Posted by Steve Infanti - When the new college basketball polls come out Monday, don't be surprised if you see a new team stealing some of Memphis' votes for that #1 ranking in the country. Duke made a rather convincing argument last Wednesday winning at #3 North Carolina by a double-digit margin. The Blue Devils are now 21-1 on the season with non-conference victories over the likes Illinois, Marquette, Michigan, and Wisconsin. They have steamrolled through everyone in the ACC beating only one team (Maryland) by less than 10 points. Duke's only loss is by a single point on the road at Pittsburgh back in December.
Before the season started, many expected Duke to be good -- but not this good. A big reason for the team's success has been the play of former CBA star Greg Paulus. Here's a kid who just knows how to win, plain and simple. He's not the fastest, strongest, or ever the best shooter on the floor at any given time…. but he finds a way to beat you. Take that UNC game, for example, from Wednesday night. All Greg did was bury a career-high six three-pointers in one of the most hostile environments in all of college basketball.
Depending on how closely you follow Duke, you know that Greg has been the target of some criticism down in Durham (especially last year). Some like to say that he's overrated. Remember Jim Boeheim's rant at the Big East Tournament a couple years ago when someone made the same suggestion about Gerry McNamara? Well, I'm not implying that Duke wouldn't have 10 wins without Greg Paulus this year, but I certainly don't think they'd be 21-1 right now.
My opinion might sound a little biased seeing as though I spent several years covering him in high school at CBA. But I happened to come across this article on the web the other day by one of the top writers on CBSsports.com.
http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10624699 I think there are some very good points in the article. Let me know what you think? Is Greg Paulus overrated or unfairly criticized? You know my opinion, what's yours.
Of course, there's one way he could silence the critics once and for all… by earning a trip to San Antonio in early April.
