Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 38
  1. #1

    Schedule too easy?

    Our schedule looks pretty easy this year. We play Marquette and Pittsburgh in the pre-season schedule, but nobody else is ranked. Then, if you look at it, the only other ACC team ranked other than us and UNC is NC State. We're going to likely be favored to win every game up until UNC. I'm not saying we'll win them all, but there's a good chance we are ranked pretty high come the UNC game. I thought we looked good last night, but it seems like it's going to be a while before we get really tested. Of course if we run into a team with some bigs that could be trouble or just a bad offensive night. I'm sorta expecting we are 19-1 or 18-2 going to the UNC game, hope I'm not getting carried away here. Thoughts?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, DC
    1. Ranked or not, Davidson is very good.
    2. Illinois (maybe), Wisconsin, and Michigan are a good cross-section of the Big 10.
    3. The series with Temple and St. John's hurt the overall schedule a little, but I'm not sure we have any plans to ditch them anytime soon.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Hotlanta
    No it isn't.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by VaDukie View Post
    1. Ranked or not, Davidson is very good.
    2. Illinois (maybe), Wisconsin, and Michigan are a good cross-section of the Big 10.
    3. The series with Temple and St. John's hurt the overall schedule a little, but I'm not sure we have any plans to ditch them anytime soon.
    Do you see any losses here? I could picture a loss in Maui to Illinois, but we won't lose at home to Wisconsin or Michigan. Davidson could hang with us, but I have a hard time seeing us losing that one either.

  5. #5
    Even if we are 18-2 or 19-1, that shows alot no matter who were playing
    This Maui Invitational will be very competitive taking on The Top PG in the nation Dominic James.

    And even though only 3 ACC teams are ranked, 0 of the ACC games are easy home or away, this will be a great year and we should be looking at Princeton.
    Last edited by -jk; 11-13-2007 at 07:43 PM. Reason: removed bolding

  6. #6
    Oh, don't remind me of Dominic James. I think we are better prepared to handle him though and Nolan Smith gives us a quicker guard if its necessary to give him minutes.

    I didn't mean to imply the ACC games would be easy, but it appears to be a down year for the conference.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    MKE
    Quote Originally Posted by allenmurray View Post
    The Top PG in the nation Dominic James.
    That is an original opinion, for lack of a better word.

    I have a hard time putting him above Collison, Lawson, and Neitzel, and I could see Augustin, Louisville's Sosa, or Memphis' Rose having as good or better seasons.

    Any particular reason for your affinity for James?

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by phaedrus View Post
    Any particular reason for your affinity for James?
    It must be his 29% three point shooting!

    I see us winning Maui easier than most expect. I think Marquette is one of the more overrated teams right now, if not the single most.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Cary, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by dukeisawesome View Post
    Our schedule looks pretty easy this year. We play Marquette and Pittsburgh in the pre-season schedule, but nobody else is ranked. Then, if you look at it, the only other ACC team ranked other than us and UNC is NC State. We're going to likely be favored to win every game up until UNC. I'm not saying we'll win them all, but there's a good chance we are ranked pretty high come the UNC game. I thought we looked good last night, but it seems like it's going to be a while before we get really tested. Of course if we run into a team with some bigs that could be trouble or just a bad offensive night. I'm sorta expecting we are 19-1 or 18-2 going to the UNC game, hope I'm not getting carried away here. Thoughts?
    Who in the top ten do you think has a much harder schedule than Duke? Most have zero (4 teams), one (4 teams) games against ranked opponents outside of their league. Maybe Memphis has a harder out of conference schedule with 4 ranked opponents outside their division and does anyone think conference usa is better than the acc?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Houston
    I think our schedule is about right for these team. After last year, I think K was a bit hesitant to schedule a bunch of bruisers early on in the season--Lord knows, we'll see plently of them come the ACC schedule and March.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by jlear View Post
    Who in the top ten do you think has a much harder schedule than Duke? Most have zero (4 teams), one (4 teams) games against ranked opponents outside of their league. Maybe Memphis has a harder out of conference schedule with 4 ranked opponents outside their division and does anyone think conference usa is better than the acc?
    I made no claim about other top ten teams' schedules. I don't want this to turn into a "Coach K doesn't schedule well" thread. In year's past, I've thought we had a great schedule. It's just the way the chips fell this year that I don't think we are facing as tough of opponents. A lot of this has to do with the lack of a real marquee matchup. Usually there's the big game in NYC, but Pittsburgh is only #19 and it should be a competitive game, but if we win, does it really make a statement? My point is that I feel we could go into the UNC game a top 5 team and still not really know where we stand. I'm not saying that is good or bad for a young team, just the way it might turn out.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Cary, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by dukeisawesome View Post
    I made no claim about other top ten teams' schedules. I don't want this to turn into a "Coach K doesn't schedule well" thread. In year's past, I've thought we had a great schedule. It's just the way the chips fell this year that I don't think we are facing as tough of opponents. A lot of this has to do with the lack of a real marquee matchup. Usually there's the big game in NYC, but Pittsburgh is only #19 and it should be a competitive game, but if we win, does it really make a statement? My point is that I feel we could go into the UNC game a top 5 team and still not really know where we stand. I'm not saying that is good or bad for a young team, just the way it might turn out.
    I understand the desire for a marquee matchup but you are using pre-season rankings as a measure of how difficult the schedule is. I would bet ($1) that Pitt will be ranked higher before we play them and a number of other teams could be ranked as well. A few years ago we destroyed a highly ranked Texas team it was hyped as a marquee matchup but it was not. Duke is everyone's marquee matchup and we will have plenty of high profile games as we march toward another final four.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Quote Originally Posted by dukeisawesome View Post
    Our schedule looks pretty easy this year. We play Marquette and Pittsburgh in the pre-season schedule, but nobody else is ranked. Then, if you look at it, the only other ACC team ranked other than us and UNC is NC State. We're going to likely be favored to win every game up until UNC. I'm not saying we'll win them all, but there's a good chance we are ranked pretty high come the UNC game. I thought we looked good last night, but it seems like it's going to be a while before we get really tested. Of course if we run into a team with some bigs that could be trouble or just a bad offensive night. I'm sorta expecting we are 19-1 or 18-2 going to the UNC game, hope I'm not getting carried away here. Thoughts?
    "Too" easy? No. That implies that it will have an adverse effect on Duke -- perhaps preventing the team from being "tested" or whatever else is necessary late in the season.

