Originally Posted by
ohiodukefan
With starting practice just a few days away and the Georgia Southern game tipping off one month from today, what are your expectations for the 2012-2013 Blue Devils?
Take into account:
This is a team that won 27 games last year but was embarrassed in the NCAA Tournament's first round losing to #15 seed Lehigh.
They lose their leading scorer in A. Rivers and center Miles Plumlee, both first ropund draft picks in the NBA.
The ACC has been down lately, allowing Duke and UNC to build impressive win totals in conference. I think that stops this year with the improvement in NC State, Florida St and Miami.
Duke will have 4 players expected to be important parts of the team that have never played in a college basketball game.
A tough, tough non-conference schedule that could include playing 3 or the top 10 teams in the country in the first 3 weeks of the season.
What do you think this team can achieve in win totals, ACC, seeding in the dance, and where they finish (1st round, 2nd round, Sweet 16, Final Four).
I am dreaming of the season that blazindw is envisaging in his first paragraph with a 10 man rotation with everyone contributing every game, with three seniors vying for all-American honors.
I am expecting a regular season with 25 wins, a top 2 regular season finish in the ACC, an ACCT semifinal appearance with hopefully another championship, a top 3 NCAA tournament seed (hopefully top 2), a 4-team tournament win the first weekend of the NCAA tournament and as good a chance as anyone to advance past that.
I also expect the team's 3 seniors to all be all-ACC performers and at least one of them competing for 1st team all-ACC and all-American honors.
As I am every year, I am very excited to watch this team play, go through some struggles, grow and improve. Bring on the season.
“Those two kids, they’re champions,” Krzyzewski said of his senior leaders. “They’re trying to teach the other kids how to become that, and it’s a long road to become that.”