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TNDukeFan
03-11-2010, 06:20 PM
This article scares me.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13043339/is-it-time-to-root-for-duke-what-the-devil-is-going-on/rss

roywhite
03-11-2010, 06:32 PM
This article scares me.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13043339/is-it-time-to-root-for-duke-what-the-devil-is-going-on/rss

I'll take your word for it. I make it a point not to click on any Doyel column.

TNDukeFan
03-11-2010, 06:37 PM
I'll take your word for it. I make it a point not to click on any Doyel column.

"But now, entering the 2010 NCAA tournament, the time feels right for a major shift. The time feels right for you, I mean. Not for me. But maybe you've noticed that Duke's best players are likeable, even sympathetic figures. And that the Duke coach is an Olympic hero. And that these likeable, sympathetic players and that Olympic hero coach have come together to produce one of the more overachieving seasons in college basketball. "

jacone21
03-11-2010, 06:48 PM
I'll take your word for it. I make it a point not to click on any Doyel column.

Same here. You are not alone.

-bdbd
03-11-2010, 06:48 PM
"But now, entering the 2010 NCAA tournament, the time feels right for a major shift. The time feels right for you, I mean. Not for me. But maybe you've noticed that Duke's best players are likeable, even sympathetic figures. And that the Duke coach is an Olympic hero. And that these likeable, sympathetic players and that Olympic hero coach have come together to produce one of the more overachieving seasons in college basketball. "

Only Doyle could sound so condescending and Duke-loathing while writing a positive piece about this team. Geez Doyle -- so he didn't want to help you write the book about him... just get over it. Time to grow up.

Kedsy
03-11-2010, 06:52 PM
Aw, come on guys, it's a nice article. He admits his Duke hate, makes fun of himself, and says despite all that this is a good, fun Duke team that is difficult to root against. What's wrong with that?

YourLandlord
03-11-2010, 07:13 PM
This is a great article actually. Bravo.

KandG
03-11-2010, 07:25 PM
I never click on Doyel columns either, but somehow got led to this one through a tweet of his that appeared on my timeline. Though I can't deal with his attention whore-ishness, this column is about as nice as he's going to be, and all things considered it's very flattering.

If you can take his schtick for what it is (i.e. the front he puts up indicating he could never be nice to Duke), it's a very, very complimentary piece about this year's team that I'm glad I read. And now I can go back to ignoring him.

Verga3
03-11-2010, 07:31 PM
Epiphany? Great piece by Doyel. It's hard to keep hating such a classy program, players and coach. We finally wore him down.

moonpie23
03-11-2010, 08:08 PM
i liked it......he is being won over and he's being dragged kicking and screaming....


but he's getting it...

BD80
03-11-2010, 08:15 PM
I'll take your word for it. I make it a point not to click on any Doyel column.

Me too. But I will click on one that is complimentary to Duke. Maybe he will notice that he gets more clicks that way than by being an a$s.

SCMatt33
03-11-2010, 08:20 PM
Aw, come on guys, it's a nice article. He admits his Duke hate, makes fun of himself, and says despite all that this is a good, fun Duke team that is difficult to root against. What's wrong with that?

Here's what wrong with it. I have no problem if a journalist hates Duke, though as a professional that is supposed to be separate what he writes, but I'll give that a pass. If doyel wants to hate Duke, he's free to do so. If he wants to write an article saying it's ok to root for Duke, that's ok too. If he want's to preface that article by saying how much he hates Duke to emphasize his point, that's also good. But where he goes off track is CONSTANTLY reminding us of his Duke hate. It's like he's having second thoughts throughout the article. Many of the compliments he gave were very backhanded. Half of it was an excuse to remind everyone of how long it has been since our last Final Four, National Title, etc. I'm almost surprised there wasn't a picture of Eric Maynor in there somewhere. The Scheyer section basically says that you can root for him because he's not J.J. Redick and makes funny faces. How is that a compliment? The only compliments that seemed sincere were the ones about Coach K, and he already wrote an article about that two years ago, when the Olympics actually happened. If he wasn't going to completely swallow his own Duke hate for a few paragraphs, he should have let someone else write the article.

jipops
03-11-2010, 08:31 PM
He's just another schmuck posing as a journalist. I don't care whether he likes Duke or not. I don't read Doyel so I'm definitely not clicking. It's hypocritical enough that I'm contributing to a thread with his name in the title.

