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View Full Version : WBB: Leading ACC, up to #6 nationally



roywhite
02-01-2010, 07:54 PM
http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204878672

Congrats to Coach P. and her hoopsters. Looked very good against Florida State; Jasmine Thomas is a star. Team is currently 6-0 in conference.

Doing very well in the OTC (Other than Connecticut) race.

roywhite
02-01-2010, 09:39 PM
Florida State beat UNC tonight (at UNC...if that sounds familiar..) to go to 5-2 and 2nd place in conference standings.

Duke at 6-0 is opening up a lead; plays at BC next, and then UNC at Cameron.

NYC Duke Fan
02-02-2010, 02:50 AM
Agree about this years Women's team. If they keep it up they will have an excellent year.

I am not throwing water here, just making a very obvious statement about women's basketball. It is almost analagous to discussing Joe Maurer the catcher for the Minnesota Twins. He is the best catcher in baseball and there is noone even close to him as the second best catcher.

UCONN is the best team and there is no team that is even the second best team. They are head and shoulders above any other team and it would be a major, major sports upset if they did not win the National Championship. From what I read they will probably be prohibitive favorites again next year.

Duvall
02-02-2010, 09:50 AM
Agree about this years Women's team. If they keep it up they will have an excellent year.

I am not throwing water here, just making a very obvious statement about women's basketball. It is almost analagous to discussing Joe Maurer the catcher for the Minnesota Twins. He is the best catcher in baseball and there is noone even close to him as the second best catcher.

UCONN is the best team and there is no team that is even the second best team. They are head and shoulders above any other team and it would be a major, major sports upset if they did not win the National Championship. From what I read they will probably be prohibitive favorites again next year.

Thanks for the insight.

Steve68
02-02-2010, 01:28 PM
Agree about this years Women's team. If they keep it up they will have an excellent year.

I am not throwing water here, just making a very obvious statement about women's basketball. It is almost analagous to discussing Joe Maurer the catcher for the Minnesota Twins. He is the best catcher in baseball and there is noone even close to him as the second best catcher.

UCONN is the best team and there is no team that is even the second best team. They are head and shoulders above any other team and it would be a major, major sports upset if they did not win the National Championship. From what I read they will probably be prohibitive favorites again next year.

The same thing was said about UNLV's men's team in '91. It only takes one loss. Stuff happens.

CameronBornAndBred
02-02-2010, 02:51 PM
The same thing was said about UNLV's men's team in '91. It only takes one loss. Stuff happens.
True..but in '91 UNLV was beaten by at least a comparibly good Duke team. If UCONN loses, it will be more because they lost as opposed to the other team actuall beat them. Duke and UNLV could have replayed that game 10 times and split the series...whoever beats UCONN could probably do it only that once. In fact, I bet if UCONN were to lose this week...they would still remain the number one team in the polls.

NYC Duke Fan
02-02-2010, 03:08 PM
Thanks for the insight.

You are welcome..Any time.

Kedsy
02-02-2010, 03:27 PM
True..but in '91 UNLV was beaten by at least a comparibly good Duke team. If UCONN loses, it will be more because they lost as opposed to the other team actuall beat them. Duke and UNLV could have replayed that game 10 times and split the series...whoever beats UCONN could probably do it only that once. In fact, I bet if UCONN were to lose this week...they would still remain the number one team in the polls.

You have a very different view of that UNLV team than I did. They were worlds better than us -- I'd guess if we played ten times we'd win 1, maybe 2 but probably not. I was at the game and you got the feeling that if Duke made even one mistake, it was all over. In fact, I sometimes watch the game on videotape and I still think we're going to lose.

I'd say the comparison to this year's UConn team is dead on.

CameronBornAndBred
02-02-2010, 04:28 PM
You have a very different view of that UNLV team than I did. They were worlds better than us --.
I'd say that's true for the 90' UNLV team...and they proved it in the finals. Even with a healthy Hurley, that would have been a double digit beat down.

Kedsy
02-02-2010, 04:42 PM
I'd say that's true for the 90' UNLV team...and they proved it in the finals. Even with a healthy Hurley, that would have been a double digit beat down.

