Disappointing Devils: Lost But Not Defeated

Leadership is everything.

It is the driving force that not only allows a prolifically sound team to function in the sports realm, but it is also a form of unity that allows teams to excel and flow in a cohesive manner.

The Duke Blue Devils, once the pinnacle of College basketball dominance and the juggernauts to beat in the first half of their successful season, have now become a shell of their former selves.  In their hard fought loss to NC State, and their demoralizing blowout they suffered at the hands of a supremely confident Miami team, you get the sense that a key component is missing.

Ever since the Blue Devils lost their dominating power forward, Ryan Kelly, they have lost two consecutive games to top 25 teams in both NC State and Miami.  While players such as Seth Curry and Mason Plumee have made adequate attempts to pick up the slack in both perimeter and 3-point shooting respectively, without Kelly, they become a predictable duo that is unconfident and inconsistent.

In the loss to Miami, Duke only completed 22 of their 74 shorts from the field, while Miami nearly doubled that number by making 33 out their 58 shots attempted.  Even more alarming is the fact that Duke, normally lights out from the perimeter, only made four 3-point shots while Miami boasted a more consistent perimeter attack of nine 3-pointers. 

While Duke’s abysmal shot making could be equivocated to sound defense by the Hurricanes, for the most part this was not the case.  I can’t tell you how many times I watched Curry miss wide open perimeter shots that he seamlessly makes day in and day out.  Even Plumlee who is by far one of the most aggressive and consistent paint players in the league, couldn’t corral any rebounds or make any easy lay ups.

Simply put, from the moment of the tip-off to the waning seconds of the game, Duke looked totally and utterly deflated.

But don’t count them out just yet.

Traveling across to the other side of the sports spectrum to the NFL, it is easy to see how a lack of on field leadership can be a detrimental loss of the highest order.  Case in point: The Baltimore Ravens.

On October 14^th, after a close home win over the Dallas Cowboys, Ray Lewis, the heart and soul of the Ravens aging defense, suffered a detrimental triceps injury that effectively ended his regular season.  After losing their 2011 defensive player Terrell Suggs in the preseason, this seemed to be the final nail in the coffin for a Ravens defense that had been struggling since the beginning of the season.  The impact of this loss was not only a disappointing defect for the Ravens going into the next game (they were blown out by the Houston Texans 43-13) but in every game they played without Lewis after that, even the victories, were indecisive.  The only strong win the Ravens had after the departure of Lewis was a dominant win over the struggling Oakland Raiders at home (The final score was 55-25). 

Not only that, but the Ravens loss of Lewis was truly felt in the last 5 games of the season where they dropped four of their last five and were decimated handedly by a red hot Denver Broncos team in one of those games.  At that point it seemed the Ravens hopes of making another strong playoff run was a long winded pipe dream at best.

However, it was not the end.  The strong and defiant 37 year old two time defensive player of the year came back for the playoffs, despite only two months of recovery, for his last ride.  Since then not only has Ray Lewis been the top defensive player with 44 tackels in 3 games, but the underestimated yet extremely determined Baltimore Ravens have defied all the odds and are now playing in the Super Bowl for the first time in 12 years.

While this is an impassionate and inspiring Cinderella story to say the least, what does it mean for the lost and currently inconsistent Blue Devils?

It means, that despite all the struggles and disappointments the Devils have faced since losing Kelly, that ultimately once they get him back they will be stronger than they were before.

While having a consistently present leader is both encouraging and empowering for any team, learning how to play without him teaches both discipline and resilience in the face of defeat.  The fact that the Blue Devils are playing their worst basketball we’ve seen since their championship loss to UNLV (103-73) is an encouraging sign because once you’ve hit the bottom of the barrel, you work that much harder to avoid being there again.

After the Ravens loss to New England in the AFC championship game a year ago, they didn’t squander their hopes and dreams, or give up because they robbed themselves at a chance to go to the Super bowl.

They kept on fighting, and never lost faith in themselves or the unwavering potential this team had to do it all over again.  Just look at where they are now.

In the end, while Duke is going through a self-destructive slump and may appear to be doomed to potential disappointment when March Madness begins,  that would be a conceded mistake.

The Devils will be the reinvigorated and recharged team we’ve come to know every season once their injured leader rises from the ashes.  Then and only then, will the mighty Blue Devils become the dominant force to reckon with come tournament play.