March Madness conversation: WEST Region

[houstondukie]

both at CBS and ESPN are saying that UCLA has the easiest path to the final four. hmmm

Because they don't play anybody until they play us.

[Classof06]

both at CBS and ESPN are saying that UCLA has the easiest path to the final four. hmmm

That's fine with me. Let them continue to say that.

[heyman25]

We did very well. If we are fortunate to get to finals of this region,UCLA's starting 5 will be a very difficult out. Love and Collison would give us fits. Westbrook is a better athlete than anyone on Duke,and who knows how Henderson will recover from aggravating his wrist again.Love to play UCONN ,hopefully we would win.I think UCLA will prevail.

Duke better not look past anyone. We could lose any game we play if we shoot poorly,no matter how good our defense is. Since the Chapel Hill win,we have looked vulnerable to defeat nearly every game. We don't have the ability to knock anyone out. We get a big lead,they relax get sloppy and suddenly its a game again.I don't expect any easy wins from this team. I will be happy with an elite 8. Nelson has had a great year,but he needs to cut down on the turnovers.Many of his errors start the comebacks of the opponent. I think Kyle and Gerald will get some rest and come back strong. Jon Scheyer may be the key player to keeping this team focused.We were fortunate that we did not play today. I would love to beat UNC, but I would rather have a good showing in this tournament.

[houstondukie]

One game at a time, please. I'll be thrilled with the opportunity to play UCLA.

Last time I checked, neither you nor me are suiting up to play for Duke. The players should never look ahead, but we as fans can. Isn't that part of being a fan?

Are you not filling out a bracket this yr? If you are, then in that sense, you are looking ahead.

[diesel]

I'm worried bty more on the healths side than Gerald Henderson's wrist. Greg Paulus looked in obvious pain a couple of times in the Clemson game from his leg and he has a knee bandage on that leg. Does anyone know what the story is?

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

I'm sure hoping that WVa beats Arizona. AZ has three top notch players and poses a real threat to Duke in the second round.

Bayless and Budinger are more talented players than anyone on the Duke team (although Budinger has been very inconsistent). J. Hill is a very good "big" and will be tough to handle.

But if the "threes" are falling, Duke should make it to the Regional Final.

[gofurman]

now I remember - Belmont beat ALABAMA at alabama !!

see above for their early schedule on 11/19

so ASSUMING Belmont ( I don't even like to assume that)... would you rather Arizona or WVU? Who does Duke match up better with? Thanks for any info!

I don't even know what WVU runs anymore now that Huggins is there...

[houstondukie]

Bayless and Budinger are more talented players than anyone on the Duke team.

I agree they are talented, but you don't think Singler and Henderson are on their level talent wise? Also, Alexander for WVU is a future NBA player with a nice jumpshot and amazing leaping ability.

[feldspar]

Man, can you imagine a Singler/Love matchup? There's no love lost between those two guys.

[FerryFor50]

I ask again...

Who is UCLA's backup point guard? Who is UCLA's backup shooting guard?

I would love to see how they do against Duke pressure.

(Just hoping that WV/Arizona and Xavier don't get in the way)

It doesn't matter who their backup PG is. Collison is for real. You think Lawson sliced and diced us...

And not looking forward to facing Kevin Love. But... that's if we even get past round 2. Arizona and WVU are VERY scary teams to face in a round 2 game. Not looking good...

[kinghoops]

I'm sure hoping that WVa beats Arizona. AZ has three top notch players and poses a real threat to Duke in the second round.

Bayless and Budinger are more talented players than anyone on the Duke team (although Budinger has been very inconsistent). J. Hill is a very good "big" and will be tough to handle.