The '91 UNLV team was even better than '90. They hadn't lost anyone from the year before and had gotten in a couple good new guys. Duke was better, too, but going into the Final Four, the '91 UNLV team was undefeated, had won two games by 8 points and every other game by double digits, and had only trailed for a few minutes over the entire year.

In contrast, the '91 Duke team lost 7 games and was only 6-5 against ranked teams going into the NCAAT. They'd lost by 30 to UNLV the year before. No way that Duke team splits 10 games with that UNLV team. They were lucky to win one.

bird
02-02-2010, 04:57 PM
Difference between '91 UNLV men and '10 UConn women:

UNLV didn't play much of anyone until the tournament, and UConn has been playing and beating solid teams such as Texas, Fl. State, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Duke.

UConn will be ready in a way that UNLV was not.

MChambers
02-02-2010, 05:05 PM
The '91 UNLV team was even better than '90. They hadn't lost anyone from the year before and had gotten in a couple good new guys. Duke was better, too, but going into the Final Four, the '91 UNLV team was undefeated, had won two games by 8 points and every other game by double digits, and had only trailed for a few minutes over the entire year.

In contrast, the '91 Duke team lost 7 games and was only 6-5 against ranked teams going into the NCAAT. They'd lost by 30 to UNLV the year before. No way that Duke team splits 10 games with that UNLV team. They were lucky to win one.

In 1991, the Duke team actually more talented than the Vegas team, but a lot younger.

miramar
02-02-2010, 05:53 PM
Difference between '91 UNLV men and '10 UConn women:

UNLV didn't play much of anyone until the tournament, and UConn has been playing and beating solid teams such as Texas, Fl. State, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Duke.

UConn will be ready in a way that UNLV was not.

UNLV had won 45 straight games, but most of those were absolute blowouts against inferior teams (plus one blowout against Duke the previous year), so they might have gotten a bit flustered at the end:

"I don't think they were used to slowing the ball down and having to look for one shot," said Duke's freshman guard-forward Grant Hill of UNLV (34-1), which had won by an average of more than 27 points in its 30 games prior to the NCAA tournament. "I don't think they knew what to do at the end -- they'd never been in that situation before."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/memories/final4/articles/semi91a.htm

Newton_14
02-02-2010, 08:27 PM
The '91 UNLV team was even better than '90. They hadn't lost anyone from the year before and had gotten in a couple good new guys. Duke was better, too, but going into the Final Four, the '91 UNLV team was undefeated, had won two games by 8 points and every other game by double digits, and had only trailed for a few minutes over the entire year.

In contrast, the '91 Duke team lost 7 games and was only 6-5 against ranked teams going into the NCAAT. They'd lost by 30 to UNLV the year before. No way that Duke team splits 10 games with that UNLV team. They were lucky to win one.

Kedsy, you are correct in that was a really great team, but they only had 2 guards. People talk about our current situation, but their's was even worse in terms of quality depth. In that 91 game, UNLV played Hunt and Anthony and that was it. They only played a 7 man rotation in that game with Hunt and Anthony being the only 2 guards to play. They had Augmon of course but he was a true 3. Once Anthony fouled out it put them in a really bad position.

Still a great team though. I am not sure how many times we would have beat them out of 10 but it would have been a tall task to break even.

As a side note of interest, both Hurley and Laettner went the full 40 minutes that night. They also played the full 45 minutes in the Kentucky game the following year.

roywhite
02-02-2010, 08:40 PM
You have a very different view of that UNLV team than I did. They were worlds better than us -- I'd guess if we played ten times we'd win 1, maybe 2 but probably not. I was at the game and you got the feeling that if Duke made even one mistake, it was all over. In fact, I sometimes watch the game on videotape and I still think we're going to lose.

I'd say the comparison to this year's UConn team is dead on.

That 1991 semifinal is a great topic for discussion (who would have thought that freshman Grant Hill would outplay senior Stacey Augmon?), but I'll try to bring this back to the original topic about women's hoops.

