YouTube Gold: The Infamous 1979 Duke-UNC Game, Analyzed

UNITED STATES - MARCH 13: Coll, Basketball: NCAA playoffs, Duke's Mike Gminski in action vs Kentucky at Rupp Arena, Lexington, KY 3/13/1980 (Photo by Manny Millan/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (SetNumber: X24296 TK1)

In 1979, Duke had a rocky season, but still had the Duke Power Company – a frontcourt of Mike Gminski, Gene Banks, and Kenny Dennard – and also had Jim Spanarkel and Bob Bender, and Vince Taylor off the bench.

Duke was hammered by Clemson in the game before that, 70-49, and Dean Smith was wary of an angry bunch of Blue Devils.

So, after Duke went up 2-0, Smith put his UNC team into a deep freeze, and refused to let anyone shoot for most of the first half.

Smith had done it to Duke in the 1960s, losing 21-20, and NC State famously upset the Blue Devils in the 1968 ACC Tournament, 12-10.

The narrator is pretty perceptive and informed in general, but what he doesn’t understand is the level of tension this game – or really, any slowdown game – generated. You can’t play this way with the shot clock of course, but it was a legitimate strategy for decades.

The strategy broke down late as Duke pulled ahead, and UNC took just two shots, both airballs. The first one, by the late Rich “Chick” Yonakor, inspired the Cameron Crazies to chant “Airball!” for the first time.

In the end, Duke won 47-40, and what was particularly interesting is that afterwards, Smith said he thought UNC could match Duke for a half, but not for the whole game. So while his strategy was controversial, in the end, he was uncannily accurate.

The narrator gets a lot of props for his combination of research and bemusement. This is fun to watch, but probably less so for Tar Heel fans.

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