PHILADELPHIA – J.J. Redick’s parents were in the stands along with thousands of Duke fans from the Northeast who made the pilgrimage to the sold-out Wachovia Center to watch the Blue Devils’ 6-4 senior All-America guard break the ACC’s all-time scoring record.
It finally happened with 1:28 to play in Duke’s 74-66 victory over Temple on Saturday when Redick calmly stepped to the line and drained a pair of free throws to surpass Dickie Hemric of Wake Forest, who scored 2,587 points from 1953-56.
Camera flashes went off throughout the building and banners trumpeting Redick as the National Player of the Year were everywhere. The Dukies gave their star a standing ovation.
Redick now has 2,590 career points. But as heartwarming as it seemed, this was not exactly a moment to remember. Redick, who entered the game averaging 28.7 points, scored just 11, his worst the game of the year.
“This was actually a very stressful week, the most stressful of the season,” Redick admitted. “I actually felt the pressure. I know I’m supposed to be perfect, but I’m not.”
Redick, who shot an uncharacteristic 5-for-21 in Wednesday night’s 73-66 victory at Georgia Tech, was just 3-for-10 and 1-for-6 from the three-point line in 40 minutes on Saturday, He struggled to score against John Chaney’s artfully designed, physical box-and-one defense that constantly ran an additional player at college basketball’s best pure shooter.
“They played a box-and-one, but they didn’t have just one guy on me,” Redick said. “They were going to stop me and they were going to make othere people beat them and other people did beat them.”
Center Shelden Williams powered his way inside for 23 points and 12 rebounds and sophomore wing DeMarcus Nelson came off the bench to score 12 as the top-ranked Blue Devils (27-1) put five players in double figures. “You can do that and stop me,” Redick said. “But you’re not going to beat us.”
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, for one, is just glad the ordeal is over.
“He has pressure on himself all the time anyway but the last two weeks, it’s been the national three-point record, the ACC record,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s a kid who is such a team player, I could tell he didn’t have a lot of fun this week. He wanted it over and now it’s over and he can get back to being the great player he is.”
At least one out of control fan wearing a Temple hat and holding a beer in his hand obviously didn’t think much of Redick, screaming obscenities at him as he left the floor. “I heard some guys yelling at me,” Redick said. “I just blocked it out. I didn’t say anything.”
Redick should be used to being a lightning rod by now. He has been characterized during the last four years as the most hated player in the ACC.
Another fan tried to rush the Duke players, running behind press row before he was restrained by security. “I didn’t see it,” Redick said. “I heard about it later in the locker room.”
The ugly scene left Chaney in a foul mood. When he saw what had happened, he came back on the floor to give the offending fan involved a piece of his mind. “He’s standing there with a beer in his hand spitting out all kinds of epithets and throwing stuff,” Chaney said. “I wish we could check the DNA for some of these idiots who are allowed to come to games that show bad manners and throw stuff at Duke’s team, a class coach and a class team.
“Why is it we find that all over the country, not just in college, but in the pros? Fans are bad wherever you go, the language and the behavior. There’s enough problems in the stadium. You ought to give people cameras and take a picture of these idiots. Nobody can control it.”
It is a problem that will persist as long as arenas allow beer sales.
Chaney is 74 now and this may be his final days at Temple coach. But he still can appreciate greatness even when he manages to bottle it up. “J.J. Redick is the best shooter I’ve seen in college basketball in a long, long time,” Chaney said.
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(c) 2006, New York Daily News.
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AP-NY-02-25-06 2054EST
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