    I wish Georgetown hadn't taken this year off. (It was their choice to resume the series next year, not Duke's, right?) I wish Duke drew someone tougher than Wisconsin in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge. I wish the Maui field were a bit closer to last year's. But I don't think any of that will hurt Duke. NMSU was a smartly scheduled game. That was a pretty good team that we beat last night; it's just unfortunate that they didn't have all their players. Assuming we win our semifinal game in Maui, we'll play two good teams there. Wisconsin and Michigan aren't world-beaters, but they aren't slouches. And Davidson is really, really good. Add Pittsburgh, and the non-con schedule doesn't feature any top-five teams, but it does feature some big programs with various styles that will allow Duke to prepare for ACC play. And just playing Carolina twice will prepare Duke face anyone in the Tourney.
    So, no, I don't think it is "too" easy.

  14. #14

    its not that bad

    Sports Illustrated ripped us for our schedule today as well, if you read their preview.
    I don't think its that bad, its not our fault we got Wisconsin instead of Michigan State or Indiana.
    Besides that we have
    New Mexico State (an NCAA team from last year thats favored to win the WAC, a decent conference, and was supposed to have Reggie Theus coaching and Herb Pope playing when the game was scheduled)
    Davidson (who is no joke)
    Michigan (don't underestimate Beilein, if it isn't a tough game this year, it will be next year, the man can coach)
    Pitt (who is gonna end the year better than the #19 they are now, if you ask any of their fans they think they're sitting on the biggest secret in the sport right now)
    and then a pretty decent Maui field

    and then Eastern Kentucky, Temple, and St Johns.
    I'm betting that if K had known that NMSU would be without Theus and Pope or that he'd be getting "only" the #3 team in the Big 10, one of those games would have been substituted for a slightly tougher game


    also, while I was in the building to watch Dominic James rip up Pitt as a freshman (it was just a painful experience) and would have completely agreed at the time that he probably would be the best PG in the country as a junior, only people who spent last year under a rock are still going to buy that argument unless he starts exploding

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, DC
    Quote Originally Posted by Jumbo View Post
    "I wish Georgetown hadn't taken this year off. (It was their choice to resume the series next year, not Duke's, right?.
    I don't know the facts, Jumbo, but my friends who are close to the Hoya program say it was Duke's choice to take a year off. And, incidentally, they/we also think our pre-conference schedule is too easy, although it's better than the old JT2 days of St. Leo. Georgetown does have Michigan (shadow of its old self but a chance to improve under Beilein), Alabama and Memphis coming up but also a lot of presumed patsies.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by shadowfax336 View Post
    Sports Illustrated ripped us for our schedule today as well, if you read their preview.
    I only look at the pictures in SI. Kind of like an old school comic book.
    Once they began using the third person voice, I felt it was detrimental to my sports education.
    Read Sporting News if you want a less "heel" biased opinion.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, DC
    The thing that always kills me is that while we get ripped for our schedule, our RPI is always very good. I expect no different this year.

    I'd also add that I'm very excited we're playing Michigan again now that Amaker's gone. Belein can flat out coach, and he'll have them back on top very quickly.

  18. #18
    The reason our SOS is very good every year is that we don't play many "marquee games" but the games we play are not against the kind of cupcakes that the other top teams put in their schedule. Did you see Florida's schedule both in 06 and 07? They played a terrible schedule both years and seemed to do fine. Who is UNC playing that's a marquee match-up? Kentucky, the team that lost by 16 at home to Gardner-Webb? Ohio State, the team that lost like 95% of its offense? They could play Louisville in Vegas, who is a top 10 team. We could play Marquette in Maui, who is a top 10-15 team. SI gave UNC's out of conference schedule a B+, and gave us a C while insinuating that our program is slipping. I bet our SOS is overall harder than theirs.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by VaDukie View Post
    I'd also add that I'm very excited we're playing Michigan again now that Amaker's gone. Belein can flat out coach, and he'll have them back on top very quickly.
    Anyone know if Duke is planning on keeping the game against Michigan, other than this season, now that Tommy Amaker is gone?

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by jlear View Post
    A few years ago we destroyed a highly ranked Texas team it was hyped as a marquee matchup but it was not.
    Slight nitpick: yes the Texas game was a blowout, but that was still a heck of a team. They ended up being a 2 seed in the tournament and lost in the regional finals to that same LSU team.

Similar Threads

  1. Easy Trivia
    By camion in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 01-26-2008, 07:42 PM
  2. Looking ahead to our ACC schedule: Not easy at all
    By VaDukie in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 12-01-2007, 10:52 AM
  3. OOC schedule
    By Duke15304 in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 29
    Last Post: 08-09-2007, 02:06 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •