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INDIANAPOLIS – The scariest debut of the university basketball history season may have occurred Tuesday night.
It is mathematically impossible and yet quite conceivable that the No. 4 duke registered this season be ranked roughly, hmm, 55 places too much in the polls? # 1 feels like an insult after the display that he has presented at the Classic Champions.
We're only one day in the college basketball season, so yes, yes, do not overreact to the Blue Devils' 118-84 victory over Kentucky, No. 2.
But what was it?
That's Duke … and then the stratosphere below Duke … and then everyone. That's where the conversation is being held right now. Because if not how to leave the absurd presentation of Zion Williamson, R. J. Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones Tuesday night?
Kentucky, ranked second, with its second-class recruiting and veteran troupe, outclassed the Williamson, Barrett and Reddish trio. by a point.
"Things have gone well for us tonight," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
They became supernatural, Mike.
What the Blue Devils have done to a British team supposed to be built for the elite should be made illegal in the 48 lowest states. A Wildcats bulldozer – and an arrival that exploded like dynamite in the first minutes after the opening.
Considering the competition, maybe Duke will have it this season, but what about? We should take advantage of it now, as it looked like the crystallization of elite recruitment and elite training, which could never happen again in college basketball if the minimum age of the NBA disappears over the next few years. Duke could well be one of the top three picks of the 2019 project. It certainly looks like the evolutionary end of the one-sided ideal.
The Blue Devils looked like an NBA team playing in an NBA arena – only the uniforms said Duke. (Which, frankly, seems interchangeable at this stage.)
"I should not say that I'm surprised how good these guys have played," said Krzyzewski, but added, "But playing on that stage right now against Kentucky was a bit of a surprise. "
Krzyzewski has had more than a lot of great teams in his four decades of training. In recent seasons, he has had clubs of young men overflowing with talent. Over the last ten years, Don Duke has had a lot of talent. But from the point of view of the reaction and the point of view of the game, Duke has never had anything like it. Maybe there's never been anything like college basketball.
It would be horrible if it was not so fascinating. Duke's 118 points shattered the record time record of a Kentucky team coached by John Calipari. That was the most points scored in a Duke match in at least 16 seasons. There has never been a season opener that has highlighted so much potential and evidence of greatness so immediately. Consider that this season's program puts the best match on the biggest step right away. Normally, Duke opens against Elon or Marist or Siena or Presbyterian (it's literally the four previous opponents of the last four seasons).
Kentucky has presented a new opportunity for an immediate overreaction – that should be the only reaction. The four freshmen arrived and embarrassed their counterparts in Kentucky.
Duke treated the UK as a directed NAIA school. It was a blow to the bow to the rest of the sport. And for those who are used to hating Duke whatever the circumstances, good luck with such entertaining players.
Williamson, who is about to become the brightest light of the university season this year, has come up with expectations and hype that would paralyze most players. Instead, he broke Duke's record for most points in his freshman debut with 28.
Oh, wait, except my freshman, RJ Barrett – who watched most of the night like he was playing against guys who have nothing to do on the same pitch as him – concluded with 33 Years. So it's the record.
"They were gorgeous tonight," said Krzyzewski.
Subsequently, in the locker room, they got stung while everyone took interviews of the media. It was a refreshing reminder that these are just 18 year olds – and they really have no idea what they just unveiled.
It is impossible to condense the efficiency, power and talent of Tuesday's Duke performance into a single clip, but this one does the best job possible. A one-handed Zion block, he takes the ball in transition, cuts a cross pass from the Kentucky defense and passes it to Barrett. I still laugh while watching this. Come on.
I asked Williamson about this piece during the post-game press conference. As I did, he could not help but smile with his megawatt. He knew what he was doing up there. He knew what it was like. How did he feel? That's kind of LeBron James, and you know it. Add a 3-point pointer to start the game and 11 of 13 shots to start, and yes, Williamson has all the goods.
"That's why I came to Duke's," Williamson said in the locker room afterwards. "Coach K saw so much more in me than a simple dunker, he allowed me to play freely, to be able to introduce my rider."
Williamson and his trio of freshman teammates are all capable of bringing the ball back to the ground. All can be playmakers. All look comfortable controlling an offense. If you saw the game in person or on television, you saw a team that looked different than any other Duke team you've seen before. There is a magnetism here.
"We played very well, but I do not know what our peak is – it's only a game," Williamson said. "We have to keep playing hard, we will find it."
It might not be long. Duke played with a full meter most of the night. We now see how the team adapts to become the biggest attraction of the sport.
"We are trying to stay on guard," Jones told CBS Sports in the locker room afterwards. "The coach told us that the national championship will not be played until April, which is a good start to the season, but at the end of the day it does not mean much."
It will be impossible to follow this rhythm, but we will love to watch Duke try. We have never seen anything similar to this team, and because of that, let's consider all the unpredictable extravagances that lie ahead over the next five months. That could not have started better than today and the possibilities are not only exciting for Duke – they are the best scenario for college basketball.
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