Some People are Afraid of Their Own Shadow

[Kewlswim]

Hi,

For goodness sake, every game in the NCAA tournament (no matter who you play) is potentially the last one played that season. Bravado shown by other teams about playing Duke masks respect they have for the program. Anytime Duke loses hurts, it hurts badly, but does that mean we should cringe at the first sign of a "tough" bracket? Duke is not a one hit wonder (like many other teams) Duke will be back.

I for one, am not willing to say, "OK, good season." The tournament hasn't even started yet. Let's see what happens. Dre might be "en fuego." Austin might shoot lights out. The Plumlees might go all Zoubs on us.

Don't be scared, welcome the challenge of competition. Going in scared and we lose. Going in with the idea that we will fight to the end with the hearts of lions (something we have shown) is the way to approach this.

Again, it hurts when we lose, that is for sure. I just don't like all this fear and I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.ing and moaning about how we were seeded and other nonsense. We were given a draw and let's go show why Kentucky (YES Kentucky) should be scared to see us in their bracket.

FIGHT BLUE DEVILS FIGHT!

GO DUKE!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Yup. We have six ( 6 ) games left this season. The National Championship goes through DUKE! We respect all our opponents, they ALL fear playing us.

[Rich]

Yup. We have six ( 6 ) games left this season. The National Championship goes through DUKE! We respect all our opponents, they ALL fear playing us.

My brother-in-law went to Lehigh. He says he's not afraid.

[wilko]

My brother-in-law went to Lehigh. He says he's not afraid.

Easy for him to say... he aint playing..

[rsvman]

My brother-in-law went to Lehigh. He says he's not afraid.

Maybe he doesn't abhor losing?

[SharkD]

My brother-in-law went to Lehigh. He says he's not afraid.

Yoda-veryclose-300x169.jpg

He will be… he will be…

[Rich]

Easy for him to say... he aint playing..

No lie, his favorite band is Wilko...coincidence?

[stixof96]

as a 30 year Duke fan, what I read on these boards is unbelievable......for you kids on here, know one thing....Duke basketball was not built on fear....just ask the guy that Lattener stomped.....i just posted on this very thing in another thraed.....this " softness" needs to go....when it comes to Duke basketball, that foundation was built on one thing....

"We want some...the question is do you want some ".....

It's time to get back to that......

[NashvilleDevil]

Hi,

For goodness sake, every game in the NCAA tournament (no matter who you play) is potentially the last one played that season. Bravado shown by other teams about playing Duke masks respect they have for the program. Anytime Duke loses hurts, it hurts badly, but does that mean we should cringe at the first sign of a "tough" bracket? Duke is not a one hit wonder (like many other teams) Duke will be back.

I for one, am not willing to say, "OK, good season." The tournament hasn't even started yet. Let's see what happens. Dre might be "en fuego." Austin might shoot lights out. The Plumlees might go all Zoubs on us.

Don't be scared, welcome the challenge of competition. Going in scared and we lose. Going in with the idea that we will fight to the end with the hearts of lions (something we have shown) is the way to approach this.

Again, it hurts when we lose, that is for sure. I just don't like all this fear and I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.ing and moaning about how we were seeded and other nonsense. We were given a draw and let's go show why Kentucky (YES Kentucky) should be scared to see us in their bracket.

FIGHT BLUE DEVILS FIGHT!

GO DUKE!

Glad someone said it. Reading the posts in the Lehigh thread and the South Regional thread you would think that Duke has no chance to win on Friday. I just want to see what happens, we know this team never quits and they'll be in every game they play in this tourney.

[hurleyfor3]

Can't resist pony reference...

We usually lose in the Sweet 16. We're all past the denial phase on this, but most of us are still in the anger/bargaining region. I got to acceptance several years ago.

[Indoor66]

We go into every game believing we can win. Guess what - we usually do. I hate it when we lose but I am an OZZIE for each and every upcoming game. No fear - I expect to win. Go Duke.

[wilko]

No lie, his favorite band is Wilko...coincidence?

I'll take coincidence over fate on THAT one...

