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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Boston, MA

    MBB: Duke vs. Texas (NCAA Tournament) Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

    I was nervous when I saw the potential matchup with them. They are a team that was ranked high early on...has disappointed...but now has a shot at redemption. And - oh by the way - they have a superstar player in Abrams who can literally take over a game (see what he's doing right now against Minnesota).

    We are going to have to play a great game to beat this team. Great. We can do it...but I'm saying right now that this might be the best game of the 2nd round. Thank goodness most of the Tar Heel fans might leave before, so we won't have 3/4ths of the building pulling against us.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Lewisville, NC
    They do still have Cliff Barnes...errr...Rick Barnes on the bench, don't they?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Red Lion, PA
    Udaman, I am going to respectfully disagree. I feel that we have played better teams and players in Rice/BC, Teague/WF and McClinton/Miami. Will we have to play strong? Sure, but I don't think that we will need a "great" game...

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Towson, MD
    I think Texas needs to be very worried about potentially facing us. I think we match up with them well and should be able to exploit them with Singler and Henderson.

    I would have much rather faced Minnesota, but Abrams needs to go off and Texas needs to play their best game to win.

  5. #5
    Texas can be very dangerous at times, but guess what, we are consistently dangerous.

    I have full faith in our guys to get to the Sweet Sixteen and beyond this year.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    20 Minutes From The Heaven That Is Cameron Indoor
    There is business to be taken care of in tonights game. I for one, am only worried about surviving the game with Binghamton and earning the right to worry about Texas...

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Undisclosed
    Texas is a real team, and has a coach that knows Duke. But I have faith that the team will be focused on the task at hand and not looking forward.

    LGD!!!!!!!

  8. #8

    just my opinion

    i know we're up, but seems poor form to start talking about the next opponent before this game is over.. disrespectful and bad karma too.. but i could be totally off base

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Brooklet, GA
    It's official now. Game time will be Saturday 8 ish.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    San Francisco
    Quote Originally Posted by Udaman View Post
    Thank goodness most of the Tar Heel fans might leave before, so we won't have 3/4ths of the building pulling against us.
    Wishful thinking. In the eyes of Hole fans, the capper to watching their team advance to the sweet sixteen would be watching Duke lose on the same court. There is NO WAY any Hole fans are leaving unless the Duke-Texas game is decided in Duke's favor.

    In fact, my buddy (UNC Fan) who was Billy-Bitter driving home from Atlanta on Sunday was already saying how much he was going to enjoy watching Duke lose to Texas.

    So, just accept that the light blue people are going to be cheering for Texas on Saturday night. And expect a tough game...but what's knew this season?

    I KNOW our guys are tough and used to this sort of thing.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Inman, SC & Fort Myers, FL
    I see two concerns with Texas: Abrams and the battering ram they have in the middle. Any chance we can start a track loader in place of Thomas?

  12. #12
    Texas definitely looked good today I thought, and handled their opponent easily. But Minnesota is no Duke this year. I don't think Texas looked any better than any of the teams we played in the ACCT. It'll definitely be a good game, but I think if we play well and play our game, we'll do well against them. I don't think Abrams will go off against us the way he did against Minnesota. He got 8 of his 9 baskets from behind the arc against the Gophers. We have long, quick defenders that I think can keep a hand in his face and force him to drive. Maybe he's a good driver too, I don't know, but he wasn't forced to by Minnesota. We'll force him to take more contested shots and see if he shoots it that well. Like I said, I think it'll be a good game, and we could lose, but we've seen great guards before. He won't beat us on his own.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Allawah, NSW Australia (near Sydney)

    This time, it's personal

    I want nothing more than to see us take out Rick "I could be somebody if only everybody'd quit pickin' on me" Barnes. Nothing against Texas, I just strongly dislike their coach.

    Here's hoping we play our best game to date on Saturday.

    One thing's for sure, Z will get in much earlier in this one.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Allawah, NSW Australia (near Sydney)
    Quote Originally Posted by OldPhiKap View Post
    Texas is a real team, and has a coach that knows Duke. But I have faith that the team will be focused on the task at hand and not looking forward.

    LGD!!!!!!!

    Given all the things we've done differently this year, it could actually be to our advantage that Barnes might think he's familiar with K and Duke. If he thinks it's a team similar to the ones that blew his squads out in 2003 and 2006, he's in for a big surprise. Totally diff. style.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Deeetroit City
    AJ shot lights out. It is safe to say that he won't do as well against EWill and Nolan. We are also a substantially better team offensively than Minny.

    We won't win if we go stone cold, but we had tonight's game to get used to the rims, and we will have another practice there.

    Texas will be a tougher challenge than Binghamton, but I like our chances. These are the kind of games to continue to build momentum with.

  16. #16
    Though they have underachieved, Texas still has the personel that made them a preseason top ten team. Abrams is a high level talent, as is James when he wants to be, and they have some real size in Atchley and Pittman. As someone else mentioned, they are a completely different team when Abrams is on. Outside of him, they aren't a particularly good shooting team. This could be a very tough game for Duke. Duke has more overall talent, and they consistently play better and harder, are certainly better coached. Henderson and Singler could pose tough matchups for Texas, as they do not have a big time wing. James ventures out there, but he is much more effective near the basket.
    Also, it will likely resemble a Texas home game with the Heels in attendance. I hope the Duke faithful show up and cheer strong! If I were in town I would be there in a second.

  17. #17
    I think a lot of people are underplaying this game too much. I've seen Texas a lot this year, and when they are on, they are a top 10 team. Out of conference, they beat UCLA, Villanova, and Wisconsin. Even though they were inconsistent and underachieved through conference play, they are the type of team that we have a lot of trouble with. They are really good down low and have a quick, high-scoring guard. They remind me of Clemson on the interior. They very well may out-rebound us and our success could rely on our ability to hit threes. Their PG Balbay is a good ball-handler and distributor... but the last few games he has had turnover issues. Hopefully, we can exploit that. If we play up to our potential, we will win, but I'm not looking forward to this one.

  18. #18
    I think that one of the biggest advantages that we'll have against Texas and going forward in the tournament if we win on Saturday is that we've played several teams similar to Texas, while I don't think they've played anybody like us, especially since the lineup change. One of the advantages of playing in a league like the ACC. Obviously, no two teams are the same, but many teams are modeled similarly and have similar lineups. I think it'll be a good game, and fun to watch.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    San Francisco
    Quote Originally Posted by JDev View Post
    Though they have underachieved, Texas still has the personel that made them a preseason top ten team. Abrams is a high level talent, as is James when he wants to be, and they have some real size in Atchley and Pittman. As someone else mentioned, they are a completely different team when Abrams is on. Outside of him, they aren't a particularly good shooting team. This could be a very tough game for Duke. Duke has more overall talent, and they consistently play better and harder, are certainly better coached. Henderson and Singler could pose tough matchups for Texas, as they do not have a big time wing. James ventures out there, but he is much more effective near the basket.
    Also, it will likely resemble a Texas home game with the Heels in attendance. I hope the Duke faithful show up and cheer strong! If I were in town I would be there in a second.
    I like the matchups. We have more on the perimeter in both talent and quantity. We might not have a shooter who can bury a team consistently like Abrams can, but we also do a good job limiting opponents' 3pt. opportunities. We also deny the entry pass to the post very well. Texas will be a tough team, but we can certainly handle them. I expect our guys to continue to play at a high level. Having Nolan back really helps the matchup with Abrams.

  20. #20
    Vegas just made Duke a 7 point favorite.

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