ESPN Men's Basketball

Nevada coach David Carter got a chance to roast his players over dinner at a booster recent event and didn't hold back, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal.

"You may feel all sorry for them, that I'm saying these things, but don't you worry, they make fun of me and my bald head all season," said Nevada men's basketball coach David Carter on Wednesday night, as he went through his team roster roasting players.

"Are you standing?" he joked with Derrell Conner, a 6-foot recruit that he mocked all night for his size.

To Olek Czyz, the Reno High graduate who transferred to Nevada from Duke last year: "You should have stayed three more months," referring to the National NCAA Championship.

Ouch, and especially so on the needling of Czyz, who's already been the subject of his former team having some fun over the transfer.

At a charity event in May hosted by Jon Scheyer, Duke's team poster was turned into a photo opportunity that allowed fans to stick their heads where Czyz's was cut out.

The 6-foot-7 forward should be eligible to play for the Wolf Pack beginning in December and probably could have done without the reminder that he missed out on being a part of a national championship.

But at Nevada, more time on the court could be in store for him after averaging about 10 minutes in six games and two starts at Duke.

"Nobody really knows yet what their role is going to be," Czyz told the Nevada Appeal. "It really is an open battle."

It's unclear what this means in terms of street cred for pop star Mike Posner, but the Duke graduate and Blue Devils basketball fan has the endorsement of coach Mike Krzyzewski in advance of Posner's album debut.

"Duke students are known for balancing their studies with extracurricular activities, but what Mike has done is really extraordinary," Krzyzewski said in a statement released by SIRIUS XM Radio.

Krzyzewski, who has given Posner school principal-type props before, got a good listen before every home game this season since it was Posner's tune that served as the team's intro music.

And Posner is not your average Duke fan. He told ESPN.com's Page 2 that he's close with Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith and also apparently likes using Blue Devils references while discussing his craft.

I'm the biggest Wojo [Steve Wojciechowski] fan, because I feel like I'm the Wojo of the music industry. I work harder than everyone and that's how I get ahead even though no one thinks I can.

And to The Chronicle, Duke's student newspaper:

"I'm trying to shoot for the stars, right? I heard Coach K made [Brian] Zoubek watch tape of Tim Duncan because they were like, 'This is the best you can be.' So my Tim Duncan is Outkast."

For the next month or so, our friends at The Mag are previewing one high-profile school per day for their Summer Buzz series. For the sake of all that is synergistic, yours truly will be attempting the same, complementing each comprehensive Insider preview with some adjusted efficiency fun. Today's subject: Duke . Up next? Kentucky.

The 2010-11 Duke Blue Devils aren't supposed to happen.

After all, it's a new era in college hoops. Back-to-back title winning teams have always been a rarity in the sport, but the one-and-done era is something different. Compared to the pre-2006 NBA rule change, the talent level isn't nearly as watered down. But because so many of those talented young players leave after one season, it's hard enough to build a title contender with the requisite veteran verve. Building a dynasty? It would seem impossible.

Still, that's exactly what Duke has positioned itself to do. So how do the Blue Devils follow through?

Simple, really: If Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and company want to become the first team since Florida to win back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007, all they have to do is ... change absolutely everything. No sweat, right?

It's not something you'd suggest for a team that just won a national title and returned two of its top three scorers for likely All-American seasons. In Duke's case, though, it's true. The Blue Devils won the 2010 NCAA title with a plodding tempo, a slow-down offense, and the overpowering offensive rebounding prowess of Brian Zoubek.

Zoubek, like fellow senior Jon Scheyer, thrived in a down-tempo role. Zoubek was far too slow to get to both ends of the court in a fast-paced game, and needed time at the offensive end to gain the rebounding position that allowed him to keep so many Duke possessions alive. Scheyer was far better suited to a cautious, precise offensive attack, the style that allowed him to turn the ball over so infrequently during Duke's title run.

The result was the No. 249-ranked tempo in Division I hoops, a pace that saw Duke play about 65.5 possessions per game. With Zoubek, Duke had the seventh-highest offensive rebounding percentage of any team in the country, culminating in a dominant NCAA tournament.

Scheyer and Zoubek defined Duke's style. They're gone now. And so Duke, as a matter of sheer efficiency, must change.

That change will be most noticeable in the backcourt. Top recruit Kyrie Irving already has Mike Krzyzewski talking about pushing the pace, a style he adopted (and then discarded) after his work with up-tempo guru Mike D'Antoni coaching the U.S. Olympic team. Seth Curry will add to that speed, and hot-shooting sophomore guard Andre Dawkins could be the perfect spread-the-floor candidate. Scheyer was a great, if limited, college player; Irving and company could arguably be even better.

