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Gargoyle
12-16-2009, 12:41 PM
says GW's Scruggs

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/voices/blogpost/6628639/

airowe
12-16-2009, 03:07 PM
He's right. At least right now. And if you're going to give the Tarheels time to grow, you have to give the Devils the same. I like our chances against them here and there this year.

Greg_Newton
12-16-2009, 03:08 PM
Nice.


When asked if Duke was the tougher team he said, "Oh by far, by far."

He gave plenty of reasons to back it up too.

"Because of the shooters. Trying to guard and set up strategy to cut off the angles and recover to the shooters," Scruggs said. "Against Carolina we cut off the angles a lot on drives and they would have to pull it and try to get it back inside, and they just didn't open us up with their shooting ability.

"I think a good team has to be able to shoot and go inside. I think you have to have a good mix of that to be a solid team. Duke has it and Carolina may have it when it's all said and done but they didn't have it the night we played them."

shoutingncu
12-16-2009, 05:17 PM
He's right. At least right now. And if you're going to give the Tarheels time to grow, you have to give the Devils the same. I like our chances against them here and there this year.

...but we knew that going into the season, rankings be damned. I still think we split, each team winning on the road, but that doesn't change that Duke is a more complete team. Again, this could be predicted. Heck, there are even bets as to which twelfth-man-turned-starter will average more points for unc...

My point is... well, it's not my point. One of you compared this year's Carolina team to Duke of 2007. And that made me remember a great Featherston write-up that spoke of much bigger things than a single year's outcome. Change some of the dates, and he may as well be talking about this year and next.

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/articles/?p=21890


No matter what happens Wednesday night in Cameron [2007], North Carolina is a better team than Duke this season – deeper, more talented and, despite three freshmen starters, more experienced.This season.

Keep repeating those two words, because in the modern world of college basketball, things change quickly.


Duke was better than North Carolina in 2004, but the graduation of Chris Duhon and the NBA defections of Luol Deng and recruit Shaun Livingston left Mike Krzyzewski chasing the more talented Tar Heels in 2005. But after juniors Sean May, Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants and freshman Marvin Williams left prematurely following UNC’s 2005 title, Duke regained the upper hand in 2006 … a one-year superiority that disappeared when J.J. Redick, Shelden Williams and two more Blue Devil seniors all graduated.


The question I want to address is whether the Tar Heels will still have the upper hand in rivalry a year from now? Two years from now?


[2007] UNC could very well give Roy his second national title this spring. And Carolina could sweep Duke in the process, even though that’s something UNC has not been able to do since 1996. So what? Just as a Duke victory Wednesday night won’t mean that the 2007 Blue Devils are a better team than the 2007 Tar Heels, a sweep won’t mean that the UNC program has achieved dominance in the rivalry.

Dominance requires sustained superiority. UNC is superior this season, just as Duke was superior last year, Carolina was the year before and Duke was the year before that. When I look towards next year...

...Will one of those teams be clearly superior? It’s possible, although my early guess is that we will have one of those rare situations – for the first time since 1998 – when both teams are legitimate national championship contenders

Kedsy
12-16-2009, 05:39 PM
...but we knew that going into the season, rankings be damned. I still think we split, each team winning on the road, but that doesn't change that Duke is a more complete team. Again, this could be predicted. Heck, there are even bets as to which twelfth-man-turned-starter will average more points for unc...

My point is... well, it's not my point. One of you compared this year's Carolina team to Duke of 2007. And that made me remember a great Featherston write-up that spoke of much bigger things than a single year's outcome. Change some of the dates, and he may as well be talking about this year and next.

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/articles/?p=21890


I agree with you, both about this year and how much it means (or doesn't mean) and about how it's impossible to say which program looks better in the medium and/or long term.

But that brings up an interesting point, because a lot of people around here (and my guess is before this season there was plenty of similar talk among your IC buddies) have been fretting (or in the IC case, gloating) about how UNC has "passed" us and are now dominating the rivalry, when I've always felt it was just another swing of the pendulum.

It works both ways. It's true this year's outcome doesn't define the rivalry. But it's just as true that last year's (or even the last five years') outcome doesn't define it. I think that's worth remembering.

Hermy-own
12-16-2009, 05:53 PM
Yeah, but the question is who wil be better the next 2 or 3 years? Will there be a dominant team? Personally, I don't think so.

This year, Duke is the better team. It doesn't matter whether UNC gets one game, or if Duke sweeps the series, Duke has the upper hand in 2009.

In 2010, I really have no clue who will be better. That depends greatly on who goes to the NBA, if John Henson really improves, and if UNC's 3 incoming freshman are as good as advertised. Also, whether Duke's 3 or 4 incoming freshman, plus Seth Curry, are as good as advertised. And of course, it would hurt if Nolan went pro.

Looking further into the future, it's hard to predict. UNC recruiting is certainly more stacked than Duke's for the next couple years (they already have 2 top 20 recruits for 2011). But does either team have a clearly superior outlook for the next 2, 3 or 4 years? I can't see one.

Based on that, lets just get excited for this years team.