC wrap up the Bay trip with Stanford and Cal respectively.
In retrospect, a lot of ‘6o’s music was just a waste of time. Not the great ones – the Beatles, Dylan, the Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Motown, the Band – those have stood the test of time.
College football needed a change. But as with the sport's many other alterations this decade, the decision to shrink the transfer portal window is already revealing an unintended consequence.