[Kedsy]

We usually lose in the Sweet 16. We're all past the denial phase on this, but most of us are still in the anger/bargaining region. I got to acceptance several years ago.

I'm not past the denial phase, because it's not true. Under Coach K we've been to the Sweet 16 twenty times. We've won and moved past the Sweet 16 twelve times and lost eight times. So we don't usually lose in the Sweet 16.

Although if you're saying the round in which we have the most losses is the Sweet 16 (as opposed to losing in other rounds or winning the whole thing), then that would be correct (we've won four titles, lost in the title game four times, lost in the semifinal three times, lost in the Elite Eight once, lost in the Sweet 16 eight times, lost in the 2nd round five times, lost in the first round twice, and missed the tournament four times). Although I personally wouldn't apply the adverb "usually" to something that has only happened 8 out of 31 years.

[hurleyfor3]

I know what our stats are. 3-7 in our last 10 Sweet 16s. Don't get me wrong, I realize no other school has played in 10 Sweet 16s in the last 12 years (12/14, actually). But again, I know what our stats are.

[Kedsy]

I know what our stats are. 3-7 in our last 10 Sweet 16s.

But why do you stop at 10? Seems arbitrary to me. Go back to 15 and we're 8-7 (also arbitrary, I know). Go back to 20 (not arbitrary because it includes every year under Coach K and every year in the 64 team era) and we're 12-8.

[hurleyfor3]

Why did you stop at my second sentence? Seems arbitrary to me.

Fine, if you ignore that our 20 Sweet 16s break down to a 9-1 run and a 3-7 run, in that order, and/or ascribe that to chance I won't argue. I'm thrilled to have been on the good side of "chance" when I was at Duke.

[Steven43]

But why do you stop at 10? Seems arbitrary to me. Go back to 15 and we're 8-7 (also arbitrary, I know). Go back to 20 (not arbitrary because it includes every year under Coach K and every year in the 64 team era) and we're 12-8.

So we started out 9-1 in our first ten Sweet 16's under Coach K and since then we've gone 3-7. Not a great trend.

[sporthenry]

I think Duke is in a great situation. They have essentially lowered all expectations for us fans that I guess some expect us to be the fifth 2 seed to go down. Just getting to the second weekend will be good enough for most and yet this team could get hot and beat anyone on any night. Additionally, the media is giving us no credit. Didn't see one bracket with us in the F4 from either the "experts" at ESPN or CBS. Additionally, many are seemingly calling us the weakest of the 1-2 seeds which no doubt provides bulletin board material.

[CDu]

But why do you stop at 10? Seems arbitrary to me. Go back to 15 and we're 8-7 (also arbitrary, I know). Go back to 20 (not arbitrary because it includes every year under Coach K and every year in the 64 team era) and we're 12-8.

Surely you understand the concept of trends, Kedsy. In our last 2 seasons we're 1-1 in the sweet 16. In our last 4 seasons we're 1-2. In our last 6 seasons we're 1-3. In our last 8 seasons, we're 2-4. In our last 10 seasons we're 2-6. In our last 12 seasons we're 3-7. In our last 14 seasons we're 4-7. In our last 18 seasons we're 5-7. In our last 20 seasons we're 6-7. You have to go back 21 years to a time in which we were .500 in the Sweet 16 games beyond a sample size of 2.

I don't think it's unfair at all to say that we mostly get to the sweet-16 and lose these days. I think it's a lot more realistic to say that than to continue to cite data that occurred when most of these players weren't born and many of the coaches were still in grade school.

Don't get me wrong. I like the fact that our program has become so good that a Sweet 16 feels a bit disappointing. Other schools would kill for that. Ask UCLA fans if they'd prefer the Steve Lavin years over the current state of their program. But I think it's just contrarian to disagree based on data that are quite dated.

[arnie]

So we started out 9-1 in our first ten Sweet 16's under Coach K and since then we've gone 3-7. Not a great trend.

And, with the huge exception of 2010, have not beaten an opponent seeded better than a "7" in the NCAA tourney since 2004. That's what happens when you're a 1 or 2 seed and don't get past the sweet sixteen.