Originally Posted by
mo.st.dukie
It is frustrating though that KU is getting a lot of respect and hype for this but Duke is not and THAT does have a lot to do with KU being the national runner-up last year (and Duke losing in the 1st Round). Curry, Kelly, and Plumlee were just as effective and productive last year as Johnson, Releford, and Whithey but not many people outside of Duke fans would see it that way. Most people see Whithey as a potentially dominant player this year and lottery pick but view Mason as an alright player and possibly a first rounder when the reality is Mason better statistically across the board than Whithey except in FT% and BPG (a big reason Whithey gets so much hype, his ability to block shots). KU's seniors were better defensively (and they lost their best offensive players) but Duke's seniors were better offensively (and it's hard to argue Duke lost it's best defenders because frankly everybody was bad in that department last year) The reality is people let what happened in the previous year's NCAA tournament impact how they view the teams for the upcoming season.
I agree with just about all of this post, but couldn't agree more with the last sentence. I would add that some people let what happened in the NCAA tournament overrule the results from the rest of that 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.”