Mike Gminski's Blog

A Look Back- Last week was very hectic but enjoyable. Duke/Long Beach St.on Tuesday-
It was great to catch up with Dan Monson, head coach at LBS. I met him a number of
years ago when he was at Gonzaga and my Duke teammate,Bob Bender 'was at Washington.
Monson has challenged his team this year with the 3rd strongest schedule in America,
playing the likes of Duke, Kentucky,West Virginia, Notre Dame,UCLA,Clemson and
Texas.They were competitive in most of those game and should do well in the Big
West.Duke hit a ton of threes and have been very impressive on the offensive end
most nights this year.Kyle Singler is adjusting to his new role on the perimeter and
the backcourt of Scheyer and Smith have proved hard to stop.

New Year's in Greensboro- It was fun to work the NC St./UNC-G game and visit the
Coliseum. The vibe is completely different from the ACC tournament but they have
done a great job configuring the inside to meet UNC-G's needs.By curtaining off the
upper deck, it becomes a much more intimate atmosphere. Kudo's to Dick Stewart and
the people around the program for making that move a reality. They,too, have a very
demanding schedule, playing 6 ACC schools. Mike Dement is going to have to make sure
his team is mentally ok heading into Southern Conference play as they got drilled in
most of their non-conference games.

Georgia Tech @ Charlotte on Saturday- this was the first time I have called a game
at Halton Arena. What a great atmosphere! SID Tom Whitestone and his staff do a
fantastic job with their game presentation. If you have never been to a game there,
you should definitely check it out! Took my son Noah to practice the day before and
Bobby Lutz could not have been more gracious. I really like him as a person and a
coach and hope he stays long term. The 49ers almost pulled off the upset as Derrio
Green was spectacular. The A-10 is a very strong,deep league this year and
conference play should be challenging.Tech is one of the most physical teams I've
seen. Favors,Lawal and Peacock are a very formidable trio in the paint. Can't wait
to see the Duke game @ Tech this Saturday-should be a war!!

Back to Cameron- My week ended back at Duke on Sunday when they beat the Clemson
Tigers. The game was flat out ugly in the first half but both teams settled down in
the second half. The big three of Singler,Scheyer and Smith carried the day- they
are the only trio from one team all in the top 10 in scoring! It was neat as Duke
honored the 1960 ACC Championship team- Duke's first title! That was Vic Bubas'
first year at Duke after being an assistant to Everett Case at State. Bubas went on
to be one of the great coaches in the ACC over his 10 years at Duke, winning 76% of
his games and going to 3 Final Fours.

A Look Ahead- I do my first work for Raycom this year when I call the Virginia/NC
St. game in Raleigh at noon this Saturday. Virginia has the league's only new coach
in Tony Bennett.Bennett was a teammate of mine when I was at the end of my career
with the Hornets. Tony was one of those guys who was born to coach, following in the
footsteps of his dad, Dick.Tony did a terrific job at Washington St. His teams were
always known for their deliberate offense and stingy defense. He has brought that
same style to Charlottesville. His team is scoring 70 a game but only yielding 59
points per game on 42% shooting. Sylven Landesberg has picked up where he left off
last year, averaging 16 a game and showing a great knack for going to the FT line.
He will be a tough matchup.Sammy Zeglinski has been a surprise, averaging in double
figures and proving to be a reliable threat from 3. The Wolfpack must recover from a
devasting loss to Florida on Sunday by a 75 foot bomb at the end of OT. That is the
type of loss that can take a team's soul away. Sidney Lowe will have to do some
damage contol on his team's psyche! The Pack have been shooting the ball well from
the perimeter lately, most noteably Scott Wood and Dennis Horner.Javi Gonzalez has
also grown into a very good point guard who can also score. The big key for the Pack
will be creating tempo and easy scoring opportunities against Virginia.

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