Filling Zoubek's shoes will be less easy. That task will fall to Mason and Miles Plumlee, two athletic bigs who are at their best in the open court. The loss will also likely force Singler to play more power forward, making Duke considerably smaller -- and considerably quicker -- at the forward positions.

All of which adds up to a pretty enticing scenario: Coach K's familiarity with the fast-break offense, a lightning-quick point guard wreaking havoc in the open court, two multi-talented All-Americans playing off the ball, and a host of role players filling the lane and crashing the boards. That doesn't just sound successful. It sounds fun to watch.

It's been four years since the class of 2006 washed ashore on the college hoops coastline. You may remember the biggest names: Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. took Ohio State to the precipice of a national championship. Kevin Durant had one of the most impressive freshman seasons in the history of college basketball. Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington brought North Carolina back to the top. The list goes on.

And goes on, and goes on. Draft Express' Jonathan Givony took a retrospective look at the high school class of 2006 based on draft success and college career. The list is -- well, it's kind of insane, honestly. There are a ton of really good players, many of whom have already gone on to the NBA draft, but just as many whose greatest hoops impact was felt in the college ranks.

It would be folly to list each of these players out, but here's a sampling of the players ranked 20-30 in the class of 06: Robin Lopez, Lance Thomas, Mike Conley Jr., Duke Crews, Earl Clark, Brian Zoubek, DaJuan Summers, Quincy Pondexter, Jon Scheyer, Davon Jefferson, D.J. Augustin. That list of 10 is representative of the class in general: There are a few misses here and there, players whose recruiting ranking never really matched their production, but far more frequent is a player that had a big-time impact on the college hoops world.

Scottie Reynolds is listed at No. 38. Hasheem Thabeet is listed at No. 64. Matt Bouldin is No. 65. Greivis Vasquez is No. 93. (No. 93!) Russell Westbrook is No. 114. Ekpe Udoh is No. 153.

Told you it was crazy. Of course, take a look for yourself, and make it a long one; it'll be some time before we see another recruiting class quite this good.

Yesterday, I devoted a little time to hammering home the fact that with Durrell Summers and Kalin Lucas back for their senior seasons in 2010-11, the Michigan State Spartans were indeed going to be a very good basketball team in the coming year. Michigan State is the prohibitive favorite to win the title. That didn't change in a day. But another team's chance of unseating them just got a whole lot better.

That team is Duke, and the reason for that adjustment is Kyle Singler's decision late Monday night to return for his senior season.

There isn't much mystery here: Singler is one of the country's best players -- he'll be a first-team preseason All-American and a player of the year candidate throughout the year -- coming off a sublime contribution to a national title in 2009-10. Singler's decision to stay in college makes Duke a legitimate contender to repeat its national title bid even without guard Jon Scheyer and center Brian Zoubek. Duke will still trot out Nolan Smith, the Brothers Plumlee (yes, I vastly prefer to call them the "Brothers Plumlee"), sophomore sharpshooter Andre Dawkins, Liberty transfer Seth Curry (brother of Stephen) and star freshman recruit Kyrie Irving, the No. 3 player in ESPNU's Class of 2010. Irving could start in Scheyer's place and have an immediate impact on Duke in much the same way as Singler did when he arrived at the school. The only difference is that Irving may not have to wait three years to win a title.

Throw in the rest of Duke's uber-talented recruiting class and the reserve of talent already on Coach K's bench, and the 2010-11 Blue Devils begin to look a little like the vintage teams of Duke's past. Last season's squad was not one of those teams. Maybe that title was a bonus. Maybe this is when the fun the really starts.

As for Singler, well, Jay Bilas (Insider) says it best today: Singler isn't turning his back on anything significant from the NBA because it's unlikely his draft status will fluctuate much from this April to next. As Bilas writes, the NBA has a good feel for Singler's abilities at this point. The ceiling is relatively low, but the floor is relatively high. If Singler returns and plays well (and, goodness willing, doesn't injure himself) he could probably sneak into the lottery in what would theoretically be a watered-down 2011 draft. For now, though, Singler isn't turning down the lottery or guaranteed money. This decision still qualifies as slightly surprising. But mind-blowing? Not at all.

In any case, get ready, Duke fans. You too, Michigan State. Your Final Fours in 2009-10 were nice, sure, but they were the extra french fries in the bottom of a greasy fast food bag. The real meal begins now.