But if the "threes" are falling, Duke should make it to the Regional Final.

well first i must admit i am very suprised at the 2 seed, but i will take it. from just glancing at the region, the matchups look to be in duke's favor, meaning we dont have a true big team to face, until you get to ucla. hey i have been as negaitve as anyone the past two days, and as a fan i feel i have the right to be disappointed, but now is make up time, beginning with belmont on thursday

[CDu]

Fantastic draw for us. It really couldn't have worked out a whole lot better. Our second round matchup won't be easy, but it could have been a LOT worse. We match up REALLY well against Arizona (if they upset WVU), and we match up pretty well against WVU as well. Neither team has that dominant post player or phenomenally gifted point guard that can hurt us, and neither are so athletic or so big that we are overmatched.

If we survive the first weekend, we likely get Xavier or Purdue. I hope Purdue pulls the upset there, because we match up a bit better against Purdue. Xavier is balanced and big (they play six guys 6'6" or taller, five of whom score in double figures). Purdue is scrappy but small.

Until/if we get to UCLA, there aren't any teams that just dominate you inside, and there aren't any top-tier playmaking PG (Lavender is good, but not overwhelming). I'm very pleasantly surprised. We won't be facing any teams (in my opinion) of the quality of Clemson (this weekend) or UNC until (if we're so lucky as to get that far).

Let's hope we find our spark again and make a nice run. Maybe, just maybe, we can find a way to get to the Final Four!

[kinghoops]

I agree they are talented, but you don't think Singler and Henderson are on their level talent wise? Also, Alexander for WVU is a future NBA player with a nice jumpshot and amazing leaping ability.

i agree houstondukie, talent wise, duke has much more than arizona, and i dare to say that duke has much more talent than west va, and i think if duke takes care of duke, two wins in dc are in the bag

[The1Bluedevil]

I want UCLA.

Who is their backup point guard? Who is their backup shooting guard?

Do you need a backup 1 or 2 with Westbrook and Collison?

[Virginian]

I think we came out pretty well in the brackets.

On another topic, sorta, I think of the top four seeds UNC is the most vulnerable, given how they've struggled so often this season. I predict -- you heard it here maybe first, that UNC will be at least one of the top four seeds that does not make it to the Final Four. UNC has dodged far too many bullets. Their number is almost up.

And that's not just wishful thinking.

[Duvall]

Fantastic draw for us. It really couldn't have worked out a whole lot better. Our second round matchup won't be easy, but it could have been a LOT worse. We match up REALLY well against Arizona (if they upset WVU), and we match up pretty well against WVU as well. Neither team has that dominant post player or phenomenally gifted point guard that can hurt us, and neither are so athletic or so big that we are overmatched.

That certainly doesn't sound like Arizona. I don't expect them to come east and beat WVU, though.

[Acymetric]

Why do you want Ucla? I think that's a horrendous matchup for us. It would be nice to beat them but they're not on my list of teams I think we'd fare well against.

Which 1 seed would you prefer? This is assuming Carolina would never have been in our region, which I don't think they would be.

[Dukebacker]

There is no way we go down in the first round again.


This team has to be determined after last year. Im excited. Bring on Belmont!

[Bay Area Duke Fan]

I agree they are talented, but you don't think Singler and Henderson are on their level talent wise? Also, Alexander for WVU is a future NBA player with a nice jumpshot and amazing leaping ability.

Singler?...maybe. But if Budinger played as hard as Singler, he'd be the better player. He's quite an athlete (world class volleyball player).

Henderson? He may be a great athlete, but he's yet to live up to his potential at Duke. He's very inconsistent and frequently doesn't show up at crunch time. I'd much prefer having Bayless on my team ...he's a real "go to" guy.

[FerryFor50]

Singler?...maybe. But if Budinger played as hard as Singler, he'd be the better player. He's quite an athlete (world class volleyball player).

Henderson? He may be a great athlete, but he's yet to live up to his potential at Duke. He's very inconsistent and frequently doesn't show up at crunch time. I'd much prefer having Bayless on my team ...he's a real "go to" guy.

The difference is the depth. Arizona doesn't have the depth that Duke has. But it would still be a tough matchup.