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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Charlotte, North Carolina

    Dickie V's top 40 - early thoughts?

    UNC gets an obvious #1 nod. You have to look at that talent and seniority and give them that respect. Despite that, however, I agree with the DBR staff - they've had that talent and not come through in March. The Kansas game exposed some real weaknesses that teams this year will be targeting. If UNC doesn't win the title this year, Hansbrough, Lawson, Ellington, and Green will be gone, leaving behind a sense that, as a group, they underperformed.

    Duke as #9: Probably a reasonable preseason spot for us, but I honestly think we can beat every team in front of us. We need to earn a higher ranking, which, hopefully, we'll do by the end of the season.

    Each of the teams, #2-#8, have significant flaws that could derail them in March. So do we, of course, and so does Carolina. But would anyone be surprised to see both Duke and the Holes in the final four?

    There are some teams in the 2nd 10 (Marquette, Villanova, for example) that could make some noise.

    Davidson won't surprise anyone, but they're really good, and could challenge for a final 4 spot again.

    Wake Forest will be better than their current ranking. I'd put them as the number 3 team in the ACC right now based on their returning players, and, if their freshmen develop well, they could be a force in March.

    Any thoughts?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    San Francisco
    Quote Originally Posted by davekay1971 View Post
    Wake Forest will be better than their current ranking. I'd put them as the number 3 team in the ACC right now based on their returning players, and, if their freshmen develop well, they could be a force in March.
    I definitely agree that Wake is rated a little low. Their sophs are solid and if they make the usual frosh-soph leap, they very easily could be the third best ACC team.

    Based on how Duke ended the season last year, I certainly don't mind being rated a little bit lower than where I think we can end up, especially by Dickie V (If Vitale rates us this low, then we may actually have a chance to "sneak up" on some people). Keep us flu free, give us another year of experience (and for Singler, another 15 pounds) and add more bodies to throw in the post both in practice and in games and we've definitely got a chance to move up these rankings, quickly. You're right, we've got to earn it this year, which is fine by me. I know our guys are up to the task.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Texas/NC
    I'd say Michigan state should be top five. I have a feeling the loss of neitzilla will be quickly negated by their young backcourt talent.

  4. #4
    Yep, definitely like it better if we're down around the 9-12 (and besides, it has nothing to do with performance -- uh, HOW many games have been played so far?)

    I want to see us build in Nov-Dec, start out 2009 kicking some butt in the ACC, and then come on strong in Feb-March ... can't wait !

  5. #5
    Whoops, left out the best part. Remember what the late, great Jimmy V said at NCState ... all we want to do is hang around and stay close during the game, then nip 'em at the end !

    Last year we were #2 (undeservedly) deep into the season, then faded. Let's take a page from Jimmy V, and win the ACC Tourney from the 2-3 seed, pull an upset in the Regional Finals, then give Coach K a week to prepare for the National SemiFinal (as he usually does so well), then nip 'em in the Championship Game ... GO DUKE !

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Texas/NC
    I like it, but instead of nupping them in the championship game, I vote that we demolish them ...to cut down on heart attacks.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Greensboro, NC
    I think Wake's too low, also. Duke is too low, but who cares? We win, we move up fast, as always. This time I think we'll deserve it! Go Duke!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, DC
    I think #9 is way too low and should be a sign if there's any lingering doubt that Vitale is not a Duke homer - I can think of any number of preseason rankings that have us at least 2-3 spots higher. Regardless, I'm confident we can earn our ranking on the court.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    DC Area

    Question

    How often has Coach K had one of his protege's ranked above him? Has it ever happened in the preseason before? Good to see two of Duke's offspring ranked highly, but I will continue to have my blue shades on and will not believe Notre Dame is better than us unless it is proven during the season.