Kedsy
03-11-2010, 11:42 PM
But where he goes off track is CONSTANTLY reminding us of his Duke hate.

It was obviously his attempt at humor. You may not find it funny, but you should at least be able to recognize the intent.

-bdbd
03-11-2010, 11:59 PM
It was obviously his attempt at humor. You may not find it funny, but you should at least be able to recognize the intent.

There's no humor in a supposedly professional journalist being openly biased against a particular program. How many misleading and cheap-shot, half-truth-filled stories does this guy have to write before y'all get fed up with him and his childish "schtik?" And he has admitted openly in the past that it originates in petty, personal reasons. The only thing funny here is Doyel pretending to be a professional jounalist. I have to imagine his bit has worn thin on even the greatest "haters." He's managed to make himself the joke.

Lest we forget, it is "pros" like Gary Williams and Doyel and Sewart Scott constantly beating that ridiculous drum -- spoiled rich kids, all-white school, getting ALL the calls, worthy of hate/disdain - that serves to legitimize and embolden all of those crackpots who actually believe that crap.

Kedsy
03-12-2010, 12:05 AM
There's no humor in a supposedly professional journalist being openly biased against a particular program. How many misleading and cheap-shot, half-truth-filled stories does this guy have to write before y'all get fed up with him and his childish "schtik?" And he has admitted openly in the past that it originates in petty, personal reasons. The only thing funny here is Doyel pretending to be a professional jounalist. I have to imagine his bit has worn thin on even the greatest "haters." He's managed to make himself the joke.

Lest we forget, it is "pros" like Gary Williams and Doyel and Sewart Scott constantly beating that ridiculous drum -- spoiled rich kids, all-white school, getting ALL the calls, worthy of hate/disdain - that serves to legitimize and embolden all of those crackpots who actually believe that crap.

I didn't say I found it funny. I'm saying that was his intent. Lots of people write things, and we don't have to like them, but he's practically apologizing in this article. In the words of the immortal Sergeant Hulka, "Lighten up, Francis."

Troublemaker
03-14-2010, 06:30 PM
Please place South regional thoughts here.

YourLandlord
03-14-2010, 06:42 PM
Louisville is going to be a terrifying game.

kong123
03-14-2010, 06:44 PM
Duke has the easiest draw, if they get by Louisville, then they can go far.....

JaMarcus Russell
03-14-2010, 06:45 PM
Duke's draw is excellent. They might have the clearest road to the Final 4 of any team. Baylor is the only team that worries me.

strawbs
03-14-2010, 06:45 PM
us or baylor. Louisville could be a very tough 2nd round game

Sgt. Dingleberry
03-14-2010, 06:45 PM
Thank you commitee! What a gift...Time to take advantage...

juise
03-14-2010, 06:46 PM
Louisville is going to be a terrifying game.

I specifically brought them up last week, hoping we didn't end up across from them. Having said that, I had a similar fear about an underachieving (8-seed) Arizona team in 2004. We never saw them.

Classof06
03-14-2010, 06:46 PM
Louisville's a tough 2nd round matchup, but I think Duke's front line will be the difference. We have a substantially deeper frontline than UL

Also, Louisville's a pressing team and with two veteran ballhandlers in Scheyer and Smith, I like our chances against their pressure.

Never thought those Clemson games would've come in so handy..

CDu
03-14-2010, 06:47 PM
My first reaction was "great!"

Then I realized that we may very well have a second weekend path of Texas A&M and then Baylor.... IN HOUSTON.

Two true road games.

Classof06
03-14-2010, 06:48 PM
Nobody on these boards should be complaining about Duke's draw. We are extremely fortunate, no matter how you want to look at it.

Time to get it done, boys..

uh_no
03-14-2010, 06:48 PM
My first reaction was "great!"

Then I realized that we may very well have a second weekend path of Texas A&M and then Baylor.... IN HOUSTON.

