Myths and predictions proven wrong

[BD80]

Anything ol' roy said to recruits interested in Duke

[DevilHorns]

Picture this. You're a sports journalist, which doesn't mean a whole lot these days in the credibility dept, but for some reason you've landed the dream job, to write for ESPN. You want to write an eye-catching piece and piss of a fanbase that you frankly love to piss off. Hmm, an idea. Pick 10 teams that can win it all. Easy, the top 10 ranked teams. But add a twist, gut one of those teams from the list. Easy, Duke. You hate them. Don't have to think it through... just do it. It'll be a sexy thing to do.


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/column...pat&id=4858570

"And the one left out:

Duke. Why the Blue Devils can't win it: We've seen this movie before. Duke blazes impressively out of the gates, is confronted by its limitations (size, depth or athleticism) in the latter third of the regular season, then hits the wall in March. The Devils haven't won more than two games in an NCAA tournament since 2004, despite having No. 1 seeds twice and No. 2 seeds twice as well.

This is yet another good Duke team, with yet another set of apparent flaws. The big men (the young Plumlee brothers, Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek) are still nothing special. The leading men, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, are still overworked. (Scheyer hasn't played fewer than 36 minutes in a game since December, and Singler has gone the full 40 in each of Duke's last two games.)

The Minutes will believe Duke might have a chance to win it all when it sees the Blue Devils actually advance past the Sweet 16 for the first time since Chris Duhon was in uniform."

[diveonthefloor]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5059461

Just when I thought Pat Forde never had a kind thought about Duke in his collection, check this one out. Does Pat qualify as a fair-weather columnist?

[bl33dblu3]

No. There were in the top five though.

and co-number ones in ACC

[4decadedukie]

Thanks to all posters - I love this thread!

[InSpades]

Duke and Butler are unlikely to pass any kind of eye test. Defense and rebounding aren't pretty but man are they effective.

Meanwhile teams like Syracuse, Kansas and Kentucky who passed the "eye test" with flying colors flamed out.

[billyj]

Picture this. You're a sports journalist, which doesn't mean a whole lot these days in the credibility dept, but for some reason you've landed the dream job, to write for ESPN. You want to write an eye-catching piece and piss of a fanbase that you frankly love to piss off. Hmm, an idea. Pick 10 teams that can win it all. Easy, the top 10 ranked teams. But add a twist, gut one of those teams from the list. Easy, Duke. You hate them. Don't have to think it through... just do it. It'll be a sexy thing to do.


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/column...pat&id=4858570

Best article ever! haha

I think Pat Forde is a Duke closet fan. He public diss duke at work and then at night he goes back to his Coach K shrine and pray for salvation.

[papa whiskey]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5059461

Just when I thought Pat Forde never had a kind thought about Duke in his collection, check this one out. Does Pat qualify as a fair-weather columnist?

I love how Katz referred to some coaches not adjusting to their personnel. Who could he possibly be talking about?

[JohnGalt]

"And the one left out:

Duke. Why the Blue Devils can't win it: We've seen this movie before. Duke blazes impressively out of the gates, is confronted by its limitations (size, depth or athleticism) in the latter third of the regular season, then hits the wall in March. The Devils haven't won more than two games in an NCAA tournament since 2004, despite having No. 1 seeds twice and No. 2 seeds twice as well.

This is yet another good Duke team, with yet another set of apparent flaws. The big men (the young Plumlee brothers, Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek) are still nothing special. The leading men, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, are still overworked. (Scheyer hasn't played fewer than 36 minutes in a game since December, and Singler has gone the full 40 in each of Duke's last two games.)

The Minutes will believe Duke might have a chance to win it all when it sees the Blue Devils actually advance past the Sweet 16 for the first time since Chris Duhon was in uniform."

I find these quotes very telling. There is no mentioning of Nolan who's emergence came to be not only one of the most powerful/emotional stories this year in sports, but also one of the most important contributory factors for Duke's winning it all. Here's to Nolan for his extraordinary fortitude and fantastic play throughout the course of the season!