    Travis

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    SoCal

    Vitale=Joker

    What a joke. While I agree with others that Duke could benefit from earning a strong final ranking (instead of flaming out in the NCAA's which just gives more fodder to the Duke haters), I nonetheless think that Duke's ranking is low. Although I don't know a ton about all the teams ranked above us, it's hard to believe that they didn't sustain bigger losses than a Duke team which was a legit top-ten team for most of the year even if it did have some weaknesses which got exposed late in the season. My annoyance is primarily based on the fact that UCLA is ranked #4. This is a team that lost 4 of it's top 6 players from last year. Even though they have a couple of very good retruning players, I have to believe that this ranking is based more on the potential impact of the freshman. Granted, if the freshman are as good as advertized, UCLA could be a top 10 and maybe even a top 5 team, but let's let that be determined by how they perform on the court. Based on this weak pick by Dick, I'm assuming the rest of his 2-8 picks are based on equally weak reasoning.

    One thing I will say about Howland is that he is a very good coach and I have many friends here in L.A. who know him well and say he is a great guy. He certainly showed in his Pitt days that he can get a team to overachieve, so maybe he will prove me wrong.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by DevilDan View Post

    Last year we were #2 (undeservedly) deep into the season, then faded. !



    Undeservedly? When we were ranked #2 we had just beaten UNC in Chapel Hill and had the second best record in college basketball behind the undefeated Memphis Tigers. Did Duke live up to that #2 ranking later in the year? No, but without a doubt Duke deserved that #2 ranking at the time. People put too much stock in the rankings. Do you realize Florida was unranked going into the 05-06 season, were coming of a 1st and 2nd round loss in the previous two NCAA tournaments and had lost their best players to the NBA? Some UF fans didn't even know who Joakim Noah was at that time. That ended up pretty good for them

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    San Francisco
    Quote Originally Posted by mo.st.dukie View Post
    Undeservedly? When we were ranked #2 we had just beaten UNC in Chapel Hill and had the second best record in college basketball behind the undefeated Memphis Tigers. Did Duke live up to that #2 ranking later in the year? No, but without a doubt Duke deserved that #2 ranking at the time. People put too much stock in the rankings. Do you realize Florida was unranked going into the 05-06 season, were coming of a 1st and 2nd round loss in the previous two NCAA tournaments and had lost their best players to the NBA? Some UF fans didn't even know who Joakim Noah was at that time. That ended up pretty good for them
    Gotta agree with you, here. Duke had come off a convincing win against a team many thought would be in the Final Four (and indeed, that's where they ended up). They were playing at a high level and absolutely deserved to be number two in that week's polls. The college polls are weekly and represent a snapshot in time. There are a million instances of a preseason poll or a particular week's poll looking absolutely ludicrous by the end of March. The example of Florida in 05-06 is a great one. In my opinion, the combination of early entry to the NBA and the one-year-out-of-highschool rule from the NBA has made college basketball as unpredictable as it has ever been. It's so hard to predict the impact of freshmen. At the same time, it's becoming more and more rare to see a veteran team full of experienced future NBA players (UNC is the closest we get to that, this year, even though I am not certain that any of the current crop of UNC players will have any significant impact in the NBA). I expect the polls to fluctuate quite a bit throughout the season . . . even within the top five.

  13. #13
    Vitale offers nothing new in his top 40 except maybe San Diego at #39 instead of BYU or Missouri or Ole MS or Temple or Creighton or VCU or somebody else.

    TN or G-town may be a little higher than others have them and Wisc and Zona a tad lower, but no profound insights.

    It's a no-win for Vitale to rank Duke higher. Top 10 is sufficient until we see what improvement there may be in Zoubek/Lance.

  14. #14
    Good responses guys ... but as a 50-year Duke BB fan, I'll stand by my statement --you can switch out the adverb "undeservably" and insert the word you want. But, I honestly (as DOWN as I was with the win at Chapel Hill) did not think we were the 2nd best team in the nation at that point -- because I saw our weaknesses. I had a different opinion of our Team than the pollsters (who were merely sharing their opinions).

    I bleed DUKE BLUE, but I try to keep it real... doesn't mean I'm not clawing thru the TV for every win we can get, every time we're playing. I want us to be #1 with a bullet at the end of the season. GO DUKE !

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