MBB: Duke vs. Butler Pre-Game and In-Game Thread

[Bob Green]

It is less than 48 hours until the Duke - Butler rematch so it is time to start the discussion thread. The game is being held in East Rutherford, NJ, where Duke has had much success. Duke's last visit to East Rutherford was on 12/20/2008 when the Blue Devils defeated Xavier 82-64 (Izod Center). Previously, on 12/10/2005, Duke thrashed Texas 97-66 (Continental Airlines Arena).

As far as National Title game rematches go, Duke defeated Michigan in the 1992 title game and again on 12/5/1992 in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

[moonpie23]

thanks bob...

this game is a total sleeper....perfect time for a let down...yea, hayward is gone, but that team would sell their souls for a win....

i expect K to have their ear...

[uh_no]

thanks bob...

this game is a total sleeper....perfect time for a let down...yea, hayward is gone, but that team would sell their souls for a win....

i expect K to have their ear...

butler lost to evansville, by 15 to louisville and had trouble with loyola

not exactly juggernaut teams there...

we're playing up in new york (yeah meadowlands is really in NY...just ask the giants and jets), which is like home away from home...we blew out xavier by like 30 2 years ago...

given we're coming off a high, but the team has been looking forwards to this two game stretch (watch the top 5 from last nights game on DBP where kyrie talks about wanting his shot at butler)...its hard to view this as a 'classic trap game' just because its on a neutral floor we where we play well, and its against a team which was ranked highly as the year started....not someone we might look over

idk i just don't see butler putting up much of a fight

[quota]

The word "rematch" annoys me about as much as "defend national title" annoys Coach K. It's just not the same match-up.

That being said, I expect a good game, but a Duke win by 10-12.

[77devil]

Duke has never lost a game at the Meadowlands that I attended and I will be there Saturday. On the other hand, Duke is 18-1 at the venue and I've only attended 7 so I guess there isn't much causation. The Devils will make it 19-1 handily.

Butler hasn't shown anything this season to suggest it can keep up with Kyrie and the crew, and this time the crowd will be decidedly for Duke.

[OldPhiKap]

we're playing up in new york (yeah meadowlands is really in NY...just ask the giants and jets)

I sort of agree as a former Tri-Stater, but Kyrie was talking the other day about coming home to Jersey. I expect him to have a great homecoming.

Butler is struggling out of the box. Hard to catch lightning in a bottle twice. But Brad Stevens is perhaps the best young coach out there and they will be motivated.

Of course, so will Kyle and Nolan. Great opportunity to get them both on track.

[OldPhiKap]

Duke has never lost a game at the Meadowlands that I attended and I will be there Saturday. On the other hand, Duke is 18-1 at the venue and I've only attended 7 so I guess there isn't much causation. The Devils will make it 19-1 handily.

Butler hasn't shown anything this season to suggest it can keep up with Kyrie and the crew, and this time the crowd will be decidedly for Duke.

IIRC, the one loss was to Arizona when Laettner was a frosh. He missed some free throws at the end, and Mr. President Dick Nixon came by the locker room after the game to say that "he'd blown the big one" himself. Christian never missed a key free throw after that as far as I recall.

I'm sure some can correct this memory if I am wrong, but that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Going to be a blowout. I'll love it, but it won't be much of a game. What a difference a summer makes.

[devildeac]

Four comments:

1. "Butler deserved to win."
2. "Coach K does commercials."
3. "Duke (objectively) sucks."
4. "Christian Laettner is a fag."

(I just hope folks remember where this came from or I am in BIG trouble.

http://www.dukehoopblog.com/2010/09/...duke-fan-nsfw/ )

I think Duke wins easily by 15-20 points.

[Bluedevil114]

I really expect the gameplan is go get Seth and Kyle going in this one. I really expect Mason to also have a really big game.

