Don’t be concerned about Duke following 83-81 loss at Maryland

Feb 17, 2013, 1:15 AM EDT

COLLEGE PARK, Md. –

Should we really be too concerned with the Duke Blue Devils after their 83-81 loss to Maryland on Saturday night?

Well, first and foremost, you should never lose a basketball game when your opposition turns the ball over 26 times. So yes, we should be concerned that the No. 2 team in the country couldn’t capitalize on 26 extra possessions. And yes, we should be concerned that Mason Plumlee scored a season-low four points and grabbed just three rebounds. And it’s true, the Blue Devils interior defense provided little resistance against dribble penetration and entry passes to the Maryland front court.

But after what we’ve seen from the rest of the “elite” teams in the country this season, it should be painfully obvious that you can have fatal flaws and still be a National Championship contender, at least in 2012-2013. Look at Louisville, or Kansas or even Michigan. Each of those teams have pretty glaring weaknesses that can, and have been exposed.

This was not a blowout loss to Boston College. This was a two-point loss to a quality team that took place in arguably one of the most intimidating venues in college basketball.

Saturday night was Maryland’s Superbowl. Every prominent Maryland alum was in the building. Scott Van Pelt, Boomer Esiason, Torrey Smith and Juan Dixon were all court side for the Terp’s biggest home game of the year. Maryland was not losing to Duke on Saturday. The fans at the Comcast Center wouldn’t allow it to happen. Every time Duke made a run, the crowd provided the Terps with the spark they needed.

Belief is a very powerful tool, and the fans belief in their team fueled to Terps to a victory. There was not a team in the country on Saturday night that was going to beat Maryland at the Comcast Center. There just wasn’t. And I say that not because Maryland played great, but because the 14 members of the team and the 17,950 fans on attendance would not allow it to happen.

But if you’re still looking for something to be concerned about, I would suggest looking at Duke’s toughness.

This is not a very tough or physical team. You can bully Mason Plumlee around. There is not much depth in the frontcourt. Josh Hairston showed some fire, but other than that, does anybody on Duke really scare you? Big, physical teams with a deep frontcourt and an athletic backcourt (See: Hurricanes, Miami) will cause the most problems for Duke and there more than a handful of different teams that have the personal and talent to expose Duke’s weakness.

But if you’re panicking because we still don’t know when Ryan Kelly will return, you might want to consider investing your energy in something else.

The Blue Devils are still one of the five best teams in the country, even if they aren’t perfect.

We’re going to have a flawed champion regardless, and Duke is still good enough to cut down the nets in April.

You can contact Troy Machir on Twitter at @TroyMachir