Duke-Louisville Elite 8 Preview

Cook and Duke will have to handle Siva and Louisville's pressure defense

It's a rematch of titans and one that is worthy of being the national championship game. On one bench sits Mike Krzyzewski, the greatest coach since John Wooden, and on the other is Rick Pitino. Pitino is highly successful and his Louisville squad is the overall number one seed. Standing in their way of the Final Four is Krzyzewski's Duke team that has finally regained full health and has been playing tremendous basketball. Both teams won by double digits in the Sweet 16 and now Duke is looking for its 16th Final Four berth while Louisville is looking for its 10th.

This weekend I have been volunteering at the Midwest Regional in Indianapolis and have had the opportunity to work closely with the media, watch the games and sit in on press conferences with players and coaches. I figured that since I had the All-Access pass in Lucas Oil Stadium I might as well use it to get a little work done on the blog and so today I sat in on both teams' press conferences and the quotes and comments used are directly from today's press conferences.

The key to tomorrow night's game will be Louisville's Gorgui Dieng. The 6'11" center from Senegal averages 10 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, but did not play due to injury in the November 24th match up in Atlantis in which Duke won 76-71. Dieng's rebounding and shot-blocking will be key to the Cardinals' game plan as they prepare to face Duke's talented front line of Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly.

"With Gorgui back in the lineup, it definitely gives us another dimension to the game," said Louisville point guard Peyton Siva. "You can never really replace Gorgui. He's playing good right now and is definitely going to help us out a lot."

There's no doubt that Dieng does give Louisville another dimension to the game, and Duke realizes that he will be a game-changer and they respect his talent.

"He's one of the best players in the country," said Krzyzewski. "I think it helps their defense to have a great rim protector, because they hit you with different types of defenses, and you can be even more aggressive knowing that your basket is protected. I think any team in the country would love to have him."

"I think he does the best job on their team of protecting the rim," added Duke center Mason Plumlee. "Obviously blocking shots, but also altering shots. I think he gives them a different dimension."

On the Duke side the focus will be on Seth Curry. The senior shooting guard was lights out against Michigan State in the Sweet 16, hitting 6-9 three-point field goals and scoring 29 points. However, Curry has struggled in the second game of stretches with quick turnarounds and in the third round game against Creighton he was just 2-9 from beyond the arc. Despite the numbers, no one on Duke seemed concerned and Curry was optimistic that he would be at his best tomorrow night.

Curry and the rest of the Dukies must be on top of their game if they are going to handle the pressure that Louisville will bring at them. The long, athletic Louisville squad forced 14 Duke turnovers back in November and nine of those were committed by the starting guard trio of Curry, Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon.

"We know how they are defensively, and we know one of the big keys of the game is to handle that pressure," said Sulaimon. "It's very hard to prepare for a team like Louisville, but knowing that we played them earlier in the season does help a lot."

"I think they're a better team now and they're playing the best basketball in the country, especially with Dieng there," added Cook. "We didn't see how they played with Dieng so I know our coaches are doing a great job preparing for those guys and I think we'll be ready."

Obviously there are plenty of story lines surrounding this game and one of the major ones is the fact that this is the first time Krzyzewski and Pitino have met in the tournament since the 1992 East Regional in which Christian Laettner hit the famous turnaround game-winner from the free throw line to send Duke past Kentucky. Both coaches were eager to reflect on that game and say that sharing that moment has actually strengthened their relationship.

"Rick and I are real close friends and I think he's one of the best ever," said Krzyzewski. "Our relationship was good before that game and after the game it's grown exponentially."

Pitino also had high praise for his counterpart saying, "I think it was such a high-scoring game with so much perfection in the way the players passed and shot the ball, that's what made it stand the test of time. That was fun to be a part of, and I've always loved Coach K from before that moment to today. I think he's everything our game stands for in a good way."

The other story line attached to this showdown is the looming conference realignment that will put Louisville in the ACC along with Duke. Pitino is reluctant to look into the future and comment on what that change will bring, but Krzyzewski sounded anxious to have the ACC add so many quality programs and voiced his opinion that, with the additions, the ACC could be the best basketball conference of all-time.

For now, Louisville and Duke will meet as non-conference foes with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Duke won the first match up of the season, but things are different now and the stakes are higher. If Duke wins then Krzyzewski will tie Wooden for the most trips to the Final Four, and if Louisville wins it will be their second straight trip to the Final Four.

If the game lives up the hype then it will be one of the best games of the season. Tip off from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis is scheduled for 5:05 ET on CBS.