[NSDukeFan]

butler lost to evansville, by 15 to louisville and had trouble with loyola

not exactly juggernaut teams there...

we're playing up in new york (yeah meadowlands is really in NY...just ask the giants and jets), which is like home away from home...we blew out xavier by like 30 2 years ago...

given we're coming off a high, but the team has been looking forwards to this two game stretch (watch the top 5 from last nights game on DBP where kyrie talks about wanting his shot at butler)...its hard to view this as a 'classic trap game' just because its on a neutral floor we where we play well, and its against a team which was ranked highly as the year started....not someone we might look over

idk i just don't see butler putting up much of a fight

I agree that Butler appears to be overmatched and hasn't shown yet this year that they will be a team to give Duke much trouble. My impression from last year's game however is that the team won't pull a State and roll over. (I didn't actually see the Wisconsin game, but am basing this just on the scoreboard.) I would expect Butler to compete and for their guards to be quite physical on defense. This should provide another good challenge for Kyrie and Nolan in the back court.

[Starter]

As an NJ native, Giants and Jets games are as Joisey a thing as there is. And the Izod Center is not quite the Garden. They'll show aerial shots of NYC during the game because the alternative is the swamps.

[arnie]

Four comments:

1. "Butler deserved to win."
2. "Coach K does commercials."
3. "Duke (objectively) sucks."
4. "Christian Laettner is a fag."

(I just hope folks remember where this came from or I am in BIG trouble.

http://www.dukehoopblog.com/2010/09/...duke-fan-nsfw/ )

I think Duke wins easily by 15-20 points.

And of course my favorite comment (IC): can't beat a team when its 8 against 5.

[davekay1971]

I'm surprised to see Butler struggling out of the gate, and it doesn't bode well for them given the way Duke's been playing. Butler was clicking to perfection in the NCAAT last year. Not so much so far this year.

Quota is dead-on accurate - this isn't a rematch. Butler hasn't had quite the turnover in personnel that Duke has had, but they are a different team. Duke, of course, is a markedly different team.

Duke 2009-2010 was a close match with Butler 2009-2010. Duke 2010-11 should be heavily favored over Butler 2010-11. Hopefully we'll play well and win convincingly.

[Bob Green]

It is less than 48 hours until the Duke - Butler rematch...

The word "rematch" annoys me about as much as "defend national title" annoys Coach K.

Quota is dead-on accurate - this isn't a rematch.

Obviously a poor choice of words on my part so I beg the board for forgiveness.

[SilkyJ]

so I beg the board for forgiveness.

Say 20 Hail Krzyzewskis as your penance.

So who's going tomorrow? As I said in another thread, we are in Section 1 (under the basket), Row H. Look for the devilishly handsome dude in my avatar (no not Johnny Dawkins!) wearing the throwback Dunleavy jersey from his days on the Warriors ("The City" jersey)

I expect Duke to win handily.

[timmy c]

Obviously a poor choice of words on my part so I beg the board for forgiveness.

You are forgiven. Go in peace and sin no more.

[buzz]

Butler's best defender, Ronald Nored, missed the last two games due to a concussion and is questionable for the Duke game. His status is day-to-day. Here's the ESPN preview:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/column...ndy&id=5878661

[ChicagoCrazy84]

Butler's best defender, Ronald Nored, missed the last two games due to a concussion and is questionable for the Duke game. His status is day-to-day. Here's the ESPN preview:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/column...ndy&id=5878661

They are a different team when Nored is in and they are better than how they've been playing. Nored doesn't score much but he puts a lot of pressure on the ball and gets a lot of steals. If he plays, I would imagine he would provide Kyrie a good test. In a way, I kind of want him to play because the more top notch competition, the better. Without him, there is no one that can stop Kyrie and our backcourt will have a field day on them. Matt Howard would get in early foul trouble and we would win going away 20+ IMO.

[MChambers]

They are a different team when Nored is in and they are better than how they've been playing. Nored doesn't score much but he puts a lot of pressure on the ball and gets a lot of steals. If he plays, I would imagine he would provide Kyrie a good test. In a way, I kind of want him to play because the more top notch competition, the better. Without him, there is no one that can stop Kyrie and our backcourt will have a field day on them. Matt Howard would get in early foul trouble and we would win going away 20+ IMO.

Definitely we should want Nored to play, so that we get Butler's best shot. As weak as the ACC is this year, Duke needs all the challenges it can get. If Nored plays and leads a Butler upset, we'll learn from it.

Having said that, if Nored didn't practice today, I doubt he'll play tomorrow, or at least won't play significant minutes. Concussions can be tough. Hope he heals quickly.