In the bowels of Lucas Oil Stadium, there we were. April 5. The assembled media (and this lowly blogger), typing and transcribing and attempting to make sense of Duke's last-second almost-wasn't national title win over Butler when all of a sudden someone speaks across the table and asks if I'd seen Jon Scheyer's Twitter page. Almost immediately after addressing the media, Scheyer had posted "Holler at meeee!" and a phone number on his Twitter page, presumably his own. Oh boy.

The first thought was that it was an accident. Perhaps Scheyer was trying to send a direct message from his cell phone and accidentally posted a public tweet. It happens. Only one thing was for sure: No way Scheyer meant to post his cell phone number in public. This wasn't going to end well.

Turns out, that's exactly what Scheyer meant to do. Why? It wasn't his cell phone number. Instead Scheyer chose the perfect time -- just after a national championship, when people would be most eager to call him and offer congratulations (and various other, um, sentiments) -- to prank his friend and former high school teammate, Zach Kelly.

Asylum Media got a quick interview with Kelly, who attends Washington University in St. Louis, and he seems to have taken the prank in admirable stride:

"Jon and I are good friends, and he's a prankster pulling stuff all the time," Kelly said. Zach and some of his friends were hanging out at a hotel when his phone starting to ring. "From that point on my phone was just inundated with calls and texts from people that I guess follow him on Twitter," Kelly said. "It was anyone from die-hard fans, to people saying congratulations and some University of Maryland fans."

"There was some vulgar stuff, but nothing too crazy," Kelly explained. "People being idiots and thought it was funny to take advantage of it. Regular fan stuff. It was just really annoying for me. For my friends it was funny, but for me it was annoying since I couldn't use my phone for a while since it was so backed up."

So it's settled. The phone number wasn't Scheyer's and the prank was well-received by just about everyone, including Kelly, who, minor annoyance aside, seems to be handling it pretty well. And so the mystery of the Scheyer postgame tweet is solved. Case closed.

Oh, and sorry, Terps fans. You guys probably thought you caught a break there. Not so much.

You might have heard, but Duke has a lot of haters. Ever wonder why?

The answer might lie in Kyle Singler's initial username on Twitter, which the star forward joined yesterday. According to a tweet from teammate Nolan Smith, the username was...

KuzImGood.

Singler has since changed the handle, and he joins Jon Scheyer as Blue Devils who've been messing around on Twitter since winning the national championship.

Scheyer tweeted a phone number moments after the game and encouraged fans (and haters, presumably) to "Hollerrrrr at me!!"

According to the Chicago Tribune, the tweet was actually a prank aimed at a high school teammate, whose cell phone promptly received thousands of texts and hundreds of calls.

Not surprisingly, Scheyer wins again.

INDIANAPOLIS -- After his players left the podium at Monday night's postgame press conference, Mike Krzyzewski reflected on what he'd just seen.

"The game was so good that anybody could have won," he said of the Duke's 61-59 victory. "I don't think we were lucky to win because we earned it. But there is something ..."

Krzyzewski trailed off, took a second, and began to speak again.

"I think we won because of these guys," he said. "And as good as the Butler story is, was, and will be, our story is pretty good too."

You have to hand it to him. When the man's right, he's right.

Duke's story is good. That goes for the off-the-court stuff Coach K was referring to, of course -- the success of players who aren't likely to make much money playing basketball at the next level, but who represent the Platonic ideal of smart, veteran college hoopsters. That also goes for the special relationship Coach K shared with his players, for Coach K's legacy, for the redemption story of Brian Zoubek, who spent two summers on crutches before making the key plays in the final seconds of a classic national championship game.

But just as interesting as all that is the way this Duke team developed on the floor throughout the season -- most noticeably in the ACC and NCAA tournaments. We shouldn't be surprised the Blue Devils won the title. They were this good. Here's why:

Offensive rebounding. This is the stat that pushed Duke over the top, morphing an already good offense into a brutally efficient one in March and April. Duke was the sixth-most effective team in the country at rebounding its own misses over the course of the season, and at 16.8 second-chance points per game, the Blue Devils were the best team in the NCAA tournament at converting those rebounds into points (stat courtesy of ESPN Stats and Information). In the first half of Monday night's game, Duke didn't get to the offensive boards, grabbing only 20 percent of its misses. But in the second half, the Devils grabbed eight offensive rebounds, good for 47.1 percent, and subsequently scored eight points. It was a fitting end to Duke's tournament run. The Blue Devils won with offensive rebounding yet again.

Offense in general, actually. Duke scored 1.24 points per possession this season, a potency that showed up in the Blue Devils' torrid performance against West Virginia on Saturday night. It wasn't evident on Monday -- Butler's defense held Duke to its third-lowest point total of the year and a mere 1.0 points per possession, an OK tally for an average team but a Saharan drought in comparison to the Blue Devils' usual rainmaking. But there is no discussing this Duke team without reiterating just how good they were on offense all season long. Rebounding and all, offense got the Dukies here. And then ...

Interior defense. Duke was probably a little underrated on the defensive side of the ball for much of the season. Maybe it was hard to see this team's defensive quality in comparison to that offensive juggernaut. Maybe it was because these Blue Devils didn't have a signature defender like the vintage Duke teams of the past. But this group finished the season with the No. 3 most efficient defense in the country, and it was interior defense that won the game for Duke on Monday night. Butler had, count 'em, 11 missed layups in its loss. Duke had seven blocks in its win. Zoubek, Kyle Singler, Lance Thomas and even the Plumlees made everything difficult for Butler when it got into the paint, which helped lead to an eight-minute stretch in the second half when Butler was held without a field goal.

Brian Zoubek. Two questions: Does Duke win this national title without Zoubek? And, four months ago, if I had told you that I'd be writing that question from deep within the bowels of Lucas Oil Stadium on April 5, would you have believed me? No and no. But it's true: Zoubek's sudden transformation from a disappointing, lumbering big man into an interior terror -- especially on the offensive glass -- turned Duke from a good team with a vague chance of postseason success into a thoroughly dominating one. Zoubek did it again Monday night. He grabbed six offensive rebounds in the game, four of which came at key moments in the second half. Zoubek gave the Dukies the kind of size and interior presence most programs only dream of, the kind of ability he promised when he first arrived in Durham. Four years and two foot surgeries later, Zoubek just made me write the first two questions in this paragraph. Here's a third: How crazy is that?

Of course the big three of Singler, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith deserve most of the credit; they provided the backbone for what this team would accomplish. But Zoubek was the X-factor. He made Duke a different team. He rewrote his story -- and his team's -- in the process.

"It means a lot to me," Zoubek said. "It's really hard to imagine being in this position when you spend two summers on crutches. People told me to keep fighting. It's hard to believe sometimes that good things are going to happen."

They did.

OK, so Duke's story doesn't have the appeal of Butler's. But whose does? Coach K's right. This team -- and its story -- were pretty darn good, too.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Quick thoughts at the half.

• Tremendous. Loved it. I was hoping we would have a first half just like that.

• What I loved was seeing players like Avery Jukes that weren’t supposed to shine, come out of nowhere to be a major factor. Who had Jukes making two 3s? Jukes led the Bulldogs with 10 points. No way did anyone have that on the early scorecard.

• Zach Hahn played sensational off the bench as he distributed, came up with a deflection and had great stage presence.

• Duke's big three had their moments as expected, with Kyle Singler scoring nine points by making big buckets at the right times. Nolan Smith, as he has all season, bailed out a few possessions, and Jon Scheyer scored in the mid-range.

• The Bulldogs were down one at the half and Gordon Hayward scored only four points and was 2-of-7. He did have seven rebounds, though.

• No one had Butler getting 12 offensive rebounds with Duke having only three and outrebounding Duke 24-17.

• The crowd has been sensational so far. Just hope they can stay in the game and we get a final-possession-type affair.

• Butler has to believe now it can win.

INDIANAPOLIS -- We're less than a day away from Butler-Duke, the mother of all David-Goliath matchups, which means it's time to get ready. What should you watch for? What are the keys to the game? Here are 10 things -- stats, people, and even a member of the K-9 kingdom -- sure to make an appearance at Lucas Oil stadium as we crown the 2010 champions Monday night.

1. One storyline to rule them all. In 2010, it's easy for a sports fan to be jaded. In our modern world, where seemingly inconsequential sports contests are drowned by layer upon layer of analysis, fun storylines are uncovered, chewed up, spit out, and discarded atop so many others the minute we grow tired of them. It's just how it works.

But Butler's miracle run to the precipice of sporting history is one that will stand the test of time. You don't need me to reiterate how large the gulf is between Duke and Butler when it comes to resources, tradition, and profile. What's interesting about Butler's run, though, is that it would be just as awe-inspiring if the Bulldogs were playing West Virginia or Baylor. A mid-major team from Indiana with a bunch of under-recruited, disrespected players -- which just so happens to play its home games in a historic arena that provided the backdrop for the most famous basketball upset of all-time and the film ("Hoosiers") that lionized it -- playing for its first NCAA title in its basketball-obsessed hometown? Come on. Be cynical if you want, but you'll be the only one. The whole thing is just too cool.

2. Size matters. Once the ball is tipped, the pregame storylines will fade away, and what you see on the court will matter most. What, exactly, will you see? You'll see the tallest Duke team of coach Mike Krzyzewski's career take on a team with three players in its rotation -- one of which, Matt Howard, has been in foul trouble for much of this tournament and might not play in the first place; more on that below -- that stand 6-foot-8 or taller. The other two are Gordon Hayward and Avery Jukes, both are capable rebounders, but neither have the size to match up with Brian Zoubek, Kyle Singler, Lance Thomas, and the brothers Plumlee on the interior. Hayward will likely spend much of his time harassing Singler. Butler has given up size before in this tournament, but never this sort of size, and never to a team that banged the offensive rebounds quite so hard. Can the Bulldogs stand up to that test?

3. Matt Howard has to play. Howard's presence could be a major difference for Duke. The former Horizon League player of the year has had a rough postseason, playing a combined eight minutes in the last two first halves because he got into foul trouble. Saturday, Howard suffered what may or may not be a minor concussion. (Butler coach Brad Stevens wouldn't confirm either way on Sunday.) Howard was woozy and couldn't return Saturday night and he has been classified as a game-time decision by Butler's staff. If Howard can play, and Butler needs him to, he will have to stay out of foul trouble. Or that whole size problem gets much, much more drastic.

4. Jon Scheyer is playing just fine, thanks. During the regular season, Duke's big three never really seemed to put it together. Scheyer stormed to the best start, earning a few early player of the year plaudits while Singler struggled to find his stroke. Then, when Singler began to take over games down the stretch, Scheyer was noticeably slumping, even in the first few rounds of the NCAA tournament. Scheyer's broken the mold in his last two games, scoring 23 and 20 points against West Virginia and Baylor, respectively, and looking as calm and in rhythm as at any point during the season.

5. Which is where Butler's guards come in. The trio of Shelvin Mack, Ronald Nored, and Shawn Vanzant have brutalized opposing guards on the defensive end in this tournament. UTEP's Randy Culpepper. Syracuse's Andy Rautins. Kansas State's Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. Michigan State's Korie Lucious. In each of their five NCAA tournament wins, Butler's guards made life extremely difficult for a pair of players absolutely crucial to their opponents' success. Can they do the same to Scheyer and Nolan Smith?

6. Will Duke push the pace? Butler's strategy is clear. It wants to play ugly. Actually, ugly isn't strong enough. It wants to play a game that can barely be called basketball, a game so slow and defensive that it doesn't matter if they shoot 15-of-49 and ignore the offensive boards, as they did against Michigan State. Duke isn't a particularly fast team, either. They prefer to grind out wins, grabbing rebounds, getting putbacks, and using their size and silky half-court offense to demoralize the opposition. Butler has been able to make some very good, very talented teams play its style, and none of those teams managed 60 points against the Bulldogs in this tournament. Duke may not want to fast-break, but they will want to push the ball up the floor and try to get open looks in the secondary break before Nored and company have a chance to get into that smothering half-court man-to-man defense.

7. Jimmy Chitwood is in the building. If Butler is Hickory High, then Hayward is Jimmy Chitwood -- the team's one true star. (If you prefer Milan High to Hickory, then Hayward is Bobby Plump, the real-life Chitwood. Semantics.) One funny thing about Butler's underdog status is that Hayward isn't just Butler's star, a very good player on a team of average ones. Hayward was the highest-ranked NBA prospect of any player in the Final Four. You'd expect Duke to have the pro talent, but with the exception of Singler, none of Coach K's players are likely to get a whiff of the NBA. Hayward will. Before that, though, he has a chance to become every bit as famous as Plump/Chitwood, writing the perfect final chapter to an already brilliant story. The 6-foot-8 forward came through on Saturday night. Will Hayward grab the pen again?

8. Blue II, too. Even with Hayward doing his Chitwood-esque thing, let's not forget who the real star of the Final Four has been: Blue II, Butler's bulldog mascot. He rocks a clean Nike sweater, garners an introduction along with the team, and specializes in sitting in one place and looking really, really cute for extended periods of time. Other strengths include: drinking water enthusiastically, destroying boxes with opponents' logos on them. Needs to work on: lateral quickness, not running onto the court during open practice. Projected draft position (in the arbitrary Eamonn Brennan awesomeness draft): lottery.

