MBB: Duke 79, FSU 69... ACC Champions! Post-Game Thread

[JDev]

Duke has to be the only team that had to beat three NCAA Tournament-bound teams to win their conference tournament. Outstanding achievement!

[micah75]

Way to go Duke!!! What a tourney, what a game!!! Only 4 turnovers??? "Value the basketball", as Mike Patrick was saying at the beginning of the telecast.

MAGIC FINGERS!!!

[ice-9]

I'd also like to add that we're peaking at the end of the season for the first time in a handful of years. I'm cautiously optimistic about our chances to make a deep run. How sweet it is!

Amen brother!! (Or sister!)

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

What a great combination this team showed in the championship game: balance, tough play, contributions from all who played, smart substitutions, winning attitude.

Looking forward to seeing the brackets filled in this evening and finding out where the next game will be.

[flyingdutchdevil]

We were simply fantastic. There were very few parts of the game where we didn't perform well. This team is getting better, and it's at the perfect time!

A few comments:

1) Nolan makes this team so much better. Even though we were winning when he was out, his presence is clearly felt.
2) As said many many many times, Coach K is a genius for putting Scheyer at the point. He is clearly more comfortable there and our turnovers are way down. We only had 4 tonight!
3) I like it when G gets mad. He plays incredible that way
4) McClure is an awesome passer. We know his defense is great, but his passing is so underrated.
5) I really like FSU this year. They are my favorite team outside of my Blue Devils. I think they play so damn hard. Nearly every team would have given up when they are down 17 with 3 minutes to go. They never backed down until the final 30 seconds or so when it was completely useless. Also, Toney Douglas is the man. Classy, smart, hustles, and puts his team first.

[FerryFor50]

Duke has to be the only team that had to beat three NCAA Tournament-bound teams to win their conference tournament. Outstanding achievement!

To be fair, those tourny bound teams were hardly the ACC cream of the crop.

Duke was very fortunate to have the path to the championship that they did - not having to face Clemson, Wake or a full strength UNC team.

[roywhite]

To be fair, those tourny bound teams were hardly the ACC cream of the crop.

Duke was very fortunate to have the path to the championship that they did - not having to face Clemson, Wake or a full strength UNC team.

Oh, please...

[gumbomoop]

I must agree...Giving Memphis a #1 seed would be a friggn joke.

On the other hand, I would love to be a #2 seed in the same region if Memphis is #1....

There are 6 teams that might justifiably be given a 1-seed. It won't be a crime against humanity if (a) Memphis gets a 1, and (b) Duke and UConn get 2's.

Most interesting speculation I've heard, but don't believe, is putting Carolina and 2-seed UConn together in East (Boston) to sell tickets to an almost certain Elite 8 showdown. Much more likely is Memphis/UConn together out West, and though it makes no diff who's 1, who's 2, it's likely M 1, UConn 2.

Though Duke can make a late, and legitimate, case for a 1, I'm 90% sure we're a 2, and bracketed with either UL or Pitt. Choose your poison. I choose UL, but I suspect it's because I've thought all season that Pitt, with 3 excellent players, was biggest challenge to UNC, and because I've really not taken UL seriously as a top 3-4 team, given their offensive and general inconsistency, and that horrendous, repeat, horrendous loss at ND. Still, UL and Pitt are both poison.

Maybe, just maybe, we got antidote in end-season toughness in face of brutal end-season games. Hats off to you semi-loony optimists who thought on Feb 20 that we'd win 7 or our last 8, every game of which could have gone either way. You're all-conference champion semi-loonies, or optimists, or prognosticators. At that day-after-St. Johns-moment, I'd have settled for a bit less. Shame on me.

[jpfrizzle]

On another note:
We now have 2 G-mans'. One is a legend, the other is on his way to be one.
"gerald(G-man2) stole my nickname" ~G-man1

[Houston]

I like the way this team is trending. I like the fact that they are finding ways to win. Since EW became a starter, Duke has won 8 of 9. They have momentum and confindence heading into the tournament unlike the previous two years. Congratulations to the players and the staff on a job well done.

[bjornolf]

Congrats, guys! What a gutty performance all three days! Scheyer was amazing this weekend.

I think we all owe Greg Paulus a big thank you too. He's been a real man through all this. He could have torn this team apart, but he did the right thing and supported his teammates and took what he could get, and we're a better team for it.

[FerryFor50]

Oh, please...

Do you disagree? Do you think that Maryland, BC and FSU were the best the ACC had to offer?

I'm just as happy about winning as the next Duke fan, but I'm not allowing myself to be fooled into thinking we took down the best of the best. I'm just glad we won it and are moving into the tourny on a high note.

[miramar]

Do you remember when some of the topics du jour were that Duke tanks in March, our recruiting can't match ol' Roy's, Coach K is spending too much time on the Olympics, it's a shame that Hasbeen turned out to be a better recruit than McBob, we rely too much on the three, Duke's not that good any more, the team isn't very athletic, Paulus doesn't apply ball pressure, Kyle is playing too many minutes, Henderson is not developing quickly enough, or that we can't match up with big teams, athletic teams, not to mention big athletic teams? Forgive me if I've left anything out.

In the midst of it all, Coach kept tinkering and kept saying I like where we are as a team. Sounds good to me.

[DevilCastDownfromDurham]

Do you remember when some of the topics du jour were that Duke tanks in March, our recruiting can't match ol' Roy's, Coach K is spending too much time on the Olympics, it's a shame that Hasbeen turned out to be a better recruit than McBob, we rely too much on the three, Duke's not that good any more, the team isn't very athletic, Paulus doesn't apply ball pressure, Kyle is playing too many minutes, Henderson is not developing quickly enough, or that we can't match up with big teams, athletic teams, not to mention big athletic teams? Forgive me if I've left anything out.

In the midst of it all, Coach kept tinkering and kept saying I like where we are as a team. Sounds good to me.

K gets paid millions of dollars to keep tinkering, especially when he doesn't like where we were as a team. We spend our free time chatting about basketball. Most of those topics were worth discussing (and many were based in genuine issues) when they were du jour. Today, let's focus on celebrating this great accomplishment. LET'S GO DUKE!

[DukeDevilDeb]

Do you remember when some of the topics du jour were that Duke tanks in March, our recruiting can't match ol' Roy's, Coach K is spending too much time on the Olympics, it's a shame that Hasbeen turned out to be a better recruit than McBob, we rely too much on the three, Duke's not that good any more, the team isn't very athletic, Paulus doesn't apply ball pressure, Kyle is playing too many minutes, Henderson is not developing quickly enough, or that we can't match up with big teams, athletic teams, not to mention big athletic teams? Forgive me if I've left anything out.

In the midst of it all, Coach kept tinkering and kept saying I like where we are as a team. Sounds good to me.

... for showing us how ludicrous we sound when we terp. I do venture to say that, after this championship, I hope the student section in Cameron is ALWAYS FULL next year. It wasn't this year, not even late in the season, and this team deserved better than that!

[gumbomoop]

Forgot to add to my just posted bracket speculation: We all know who the 6 possible 1's are, so an interesting issue is, who are the other two 2's? The answer must be: it's between Mich St, Kansas, and Oklahoma, right? So my fear is that UNC will get either M St or K, and that also Okla slips to a 3, to be bracketed with... "family" relation Duke. Questions about Griffin's recovery, maybe a late-season swoon, plus many were never convinced Okla was legit top 3 anyhow.

Not that any of you need reminding, but we have to assume tough games in 2d round and Sweet 16, before Elite 8. Facing Griffin/Capel in Sweet 16 makes me unhappy. And I tell you, Willie Warren is a player, and Austin Johnson is solid at point. Griffin is NPOY.

[roywhite]

Do you disagree? Do you think that Maryland, BC and FSU were the best the ACC had to offer?

I'm just as happy about winning as the next Duke fan, but I'm not allowing myself to be fooled into thinking we took down the best of the best. I'm just glad we won it and are moving into the tourny on a high note.

Since you asked, yes, I disagree. There is no asterisk on this championship. Duke played 3 tough opponents in the space of 43 hours and won them all.

We beat a very good Boston College Team. We beat Maryland, which beat Wake Forest. And we beat Florida State, which beat UNC.

You don't have to beat every team in the bracket to win a championship. You beat the teams you face.

I hate to see you try to minimize or qualify this achievement. It is the type of post I might expect from Chapel Hill.

[Faustus]

Very nice to be ACC Champs in the same conference that has the Greatest Team Of All Time in it, isn't it? Never thought Duke would have worn the home uniforms all the way through this year. Sweet. Congratulations, and to all those who went there and got tickets for today's final and made noise.

And I still don't miss Billy Packer (nice to have a commentator instead like G-man who praises what players accomplished rather than excoriating mistakes of others).

[dukeman28428]

Oh, please...

I agree with the "oh please"

Duke beat three good teams to win the tournament and it does my heart good to see a Sunday without light blue all around. The UNC fans that did stay did so to cheer against Duke. Congrats Duke players and coaches for a great win #17 ACC tournament title.

[devildeac]

Had to look at the box score several times: 4 TO. Are you kidding me? That was amazing!