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Duke, UNC preseason ACC picks
Krzyzewski, Williams say they expect strong performances this year
AP File Photo
Duke was voted a preseason favorite to win the ACC championship.
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Published: October 26, 2009
Updated: 10/26/2009 01:05 am
GREENSBORO - Duke and North Carolina were picked in a dead heat to win this season's ACC regular-season basketball championship in media voting yesterday at the conference's annual Operation Basketball.
The programs, the ACC's most successful in the last 56 seasons, finished tied with 545 points. Last season they won the three titles most important in ACC basketball: UNC won the 2009 NCAA Tournament championship and the ACC's regular season, and Duke captured the conference tournament.
Duke received more first-place votes, gaining 25 to UNC's 20. Only two other teams received first-place votes: Georgia Tech had two and Wake Forest had one.
Kyle Singler, a junior forward at Duke, was the preseason player of the year in the voting and is among four starters back from last season's 30-7 team that reached the NCAA Tournament's East Regional semifinals.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski said that his team has not developed an identity after two weeks of practice, but he expects it to be one of his strongest teams of the last nine seasons since Duke's 2001 NCAA championship, the program's third under his guidance.
"The main thing I hope it does is win," Krzyzewski said. "I think this team's worked hard and will play hard. We can be a really good rebounding team because of our height, and I think an outstanding fast-breaking team, which some people wouldn't think with the people we have. I think we can really move the ball down the court quickly, but with the pass, not the dribble."
UNC returns one starter, Deon Thompson, a senior forward, from last season's 34-4 team that won the program's fifth NCAA Tournament title. Coach Roy Williams said that UNC can be a very good team this season but must answer what he considers two major questions.
"It's not going to be answered in practice, so we have to wait and see how that happens during games" he said. "It's pretty evident: who's going to come through at the point-guard spot, because we have nobody who's ever done it, and the other one is who's going to make the outside shot, because nobody's ever done it?"
Clemson was picked to finish third, followed by Georgia Tech, Maryland and Wake Forest.
Wake Forest must replace James Johnson and Jeff Teague, last season's top two scorers who left school early to play in the NBA, and overcome the damage caused by a late collapse that led to losses in the ACC Tournament's first round to Maryland and in the NCAA Tournament's first round to Cleveland State.
Ish Smith, a senior-point guard, is looking for last season's experiences to provide an edge for this team.
"I learned a lot; I think our team learned a lot," Smith said. "When we were No. 1 in the country, I don't want to say we got complacent but we were only No. 1 for a week. So maybe there was a little complacency. It's not easy to become No. 1, but the hardest thing is staying there.
"Hopefully as a team we don't change too much. We're going to stay a fast team. We're going to push the basketball up and down the floor. Instead of Jeff and James having the basketball and creating, we're going to have more of a team. We're trying to have four or five guys score in double figures."
N.C. State was picked to finish last. Its 76 points were 40 less than Virginia, which had a coaching change last season when Tony Bennett, the Washington State coach, replaced Dave Leitao.
Questions remain for Coach Sidney Lowe of N.C. State at point guard and on the front line in finding replacements for Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner. Dennis Horner, a senior forward, doesn't place any faith in preseason prognostications and is hopeful the last-place pick will be motivation for his team. "Are they always right? No," Horner said. "We don't like it, but it makes us practice harder to prove them wrong."
Operation Basketball Predictions
The preseason poll, along with preseason All-Atlantic Coast Conference team, preseason player of the year and preseason rookie of the year, as voted on by media yesterday at the ACC's Operation Basketball media day:
Teams, with total votes (first-place votes)
Duke 545 (25)
North Carolina 545 (20)
Clemson 409
Georgia Tech 387 (2)
Maryland 378
Wake Forest 315 (1)
Florida State 314
Virginia Tech 273
Boston College 251
Miami 135
Virginia 116
N.C. State 76
First Team All-ACC: Greivis Vasquez, Maryland; Trevor Booker, Clemson; Kyle Singler, Duke; Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech; Ed Davis, North Carolina
Player of the Year (votes): Kyle Singler, Duke (19); Greivis Vasquez, Maryland (15); Trevor Booker, Clemson (8); Solomon Alabi, Florida State (1); Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest (1); Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech (1); Ed Davis, North Carolina (1); Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech (1); Jon Scheyer, Duke (1)
Rookie of the Year (votes): Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech (40); John Henson, North Carolina (8)
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