MBB: Maryland 83, Duke 81 Post-Game Thread

[mkirsh]

I wasn't able to watch the game. Perhaps it's just as well. But I think it's obvious that we are clearly - CLEARLY - not the #1 or #2 team in the country. Just as we can conceivably beat anybody on any given night, we can conceivably lose to almost anybody on any given night.

If losing to the Kenpom rated #57 team by 2 on the road makes us CLEARLY not the #1 or #2 team in the country, then who is #1?

Not Indiana, who lost to #52 Butler
Not Miami, who lost to #142 Florida Gulf coast and #81 Indiana State (on a neutral floor)
Not Gonzaga, who lost to #52 Butler
Maybe Mich State who has lost 4 games but all good losses (with the exception of UConn in the season opener)
Not Florida who lost to #69 Arkansas by 12
Maybe Michigan who has 4 losses but all to good teams
Not Syracuse who lost to #82 Temple, #56 Nova, and #47 UConn
Not Kansas who lost to #285 TCU and #46 Oklahoma
Not Louisville who lost to #56 Nova by 9 and #50 Notre Dame
etc

It's a highly variable year in CBB with no dominant teams, but because this year's best teams don't compare favorably to prior year's best doesn't mean they still aren't this year's best teams. Maybe if we vacated spots #1-4 and the rankings just started at #5 people would feel better?

[ncexnyc]

I’ve heard it said, “Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you.” In this case it was a turtle that got us. I know losing isn’t fun, but it’s a fact of life in sports, that if you play you’re going to lose some games. As Duke fans we’ve been very fortunate that under Coach K, the winning far outweighs the losing.

I’ve seen a number of posters talking about having the upcoming Miami game circled on their calendar and how they’re looking for the team to atone for the poor performance down in Coral Gables. Well why is it so shocking or hard to believe that the kids from Maryland didn’t have those very same feelings after the way they were treated in CIS?

This is some of the very same sentiment I see expressed in preseason threads, where we discuss the upcoming season. There is always talk about how our kids will improve, but it’s always as if no improvement is expected for the kids in the rest of the league.
I’ve also seen a number of mitigating factors/excuses (you pick the word) for Saturday’s loss. Funny, we never get too concerned about these types of things when the shoe is on the other foot for our opponent.

As a fan all I can honestly ask is that the team gives a solid effort and that we are competitive down to the wire. In two of our three loses that is what we got and on Saturday we had a chance to win it with a buzzer beater.

Instead of lamenting the absence of Ryan, let’s focus on the positive growth we’ve seen out of Amile, Josh, and to a lesser extent Alex. There’s still a lot of basketball left to be played and three loses isn’t the end of the world.

[-bdbd]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...sion/#comments

Local Comcast reporter in DC does a "rat-like" K impersonation, insulting him for his post Duke-MD press conference response to a question regarding the MD-Duke "rivalry." Because K said words to the effect of "We treat all ACC opponents/games as rivals." And, "Obviously MD doesn't value it as a rivalry so much, or they wouldn't be going to the Big10." (Approximate quote)

Pretty low-brow "reporting"...

[sporthenry]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...sion/#comments

Local Comcast reporter in DC does a "rat-like" K impersonation, insulting him for his post Duke-MD press conference response to a question regarding the MD-Duke "rivalry." Because K said words to the effect of "We treat all ACC opponents/games as rivals." And, "Obviously MD doesn't value it as a rivalry so much, or they wouldn't be going to the Big10." (Approximate quote)

Pretty low-brow "reporting"...

The fact that this guy posted it on his twitter and is bragging about this is disgusting. I'll probably write a letter to CSN at some point in the not too distant future.