Something is missing from the Duke basketball careers of Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek.
They've played in 109 victories during their time in Durham. They've played on teams that won two ACC Tournament titles and shared one regular-season crown.
But they have not reached the NCAA Final Four. Getting there and winning the NCAA Tournament are the only matters still outstanding for them. They plan to address them starting Friday, in the first round of the South Regional in Jacksonville, Fla.
Thomas was pleased but nowhere near satisfied Sunday afternoon after a 65-61 win over Georgia Tech for the ACC Tournament championship.
"I've won this tournament before, so this feeling isn't something new to me," Thomas said. "The main thing -- and I'm going to talk to Jon as well -- is we have to make sure our team is ready to get going to the next step.
"This right here doesn't win the national championship. We've got to refocus and get back to practice."
Duke, 29-5 and seeded No. 3 overall, will open against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
The Blue Devils have won 12 of their last 13 games. They showed with three wins in the ACC Tournament that they can stand firm because all three opponents rallied in the second half. They also showed they can grind out tough wins on days when not everything is going well. Thomas is confident that the ACC Tournament wins prepared Duke for NCAA play.
"I'm glad we're getting experience with game pressure like that," he said. "If this happens again, if a game's close, we're going to have a little bit of an advantage over another team because we've done it in a championship-type atmosphere where if you lose, you go home. You don't have another ‘next' day."
Scheyer struggled all tournament with his shooting. He hit 13 of 40 shots from the field and was 5 of 21 on 3-point attempts. But he showed his experience at the end against Georgia Tech when he nailed a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left and Duke's lead down to one. He had missed seven of his previous eight 3-point shots, including the first six.
Duke's top three players -- Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith -- are still playing a majority of game minutes, but Coach Mike Krzyzewski isn't concerned that they are tiring.
Singler played 39 minutes in the ACC title game and semifinals and 110 minutes of a possible 120 overall. Scheyer was on the floor for 114 minutes, playing 38 in all three games. Smith played 98 minutes total.
Krzyzewski has a productive rotation. Brothers Miles and Mason Plumlee, both 6-10, come in for Zoubek and Thomas at the same time. Andre Dawkins is mostly backing Smith at shooting guard.
Krzyzewski is confident that his team grew during the ACC Tournament and that it will be better prepared to face the rigors of NCAA play.
"It's the best feeling, to be quite frank with you, because when you coach in college, you watch kids grow up to be men and players, and that has been the beauty for me," Krzyzewski said. "Winning championships, that's pretty beautiful, too, but you win by watching that growth."
Duke has advanced further in the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons, after going out in the first round in 2007. Thomas is encouraged by the progress but won't take for granted that Duke will make more this season.
Duke's finishes in the previous three tournaments still bother Thomas.
"I don't forget," Thomas said, "but I'm not going to allow that to affect how we play. I don't want to go into the tournament trying to be better than last year.
"I want to go in with this team, and make special moments happen with this team. I'm not going to bring up anything from last year or the year before."
bcole@wsjournal.com
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