9. Butler's defensive end will determine this game. It can't be much simpler than that. What happens when Duke has the ball in the half court offense will be the final difference. The Bulldogs have proven over and over that they don't need to score points to win games. They don't even have to shoot 30 percent. What they do have to do is slow down that Duke offense, keep them from getting open looks, find a way to block out Zoubek and keep the Blue Devils off the offensive glass -- and, as above, harass Duke's guards -- the Bulldogs have a chance. But if Duke comes out and plays like they did against West Virginia -- efficient, in control, smooth, smart -- what happens on the other end of the floor isn't going to make a bit of difference.

10. Stevens vs. Krzyzewski. How must it feel to be Stevens right now? At his news conference Sunday, Stevens said the difference between he and the coaches he's faced in this tournament -- Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo, and now Mike Krzyzewski -- is that "they write books and I get to read them." That sums it up pretty well. Stevens, the second-youngest coach ever to make the final game, will be facing a man 30 years his elder, one who has already won three NCAA titles, been to eight national championship games, participated in 11 Final Fours and is a near-guarantee to overtake his mentor Bob Knight's all-time Division I wins record before his career ends. Ironically, Coach K, the old, experienced hand, will be the more lively of the two on the sideline; Stevens' sideline demeanor is as calm as any coach's in the country. It's yet another difference between the two, whose resumes, ages, and styles are every bit as different as their programs.

It's a classic matchup. If we're lucky, it will be a classic game.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Our Final Four has been pared down to a final two, and as storylines go, this one couldn't be much better. Duke, the disliked powerhouse. Butler, the real-life "Hoosiers," playing in its hometown, winning one for all the little schools that never had a chance. In the next few days, you're going to hear plenty about what this game means, the implications for college basketball, and what it says about our sport if -- gasp -- Butler actually upsets Duke. (And yes, after tonight's two games, a Butler win would definitely be an upset.)

But for the Bulldogs to do that, they have to take care of business on the court, where things are much more difficult than a made-for-Gene Hackman script belies. So, in the spirit of staying grounded amidst the reverie, here are a few quick preliminary on-court things worth keeping in mind:


1. Butler's defense is great. But is it great enough? The most impressive unit in the entire NCAA tournament has been Butler's D. The Bulldogs are the first team since the 1985 Villanova Wildcats -- how's that for bringing things full circle? -- to hold five straight opposing NCAA tournament offenses to 60 points or less. That Butler's defense has owned this tournament like no other team is not up for dispute. Or it wasn't, anyway, until the Duke Blue Devils utterly steamrolled West Virginia's defense on Saturday night. Duke scored just under 1.45 points per possession against a team ranked 10th in the country in defensive efficiency, one that allowed its opponents a mere .88 points per trip throughout the 2009-10 season. To witness this mastery was to think that finally, perhaps, Butler will meet its match. Syracuse and Kansas State, two of the best offenses in the country, looked like high school teams compared to what Duke did to West Virginia on Saturday. If Butler fans got an ominous feeling during their postgame celebration, you can forgive them.

2. Who matches up with Gordon Hayward? Duke is as variable a team as there is in college basketball. The Blue Devils have gotten a bad rap for being unathletic this season, but they just manhandled a very athletic team that managed to contain the Kentucky Wildcats no more than a week ago. Athleticism isn't an issue. Matching up with Hayward is. Kyle Singler is the best bet, and that should be a brilliant little one-on-one battle. Whoever guards Hayward, you can expect Coach K's strategy to involve a lot of help defense, plenty of double-teams, and an ethos of harassment unlike anything Hayward has seen this season. It will be fascinating to watch this play out.

3. Speaking of which, how does Butler match up with Duke's Big Three? Saturday night, Singler, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith combined for 63 points, 17 assists, 12 rebounds and 12-of-23 from behind the arc. They scored 63 of the Duke’s 78 points, which was -- get this -- six more than West Virginia’s entire team. So, yeah, you could say that stopping Duke's trio is absolutely crucial. Good news here, actually: Butler has the players to do just that. Ronald Nored, Shelvin Mack and Shawn Vanzant have shut down elite guard combos in this tournament before. As mentioned above, Hayward is as close to a perfect matchup with Singler as any player in the country. And if you can harass Scheyer and Smith into passing up shots and keep Singler from blowing up too much, you force Duke's periphery guys to beat you. That proposition looks far less daunting.

4. Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding. If it's been the statistical story of this tournament, it could also end up being the story of the national title game: rebounding. Duke has morphed into a vicious offensive rebounding squad, currently the sixth-best offensive rebounding percentage team in the country. Butler, meanwhile, held Michigan State -- a top-10 offensive rebounding percentage team itself, remember -- to six offensive rebounds in its win Saturday night. The Blue Devils won't face much pressure on their own glass; Butler is more than happy retreating from the offensive glass and setting up its half-court defense as soon as possible. But at Butler's end, the outcome could be decided by how well the Bulldogs can keep a much bigger, stronger Duke team off the offensive glass. No one's managed to do it yet.

5. Will Shelvin Mack and Matt Howard play? And, you know, play well? Butler guard Shelvin Mack left Saturday's game with dehydration. Butler center Matt Howard left with a minor concussion. The Bulldogs were forced to gut out a win without two of their best, most important players; that they did so remains remarkable. But it's hard -- OK, it's impossible -- to envision a Mack- and Howard-less Butler squad beating the Duke team yours truly keeps emphatically, almost embarrassingly raving about. (It's like I just saw the Mona Lisa get up out of her chair and hit 13 3-pointers against one of the country's best defenses. At times, it felt kind of like that.) Mack needs to get those fluids going -- push the electrolytes, kid -- while Butler needs to hope Howard can tell you his address by Monday evening. Bank on both of them playing. Whether they play well is a different story.

One important corollary here: Howard would do well to stay on the floor a bit longer. Sure, Butler keeps proving it can win without its center, who, thanks to foul trouble, has played four minutes in each of Butler's last two first halves. But Howard has to stay on the floor Monday night if Butler plans on keeping Brian Zoubek and company off the boards.

There will be plenty more to dissect and analyze in the next day or so, but for now, keep an eye out. Monday night's game -- and whether we get a finale worthy of this magnificent setup -- could ride on any, or all five, of the above.

INDIANAPOLIS -- West Virginia played 13 guys in its Final Four game against Duke.

Three guys beat the Mountaineers.

The real final score: Duke 78, West Virginia 57.

The other final score: Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler 63, West Virginia 57.

The Big Three, as they’re called, finally lived up to their moniker in a game when Duke needed them most.

The trio provided 63 of the Blue Devils’ 78 points, 17 of their 20 assists, 12 of their 13 3-pointers and 12 of their 29 rebounds to put the Blue Devils back in the national title game.

“It’s a lot of fun when we get it going like that, a lot,’’ Singler said. “It’s like we all feed off one another. When we shoot like that, with our defense and our rebounding, we’re tough to beat.’’

The triumvirate ranks as the highest-scoring trio in NCAA basketball this season, but it’s been a long time since all three were firing on all cylinders.

In this NCAA tournament, the three have more often taken turns dominating a game than combining to dispatch an opponent together.

Smith had the hot hand against Baylor, Singler against Purdue. It was Smith’s turn against California and back to Singler in the opener against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Saturday's game was only the third time all season all three had at least 19. In fact, this was the first Final Four game in nine years in which three teammates scored 19-plus. The last team to do? Duke's title team of 2001 (with Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer and Jay Williams pulling it off).

“We definitely feel a responsibility to score the ball,’’ Smith said. “We know when all three of us have a good game, how tough this team is to beat.’’

Against WVU, the trio shredded West Virginia’s 1-3-1 zone. They teed it up for 12-of-23 shooting from 3-point range, putting the Mountaineers on their heels with seven treys by the halftime break.

“Those threes are just daggers,’’ Brian Zoubek said. “I think when they miss, we get the rebound, kick it out and then they hit it, that just really takes a lot out of a team.’’

INDIANAPOLIS – Walk-on Casey Peters left Duke’s practice down a tooth the other day, the latest casualty in the skirmishes that have become commonplace for the Blue Devils this season.

“It seems like every practice, someone leaves bleeding,’’ Brian Zoubek said.

Once labeled soft, Duke has changed its tenor this season, allowing its size to redefine the image of the program. The Blue Devils don’t always shoot the ball, but they always rebound it.

This season Duke is beating its opponents on the boards by an average of seven rebounds per game, but it’s on the offensive glass that has really been the difference. The Devils average 14 offensive rebounds per game.

In a 78-57 win against West Virginia, the Blue Devils shot 53 percent and still pulled down 11 offensive rebounds.

Think about that.

Duke barely missed yet still managed a 19 to 7 edge on second-chance points, including scoring the first 17 second-chance points of the game.

“We rebound the heck out of the ball,’’ Lance Thomas said. “If they miss, we’re going to rebound it and kick it back out to them. They aren’t going to miss twice too often.’’