Two true road games.

hate to say we're 5-5 in road games....

soccerstud2210
03-14-2010, 06:49 PM
are you guys looking at the same bracket as ESPN just put out?

louisville, sienna, baylor, and nova are ALL tough tough games that we would have a hard time with

i like the optimism, but i think its a bit too much

dont get me wrong, i like our chances, but we are going to have to be on POINT to make it to the final 4

the west is definitely the easiest road

grossbus
03-14-2010, 06:52 PM
west IS easiest, but the other two are harder than ours, i think. i am OK with it.

just got to survive and advance!!!

COYS
03-14-2010, 06:52 PM
Louisville's a tough 2nd round matchup, but I think Duke's front line will be the difference. We have a substantially deeper frontline than UL

Also, Louisville's a pressing team and with two veteran ballhandlers in Scheyer and Smith, I like our chances against their pressure.

Never thought those Clemson games would've come in so handy..

I know the Pac-10 was weak this year, but pomeroy has Cal over Louisville . . . in fact, Pomeroy has Cal at number 14, which would make them the toughest potential second round matchup for all of the number 1 seeds according to pomeroy. We can't be so certain that it won't be the Bears we end up seeing.

InSpades
03-14-2010, 06:53 PM
The west is easier? The winner of Texas-Wake is not easy. Potentially facing Wisconsin after that. Also West Virginia as the #2? I'll take the south. Of course it's not going to be easy, it's never easy.

cptnflash
03-14-2010, 06:54 PM
Louisville is going to be a terrifying game.

Cal will beat Louisville. And then Cal will be terrifying.

If we make the Sweet 16, we'll make the Final Four.

A-Tex Devil
03-14-2010, 06:56 PM
- I know nothing about Cal, but based on the seasons Cal and Louisville have had, if we play like we did this weekend (which wasn't great, frankly), we should win.

- A&M will have no trouble with Utah State, and should beat the Siena/Purdue winner as well. They are a solid veteran team.

- Baylor should roll the bottom half of the bracket. They are a terrible matchup for 'Nova with their interior play. We only have to play one of the teams in the bottom half, and if we get to the Elite 8, I think it will be Baylor. 'Nova obviously is a tough matchup for us, but I don't think we'll see them. No one else in bottom of bracket scares me.

Bottom line, if we beat Louisville, we'll be playing a road game against a very solid Aggie team. Then if we beat A&M, it's a road game against a very COMPLETE Baylor team.

A-Tex Devil
03-14-2010, 06:58 PM
Cal will beat Louisville. And then Cal will be terrifying.

If we make the Sweet 16, we'll make the Final Four.

I like your confidence, but those are highly likely road environment games against very good, complete teams.

Franzez
03-14-2010, 06:59 PM
Baylor will beat Duke if they meet us.

I love Duke, but that is the last team I wanted to see Duke matched up with in the NCAA Tournament. If anybody has noticed any of my posts, I have mentioned that Baylor presents the worst matchup to Duke among any of the teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Is anybody else upset that although they put the elite teams in other brackets that they put a Villanova team that knocked us out last year along with a dangerous Baylor team in our bracket?

Terence Ward
03-14-2010, 07:00 PM
I like our bracket. No West Virginia. No Georgetown. We should match up pretty well with this bracket. Chance to payback Nova.

ice-9
03-14-2010, 07:05 PM
Our draw looks easy, but it's actually very tough.

Louisville is a bad match up for us. Cal is under seeded relative to computer ratings. Texas A&M and Baylor, who I like in a matchup vs. Purdue and Villanova respectively, will be playing in Houston.

That said, we don't have to play Ohio State, WVU, Kansas St or Georgetown so there's some upside in our draw.

BigZ
03-14-2010, 07:07 PM
Nova doesn't look tough now but if they meet Duke that means they will be playing better than now.

El_Diablo
03-14-2010, 07:08 PM
Is anybody else upset that although they put the elite teams in other brackets that they put a Villanova team that knocked us out last year along with a dangerous Baylor team in our bracket?

But we'd only have to face one of them thankfully. I am concerned with the potential of two straight road games (TAMU and Baylor) though.

