Can we Beat UCLA?

[Lotus000]

Seriously, we'll win the next round, for sure, in the Garden...but can we beat LA?

After tonight's showing, I really don't see it happening.

I'm not saying the sky is falling, but....still. We have a new 1-guard, a whole new starting lineup, and we're playing a salty west-coast team.

Normally I disregard basketball west of the Rockies, but this year....I'm not so sure. I remember my freshman year (99-00) when Stanford rocked us, and I am thinking it might happen again.

[Ben63]

I mean Miami (OH) almost beat UCLA, so I don't see why we cannot do the same.

btw, I'm headed off to Miami in the fall for my freshman year. Go Hawks

[Kedsy]

Seriously, we'll win the next round, for sure, in the Garden...but can we beat LA?

After tonight's showing, I really don't see it happening.


First of all, why do you say we'll beat Southern Illinois "for sure"? By all acocunts they're a significantly better team than Rhode Island. I think we'll win. I hope we win. But nothing's "for sure" in these endeavors. Especially not something like this.

Second, UCLA has as many new players as we do, maybe more. From what I hear their offense hasn't gelled yet but they always play solid defense. Sound familiar? It should be a good, close game.

Finally, when everyone started talking about the New York games while more or less ignoring Rhode Island, several people spoke up and said let's not overlook Rhode Island. And they were right. Yeah, I realize it's the players that matter, not us, when it comes to things like overlooking your opponent. But I'm also a little superstitious and sort of believe in cosmic payback. So I don't know why we would talk about UCLA when neither we nor they have won the qualifying game yet.

[CameronCrazy'11]

Of course we can beat UCLA. The Rhode Island game doesn't really affect my prediction. That Baron kid was making unbelievable shots. If he played like that in every game, he'd be NPOY. And we still won.

[FireOgilvie]

The interesting thing about UCLA is their lack of size and experience in the post. Their 5 leading scorers so far are 6'5" or under. They have one guy at 6'9" and a few at 6'8" that get significant minutes and the tallest guy on the roster is 6'10".

They lost Love (6'10"), Mbah a Moute (6'8"), and Mata-Real (6'9") who were their best rebounders/low-post scorers. Their best returning big guys are Aboya and Keefe (under 3 points, 3 rebounds for both last season).

I think Duke should match up pretty well.

[Lotus000]

Of course we can beat UCLA. The Rhode Island game doesn't really affect my prediction. That Baron kid was making unbelievable shots. If he played like that in every game, he'd be NPOY. And we still won.

I realize that a W is a W, but...ugly wins against way less talented teams make me pause.

My GREATER worry is the ACC's this year. Obviously UNC is the cream of the crop, and I don't think we have a snowball's chance of beating them in either game, but...can we even get 2d in the ACC? I don't know.

People are saying this is a 'deep' team (for Duke). I really don't see it. I believe we had more depth last year, and where did that take us in the Tourney? A loss to a scrappy WVa team.

Sure, sure, it's way, WAY too early to begin to think about this as of yet, but UCLA will be a good test next Friday.

[Edouble]

Seriously, we'll win the next round, for sure, in the Garden...but can we beat LA?

After tonight's showing, I really don't see it happening.

I'm not saying the sky is falling, but....still. We have a new 1-guard, a whole new starting lineup, and we're playing a salty west-coast team.

Normally I disregard basketball west of the Rockies, but this year....I'm not so sure. I remember my freshman year (99-00) when Stanford rocked us, and I am thinking it might happen again.

Standford rocked us?

A loss in the first game of the season by one point in overtime?

We're winning the Southern Illinois game for sure? Sweet!

[Lotus000]

Standford rocked us?

A loss in the first game of the season by one point in overtime?

We're winning the Southern Illinois game for sure? Sweet!

Hey, I was a freshman at the time, and trust me, the response in the dorms was.....bad.

YES, write it down, take a screen shot, LOTUS000 is 100% calling a win v. Southern Ill. :-)

[bludvlman]

UCLA doesn't have much offense and they didn't last year. Most of their games are real low scoring, Duke however has as great defense as any team in the nation and has more offense than UCLA to match the defense. Yes we can beat them and I expect a Duke victory.

[Lotus000]

UCLA doesn't have much offense and they didn't last year. Most of their games are real low scoring, Duke however has as great defense as any team in the nation and has more offense than UCLA to match the defense. Yes we can beat them and I expect a Duke victory.


They didn't have an offense last year? Have you heard of Kevin Love? Seriously?

[billybreen]

Yes.

[dukeballer2294]

First everybody calm down! We had one bad showing against a URI team that played out of their minds and Baron was hitting crazy shots. This doesnt mean that the season is lost.

Second, living in LA I would love to see a UCLA loss to shove it in their faces but we cannot overlook SIU. They are known for playing scrappy and if we get off to a slow start we might not be able to come back like we did today.

Third, if we do get by SIU UCLA has lost a lot. They are similar to us in the fact that they also do not have a dominant low pst threat. Jmison Morgan hasnt been a factor their first 2 game. We do however have to watch Collison, Holiday, and Shipp because if they get hot we will behind quickly.

Lastly, GO DUKE AND GOOD LUCK IN THE GARDEN!