[oldnavy]

I love how Katz referred to some coaches not adjusting to their personnel. Who could he possibly be talking about?

I had the exact same thought as soon as he said it! I was just waiting to hear him say Ol Roy's name.

[MChambers]

Duke can't win a national title unless it loses to UNC during the season.

[airowe]

1. If the Big 3 of Scheyer, Singler, and Smith play 35-38 minutes a game, we'll run out of gas late in the season

2. Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek will never be meaningful contributors

3. Coach K's responsibilities with the USA Olympic team are detracting from his performance as Duke coach

Others?

4. Size Doesn't Matter

5. Duke players can't grow beards.

6. Coach K's rigid system holds players down.

7. Duke only wins titles if they've been beaten by pUNC.

8. The black jerseys are not bad luck.

[Atlanta Duke]

Picture this. You're a sports journalist, which doesn't mean a whole lot these days in the credibility dept, but for some reason you've landed the dream job, to write for ESPN. You want to write an eye-catching piece and piss of a fanbase that you frankly love to piss off. Hmm, an idea. Pick 10 teams that can win it all. Easy, the top 10 ranked teams. But add a twist, gut one of those teams from the list. Easy, Duke. You hate them. Don't have to think it through... just do it. It'll be a sexy thing to do.


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/column...pat&id=4858570

"And the one left out:

Duke. Why the Blue Devils can't win it: We've seen this movie before. Duke blazes impressively out of the gates, is confronted by its limitations (size, depth or athleticism) in the latter third of the regular season, then hits the wall in March. The Devils haven't won more than two games in an NCAA tournament since 2004, despite having No. 1 seeds twice and No. 2 seeds twice as well.

This is yet another good Duke team, with yet another set of apparent flaws. The big men (the young Plumlee brothers, Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek) are still nothing special. The leading men, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, are still overworked. (Scheyer hasn't played fewer than 36 minutes in a game since December, and Singler has gone the full 40 in each of Duke's last two games.)

The Minutes will believe Duke might have a chance to win it all when it sees the Blue Devils actually advance past the Sweet 16 for the first time since Chris Duhon was in uniform."

In response to Forde's article, on January 26 I made what now ranks as the most idiotic statement I have ever posted on a sports message board.

It's a cheap shot non-story that is intended to do little more than drive page hits (or in the case of sports talk radio ratings) like so much of the tripe on sports web sites these days - Forde writing on Duke not winning the national championship this year is about as insightful as observing OJ is not going to make bail and find the real killer this year

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/...951#post355951

Guess it is time for me to go help out OJ

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

The biggest myth,or words spoken by the haters..."Duke Sucks"...smh

[cruxer]

(all season) Duke's just not a Final Four team

Tournament Specific:
Duke's going to lose to Louisville/Cal

Duke's going to lose to Purdue

Duke's going to lose to Baylor

(generic pre-tournament) Duke's going to flame out in the second weekend

Duke's going to lose to West Virginia

Baylor has no chance against Duke

Additionally most of the commentators that stated this also would hasten to add that Duke had "the easiest draw in the last 25 years!" D*ed if you do, D*ed if you don't. Guess it's better to DO then, huh?

[JohnGalt]

Duke can't win a national title unless it loses to UNC during the season.

THAT is a good one...

[hurleyfor3]

Duke can't win a national title unless it loses to UNC during the season.

Oh wow, I forgot about this one!

Also: Winning the ACC Tournament somehow hurts you during the NCAAs.

[Matches]

Guess it is time for me to go help out OJ

Take him a mirror. Search will be over in ten seconds flat.

As for myths - you can't win the NCAA title without having surefire NBA lottery picks on the roster.

[roywhite]

Brian Zoubek can't play big minutes vs good opponents; he's too foul-prone and lacks stamina.



4/5/2010 vs Butler
31 minutes 8 points 10 rebounds 2 blocks
key plays in last minute

[UrinalCake]

Players don't develop any more after their junior year.

Signing Lance Thomas is the missing piece to a National Championship.

Oh wait, this was turned out to be true!