Battle of Tobacco Road

Unbelievable!!

What a game.

The Duke-Carolina battle for Tobacco Road is on.

With five seconds remaining on the clock Duke Freshman Austin Rivers ran down the court and sank a three pointer over UNC Tyler Zeller as time expired to steal a win from the Tar-heels.

Rivers was the star of last night’s game as he finished with 29 points, including six 3 pointers and five rebounds. Rivers was finally able to display his whole repertoire of offensive talents that made him the talk of High School basketball last year. I am sure that everyone that is a fan of the kid has been waiting for him to have a game like this. Going into the season I expected him to play like this all the time. I don’t mean him scoring 29 points a game, but I expected him to play with such confidence that made him fearless to the basketball world.

Now that the game is over we have to once again re-evaluate Rivers because many people are comparing him to Dwayne Wade. The only thing that makes his game comparable to Wade’s is the he drives the ball to the basket with confidence, but Rivers is not Wade. He has his own style that works for him. Like I have been saying, watch Monte Ellis play and then watch Rivers and you will see how similar they are compared to Wade.

As of right now Rivers is still not a top five talent in this year’s draft, maybe next year’s if he keeps working on his weaknesses. He still needs to work on his defensive game, shot selection, and on being consistent. But wow, he was great last night. Finally everyone was able to watch the real Austin Rivers. It is true that his game is different then what Coach K wants to run, but it works for him. If only Coach K can work out a plan where the Duke offense is centered on Rivers game, then they can make a deep run at the Final Four this year.

Next opponent….Maryland.