Form prevails more often in women's basketball. The #1 seeds don't get knocked off as often, the top 20 recruited players often become the best college players, and good teams can, and do, go undefeated. Now why that is...I'm not really sure; not the depth of talent, not the gains in strength from ages 17 to 21 that we see in young men?

So UConn is more of a sure thing than UNLV of 1991. A mortal lock. Won't even have a close call.

Plenty to appreciate about Coach P's team; they've got an excellent shot at the ACC title and a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. By the looks of the 2010 recruiting class, the Duke women may continue to improve and narrow the gap towards UConn. Good to see the women's program having a good year; keep it up.

SupaDave
02-02-2010, 08:42 PM
Ummm, guys - let's not take the ladies thunder. I've been watching and I'm still trying to get to know the young ladies. Let's talk about their chances to win an ACC Championship. I've seen a lot of confidence in the girls - especially against UConn. Can the ladies keep it up?

CameronBornAndBred
02-02-2010, 09:28 PM
Can the ladies keep it up?
I don't think that's the question...we know they can (meaning ACC season and tourney). The true test for the team and P this year will be how far do they go in the NCAA's. They have the defense and the talent to make it to the FF. I don't know if they have the offense...it really depends on how and who they play...as goofy as that sounds. At least we start at Cameron this year...(ps...buy tickets now)

Kedsy
02-02-2010, 10:03 PM
I don't think that's the question...we know they can (meaning ACC season and tourney). The true test for the team and P this year will be how far do they go in the NCAA's. They have the defense and the talent to make it to the FF. I don't know if they have the offense...it really depends on how and who they play...as goofy as that sounds. At least we start at Cameron this year...(ps...buy tickets now)

It's not goofy at all. The men have the same issues (matchups being the key component and hoping we don't have an awful off day). Assuming we don't end up in UConn's region, I think the Duke women have as good a chance as anyone to get to the Final Four.

DukeBlueNikeShox
02-03-2010, 12:54 AM
UConn will have holes next year, as they lose Tina Charles and their best perimeter defender Kalana Greene (who will be a 1st rounder this yr). Their recruit, who is expected to take Tina's spot next year, recently suffered her second ACL injury, and who knows how or when she'll return. As a result, UConn will be very weak in the paint. However, they will have the best player in the country (Maya), Tiffany Hayes, Lorin Dixon, Caroline Doty, and the #1 HS pg in the country, Bria Hartley.

Other schools across the country will be a lot stronger, especially Stanford and Baylor. On paper, Duke will be a lot better, but P will have to step up the offense in order to be a threat in the NC race.

This year, Duke is a lot like LSU teams of old: Good enough defense to go very far, but lack the offense to win (or in Duke's case, be a lock for the Final Four). It will very much depend on the bracket and which teams Duke meets along the way. Duke's main goal should be to avoid being the 8th seed on the S-curve (ie. the weakest #2 seed). In order to do so, Duke needs to run the table in the ACC. A loss to UNC or any other team could put the team in dangerous territory. Ideally, Duke should hope Notre Dame gets a #1 seed and Nebraska continues their hot streak; this way, hopefully Duke can get rewarded with a 5 or 6 seed on the S-Curve. That would be Duke's best chance in going to the Final Four...

roywhite
02-04-2010, 09:52 PM
http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204881486

Lost on the road to BC 61-57; pretty tight game and BC hit their foul shots down the stretch; first win ever for BC over Duke in women's hoops since BC joined. Senator Brown's daughter Ayla scored six points.

miramar
02-05-2010, 09:24 AM
Duke gave up 31.6% on field goals, but only shot 37.5%. The two leading scorers are now shooting 39.4% and 36.6%.

CameronBornAndBred
02-05-2010, 09:30 AM
http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=204881486

Lost on the road to BC 61-57; pretty tight game and BC hit their foul shots down the stretch; first win ever for BC over Duke in women's hoops since BC joined. Senator Brown's daughter Ayla scored six points.
Since the men were doing so well, I turned down the volume and listened to the last 10 minutes of the women. Our defense was stellar again, we held them to 34%. However, we sent them to the foul line too often and they couldn't miss from the line. They shot over 90%, and that sealed our fate.