Stakes Sizzling as Duke Meets Maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The sexy sound bite of the week from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was, "I don't look at any of our games in the ACC as a rivalry game'' -- two days before his team was to play at Maryland with the conference regular-season championship on the line, and five days before playing North Carolina.

The more substantial comments from Krzyzewski dealt with the player who drives the opponent Wednesday night in College Park, Md., guard Greivis Vasquez, one of the top two candidates for ACC Player of the Year -- along with the other candidate, his own guard, Jon Scheyer.

Joining him in the mutual admiration club was Maryland counterpart, Gary Williams, who has managed this week to play down the rivalry he has encouraged for the past decade in favor of praising not just his own centerpiece player, but Duke's as well.

Neither the coaches or players are dwelling on the idea that the winner between the fourth-ranked Blue Devils (25-4, 12-2) and 22nd-ranked Terps (21-7, 11-3) will determine whether Scheyer or Vasquez wins the conference Player of the Year Award. Everybody else surrounding the game is, however, and it has added a shot of adrenaline to an already-charged atmosphere. The two seniors are dominating the stats, their teams lead the standings, both would likely be middle-of-the-pack without those players, and both players were not expected to be the last two candidates standing.

So, Coach K, what do you think of Maryland's Vasquez?

"I admire him, I really like him a lot,'' Krzyzewski said of Vasquez, who he also coached against in 2007 when he led the U.S. team in the World Championships and Vasquez played for his native Venezuela. "He's had a great, great year and an amazing career at Maryland, one of the best careers anyone has had at that great school, and Maryland has had many outstanding players at that school, and Greivis is definitely one of them.''

And your top player? "Jon has had a great career here at Duke, and his senior year has been his best year, which should be the case in the normal way of improving. Jon has been a sensational player for us, and a real team guy throughout.''

Ironically, the preseason pick by the media for ACC Player of the Year (and a consensus first-team preseason All-American) was Scheyer's teammate, Kyle Singler. Scheyer, though, comes into this game third in the ACC in scoring, fourth in assists, first in 3-point shooting (shots made per game and percentage) and has evolved into the player to stop on a team featuring Singler and guard Nolan Smith, as well as a centerpiece on one of the country's best defenses and unquestionably the leader on a team that has won eight straight games.

Scheyer is 105 points away from becoming the 10th Duke player to score 2,000 in his career, and he arrived there while never being the go-to offensive player (among his teammates have been Josh McRoberts, Gerald Henderson, DeMarcus Nelson and Singler).

No wonder Williams couldn't deny the Duke guard credit.

"I've always felt with individual awards that if the team's good, you play well, then you have a shot to get them,'' he said. "We're in a league with a lot of great players and it's difficult. Duke is the fourth-ranked team in the country, and if Jon Scheyer or Kyle Singler get that award, how could you say that was wrong? Look what they have done for their team.

"I know in terms of value for your team, I think Greivis has been tremendous for us, what he's done for our team. Player of the year, I think, is debatable and that's a good thing. I think Greivis is like that. I think he feels that way, and we'll just go play."

Maryland's position as the second-best team in the ACC, with a chance to be first, is what's fueling Vasquez's candidacy. His numbers are impeccable -- he is second in the ACC in scoring, first in assists, shoots 38 percent on 3-pointers and 84.3 percent from the line. He scored 41 points in Saturday's double-overtime win at Virginia Tech and had 13 assists in a crucial win over Clemson last week. He already is the first ACC player with 2,000 points, 700 assists and 600 rebounds in a career.

Vasquez's wild inconsistency in his first 2 1/2 seasons matched Maryland's, but his inspired, energetic, clutch play since has defined the Terps' play; they made a late rush to reach the NCAA Tournament last season and won their first-round game, and have played better as this season has gone on. Unlike Scheyer, Vasquez is short on marquee teammates -- he is one of three senior starters, but the second-best player on his team has been freshman center Jordan Williams, and he has only emerged in the second half of the season.

And it's impossible to overlook Vasquez's on-court swagger. Asked what the key is to stopping him, Krzyzewski said, "I don't know if there is a key -- hope he misses. But he is not dismayed by a miss or a period of time where he is not producing at the level he would like.''