Rebounding isn’t something that just comes upon a team like some sort of midnight inspiration. It’s an attitude and it has to be honed.

For Duke, that’s happened at practice.

“We go at it,’’ Thomas said. “It’s ugly. We really suffer and push it to the brink. Sometimes there’s some scuffles’’

Zoubek, who now gets a ‘Zoooo’ chant from the Duke faithful just for snagging a board, dresses more like a lineman than a center – thigh pads, knee pads, arm bands – and has become the angrier face of the once placid Duke team.

His 10 rebounds against WVU were every bit as critical as the points scored by the big three of Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer.

“It’s hard. You have to learn to love it,’’ Zoubek said. “I think for a while we didn’t understand that you had to work that hard. Now we recognize it’s all for a reason. We’re here and it’s well worth it.’’

INDIANAPOLIS -- Well, that was tough to watch. Da'Sean Butler's brutal-looking second-half injury sealed a 78-57 blowout Duke victory, and partially obscured what was a truly beautiful performance by a dominant Blue Devil team. Further analysis therein:

HOW THE GAME WAS WON: How many ways are there to extol Duke's brilliance tonight? How many phrases can stand in for "Duke was just awesome." Because it was, from start to finish. The Blue Devils played under control. They operated with calm, clinical efficiency on the offensive end. They never forced. They got to the rim and finished plays. They made a torrent of 3s (tying the Final Four record with 13). They defended at every position, helping and rotating and making things continually difficult for a West Virginia team that could never quite catch up. This wasn't just Duke's best game of the tournament, but the best game of the season. It was, without straining to find another adjective, awesome. In every way.

TURNING POINT: This is no big secret. With 8:59 remaining in the second half, Butler drove baseline and met Brian Zoubek under the hoop. Butler collapsed in a heap. Replays showed that he buckled his knee. Things got solemn in a hurry. As Butler writhed on the ground, biting his fist in pain, his knee being looked at by the team doctor, Bob Huggins came out of the coach's box and leaned down into his player's face. They were inches apart. Butler was crying. Huggins was wiping his cheeks. We may never know what passed between the two, but it was one of the more touching and difficult sports sights I've ever seen.

Duke was already beginning to pull away at that point, but the Butler injury sealed the deal. With their star player and emotional leader being wheeled into the locker room on a golf court, the Mountaineers were officially done. It's a shame it had to end that way. But end it did.

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jon Scheyer -- 23 points, six assists, two rebounds, two steals. Counting his assists in the equation, Scheyer had a hand in half the team's points. Scheyer is officially past his slump. Just in time for a chance at the national championship. Convenient, right?

PLAYER OF THE GAME II: Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler share this honor. There's a reason they're called the Big Three. All three of them were big tonight. Try a combined 63 points, 17 assists and 12 3s. That group alone outscored WVU, 63-57.

STAT OF THE GAME: Duke's offensive efficiency remains the story here. Duke scored 1.5 points per possession against West Virginia, a team that had been allowing a mere .88 points per trip this season. The Blue Devils made a ton of shots (52.7 percent from the field; a 64.5 effective field goal percentage), and when they missed, they grabbed offensive rebounds, and made those shots. They scored the first 17 second-chance points of the game. That Duke was able to so thoroughly dominate this West Virginia team is a marvel. Who saw that coming?

COUNTRY ROADS: Bob Huggins is officially a sympathetic figure. I wrote that before the Final Four -- heck, this was happening before the Mountaineers beat Kentucky -- but after tonight's performance, few fans will be able to claim Huggins is merely a sleazeball that doesn't care about his players. He has his faults, sure, and he stands out for being gruff in a profession that rewards gruffness like few others, but the man has love in his heart. That's never been clearer than tonight. Sad that it had to end for Huggins, but he seems to have found a place that appreciates him as much as he appreciates it. Sappy? Sure. True? I think so.

INDIANAPOLIS – Quick thoughts midway through second half:

• West Virginia still can’t find its shooters. Duke continues to torch the Mountaineers at key points during this game as Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer were left open for 3-point buckets.

• Da'Sean Butler continues to look incredibly frustrated. He has never been in a groove.

• Deniz Kilicli was a factor in the first half, but has hurt the Mountaineers in the second with a turnover, a poor foul and a missed assignment.

• The Blue Devils got a technical when Miles Plumlee followed a dunk by hanging on the rim. The official who called the tech was Curtis Shaw. It was probably a necessary call but still not surprising that Shaw made the call.

• Unless West Virginia gets stops Duke will be playing Butler for the national title.