I could go into great detail why we lost, but ill keep it short and quick..Too many jumpers not enough high percentage shots and killed on the boards
I stopped reading after like 5 replies...the refs are not the reason Duke lost. UNC is a better team. They exploited the post/rebounding weakness well. That combined with a very limited bench + some sub-par decisions were the end of it. I thought UNC's defense vastly improved compared to other times I have watched them this year.
All of that being said, there is no reason Duke can't win the ACC tourney. UNC is I think a clear #1 team, just because Pitt won't be able to slow them down that much. Nothing to take away from Duke, I would put them top 6, especially with the big lineup now.
One question/comment...does it bother anyone else that there were no zone sets on any defensive series today? Without a few breaks + shooting lights out from 3, it will be very difficult for Duke to beat UNC this year. Mainly because of Lawson's ability to penetrate.
So why not play a little zone? It's not like the rebounding can get any worse. It saves some defensive energy especially if we are only going 7 deep. If Green, Ellington, and Frasor light us up, okay then big deal. But obviously no one on Duke (or anyone in the country) can stop Lawson. I just think a zone may be able to slow them down.
I agree that saying that the officials were bad today (by any standard, they were) does not equal Terping.
Duke got killed on the glass and shot poorly in the second half. Therein lies the blame for the loss. But that does not take away from the fact that the officiating was awful on more plays than it should have been in a game of this magnitude. Poor performance.
I have never seen a college player get the benefit of the doubt more than Hans. Not Cookie Monster. Not Duncan. Not Shane.
dukemsu
Gerald please come back next year and work on your left hand, then be player of the year lead Duke to the final four and be a top 5 pick.
This game was very winnable until Scheyer (I think it was Scheyer; I watched the game in an airport bar) stepped on the baseline after grabbing the rebound with about a minute to go. I'll take that.
We're not as good as Pitt or UConn, so I was rather indifferent as to whether we beat unc.
That was a very good game by Duke and a lucky win by UNC.
Unfortunately for Duke, they were just overmatched and ran out of gas.
I'm a UNC fan, and this UNC team has the dumbest basketball I.Q. I have ever seen from a highly rated team. They didn't deserve to win this game and I now don't think there is any way they will win a NC with these players.
For as many dumb plays they made in the first half, they were worse in the second.
Stop complaining about the refs!!!!!
Let me get this straight...when opposing teams say the refs stole the game, we think it's ridiculous...but when the calls don't go our way, it was the refs fault?!?!?! Or home cooking?!?!?! C'mon!!!! Have a little more insight than blaming the loss on the refs, please!!!!!!!!!
ZONE! i have been saying this for years now! why not play a little zone!!! this would help us so much! it would make average players like Z and lance more effect in rebounding for sure! K just cant help himself i guess.. its live and die with the man2man.. im ok with man2man. but you have to coach with the talent you have, and the sitution of the game!
1st off, the hating on Kyle is ridiculous. He missed some shots in the 2nd half but he carried us in the 1st half. Last I checked 1st half points count as much as 2nd half points.
1 thing I was yelling at the TV about... with about 3-4 minutes left K took out Gerald and Kyle was already sitting. It was a defensive possession so it wasn't that bad really. The lineup at that point was something like... Scheyer, Williams, McClure, Thomas and maybe Zoubek? I figured K would call a timeout as that lineup is not very effective. Scheyer hit a somewhat forced 3 and of course hit it cause he was on fire all game. The next possession K still didn't call a timeout to get Singler and Henderson back in the game. Scheyer eventually had to call a timeout with about 10 on the shot clock and Henderson ended up forcing a bad shot as the clock runs down. Far be it from me to be critical of K but... I guess I just was.
Oh yeah...and who knew Hansbrough would make TWO 3s??????????
It seems like this guy loves shooting 3s against Duke.
I think we played well but still had that bad 8 on 5 disadvantage on the court. There were too many plays to keep recounting but it's apparent there was certainly a double standard out there. Really, do you think Coach would've gone forehead-to-forehead with a ref for no reason? No fouls called on them, walks on both teams, a few terrible no call double dribbles, and some serious phantom fouls on us made for a hard game to watch in spots (and my voice is going to pay for it at work tomorrow). On the positive end of the spectrum, Jon played very well, Kyle did too, and Gerald had some moments but not as many as we've gotten accustomed to as of late. We really had no bench or rebounding presence today which, despite the horribly called game, are two big factors that did us in. We also have to show some more concentration when it comes to FT (that's Free Throw for that one troll from earlier in the week....) shooting--Gerald missing those 3 at the end blew me away. Let's find out who we'll play Friday and see if we can pull off a season ending 9 game win streak (power of positive thinking) and cheer again. NEXT!!!
Completely agree. On one point of disagreement, however, I would say that I am very glad that their is a good chance I will never have to watch Tyler Hansbrough draw a total [EDITED FOR LANGUAGE] charge on Singler. That being said, it wasn't the refs fault we lost. We needed a bigger game from G today, and we didn't get. ACC Tourney prediction: Duke loses to Wake, UNC wins ACC. NCAA Tourney: Duke goes to Sweet 16, maybe Elite 8, UNC loses in Elite 8. Ty Lawson plays the worst D in the country, so there's no way they're winning the tourney.
Last edited by Jumbo; 03-08-2009 at 06:59 PM.
Outside of Duke, I am cheering for Pitt to win the whole thing.....no Uconn, no UNC....maybe a final four of Pitt, Duke, Memphis, and....and...and Wake...yes, Wake would be good to see....