After a good week that included thrashing those Tar Holes in Cameron and receiving a verbal commitment from a 2011 five-star recruit, the Blue Devils took to Greensboro to defend their ACC championship crown.

The Devils hoisted their second consecutive ACC Tournament trophy on Sunday. Photo courtesy of DukeBluePlanet.com

Even though none of their three performances was what you’d call pretty, Duke became back-to-back ACC champions for the first time since 2006. Watered-down ACC competition led to anarchy in the opening round and the quarterfinals, as lower seeded teams won three out of the four games in each round. As a result, Duke, as the only team not upset, did not need to face any team seeded higher than 7th to win their record 18th ACC tournament championship, half of which have come in the last 12 years. Let’s recap the ACC tournament and look ahead to this weekend’s 1st and 2nd round games.

- Allow me to play devil’s advocate for a bit. There were two things about our victories in the tournament bothered me. Let’s start with the team’s sluggish first half-performances against Virginia and against Miami. Tied at 27 against a Virginia team that has suspended its star player? And trailing to Miami, the worst team in the ACC? To take nothing away from the fight of an underdog, but there’s a reason Duke was the #1 seed.

- The other thing that scares me is the inability, in the tournament at least, to put teams away. While we stomped on and continued to stomp on UNC in that God-awesome blowout, the boys let double digit leads dwindle against three inferior teams over the weekend. Against UVA, Duke had a 46-35 lead that was cut to two before finally pulling away. Against Miami, a first-half surge led to a 30-18 lead before the Canes scored 17 of the last 19 points of the half. The Miami first-half comeback reminded me an awful lot of the Boston College game we lost in Chestnut Hill last year. In the second half, an explosive burst resulted in a 58-42 lead, and while the result was never really in doubt, it was only a 3-point win. Finally, let’s just say Jon Scheyer should have never had to hit that oh-so-clutch shot at the end of the Georgia Tech game.

- Speaking of our captain’s ability to shut the door, on to the good things: our experience in our lineup (three seniors and two juniors) was evident in the tournament. But Andre Dawkins had three excellent offensive possessions in the final against Georgia Tech. His driving dunk in traffic was a thing of beauty and something we’ve never seen before from him. In fact, the Yellow Jackets were probably so shocked he didn’t pull up for three that they let him go by. What a strong, aggressive play by the freshman. Here’s a great article about Dawkins’ roller coaster freshman season.

- The Plumlees had a good game against Miami, highlighted by a Miles-to-Mason alley-oop. They have been slowly getting less minutes as Brian Zoubek has been consistently able to play 25-30 minutes by staying (relatively) out of foul trouble, a problem for him in the past. Nonetheless, our backup bigs will be important to us if we want to make a run in the NCAAs.

- Kyle Singler. ACC Tournament MVP. That sounds right. Right there with Preseason ACC Player of the Year. Kyle is playing the best ball of his career and peaking at the right time (one more year!)

Tournament MVP Kyle Singler has been playing like a First-Team All American. (Photo courtesy of DukeBluePlanet.com)

- Nolan Smith only attempted 4 free throws all tournament. Nolan isn’t playing soft or unaggressive at all, as he was solid in all three tournament games. It’s just surprising he hasn’t been to the line more often.

- Coach K told the Crazies the night before the UNC game that how Jon Scheyer said he believed his “moment” at Duke hasn’t happened yet. After he drained the clutch three against the Jackets in the ACC finals, ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews suggested on the broadcast that this was the “moment” Scheyer was talking about. We hope, Jon, that it wasn’t and that your moment is still to come.

On Selection Sunday, Duke caught a break from the committee; that’s the truth. Somehow, Duke jumped Syracuse as the third No. 1 seed (seeding is based on a whole season’s work, is it not?). The fact is our region has the weakest No. 2 seed in Villanova, the weakest No. 4 seed in Purdue and the weakest No. 6 in Notre Dame, who was grossly overseeded. Some other musings about the South Regional:

- No excuses if Duke does not reach the Final Four. For those of you who remember the drubbing we took at the hands of the Wildcats last year in the Sweet 16, Villanova simply does not have the size to rebound with us this year. They might even be ripe for an upset at the hands of the Richmond-St. Mary’s winner.

The Blue Devil of War said it best. We're back! (Photo courtesy of DukeBluePlanet.com)

- Was Digger Phelps in the selection committee? HOW is Notre Dame a 6 seed? In the most recent Coaches poll, the Irish are not only unranked – they’re not even in the “others receiving votes” section (that’s one thing they share with our friends eight miles down the road).

- Should Louisville beat California in the first round, they will give the Blue Devils a fight. Rick Pitino is a master motivator and the Cardinals only get up for big games (ask Syracuse).

- The South Regional games take place in Houston, Texas. Duke could potentially face Texas A&M and Baylor in hostile road environment in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, respectively. Something to think about.

- A little bit on our potential first-round opponents: Arkansas Pine-Bluff played quite a rough non-conference schedule that toughened them up for their conference games, but also left them 0-11 to start the season. They played on the road in their first 13 games of the season, including tilts at UTEP, at Oklahoma State, at Georgia Tech, at Missouri and at Kansas State, all tournament teams. Winthrop, a small school in South Carolina, upset Notre Dame as an 11 seed two years ago. Like AR Pine-Bluff, they started off the season rough as well at 5-9, but won the Big South conference tournament to earn a spot in the opening round.

-  Duke won the ACC regular season and tournament championships this year. Recruiting is on an upswing. All that’s missing is a deep run in the tournament to further cement the fact that Duke is back.

We’ll be back with some tournament predictions later in the week.