Hopefully Purdue edges TAMU in the second round and Villanova beats Baylor in 5 OT in the Sweet Sixteen. :D

Overall, I am optimistic.

JaMarcus Russell
03-14-2010, 07:11 PM
I seriously think we are going to play Utah State in the Sweet 16.

dukemsu
03-14-2010, 07:14 PM
is a matchup like LSU was in 2006.

dukemsu

soccerstud2210
03-14-2010, 07:17 PM
is a matchup like LSU was in 2006.

dukemsu

bingo!!!! they scare me more than any other team in our bracket!

Chitowndevil
03-14-2010, 07:17 PM
If not for Louisville at #9, I'd love our draw. I just don't get that seeding. Marquette had an identical conference record (11-7) and was seeded #6. Georgetown was one game WORSE (10-8) and is a #3. I wonder how many #9 seeds in the history of the tournament have two wins vs. a #1?

Jeff Frosh
03-14-2010, 07:17 PM
It is not about our opponent. It is about us. We are great. I love that we are the overall #3 seed. I love us. Enjoy the ride.

78Devil
03-14-2010, 07:18 PM
Just bought tickets! so I really, really hope Loisville doesn't ruin the party!

AZLA
03-14-2010, 07:26 PM
For some reason, Louisville concerns me much more than Nova and would prefer Cal. Maybe it's all the subplots in this bracket that make it look like a mind field ... Brey vs K, Pitino vs K, Boykin, King ... etc.

Chard
03-14-2010, 07:32 PM
It is not about our opponent. It is about us. We are great. I love that we are the overall #3 seed. I love us. Enjoy the ride.

Well said. I love the draw that Duke has. People are fond of saying that Duke will have to face so-and-so team in so-and-so round. It is fun to project but when they play the games things tend to go a bit differently than conventional wisdom would suggest.

Duke very well could face Utah St in the S.S. who knows? Just enjoy each game as they come. I think this is going to be a special tournament with lots of lower seeds winning. I think Duke will make it to the FF but we'll see!

DukeFencer
03-14-2010, 07:35 PM
Is anybody else upset that although they put the elite teams in other brackets that they put a Villanova team that knocked us out last year along with a dangerous Baylor team in our bracket?

Well, we only have to play one of them, and we only have to play that one if we can make it through Louisville/Cal and whoever comes out of the 5-12-4-13 (And, of course, the first game.) I'm not looking at Duke to breeze through every one of these games. However, in any one game, I will always pick Duke while K is on the bench.

Cameron
03-14-2010, 07:37 PM
Louisville is going to be a terrifying game.


I got chills reading this, because THIS.

I will be on my hands and knees once again, like I was today and once upon a time against Belmont, praying and repenting.

I'm already a mess.

rickymoyer
03-14-2010, 07:39 PM
Has any one seen the tip-off time listed for Friday's game?

RockLobster
03-14-2010, 07:39 PM
Taking it round by round:

Rd 1. Play-in winner should be an easy win for Duke.

Rd 2. Okay, Louisville is obviously capable of beating a lot of good teams. I think Cal is an easier matchup for us than UL. However, I think if we do face UL, our perimeter defense will carry the day and shut down a lot of their scoring.

Rd 3. Either Purdue or TXAM. I think we blow by Purdue with no Hummel, they're a good matchup for us. However, I think it will be TXAM we'll end up facing. The Aggies have a good record but have won a LOT of games against very mediocre opponents by small margins. I like our chances against whichever of the two we face.

Rd 4. It'll be either Villanova or Baylor. I don't see Notre Dame getting this far. Duke and Nova are two different teams from last year...Duke is much better defensively and should kill Nova on the boards. If Nolan can contain Scottie Reynolds, we should beat them. Baylor will be a tough draw indeed - they remind me of a mid-high level ACC team, like a Florida State or a Virginia Tech. They'll give us a game, but they're certainly beatable.

Bottom line: Duke will be challenged. But we don't have to play the likes of WVU or K-State. If we play like we're capable of, making the Final Four is not only a possibility but a likelihood.

A-Tex Devil
03-14-2010, 07:41 PM
is a matchup like LSU was in 2006.

dukemsu

I see the comparison, but Baylor's guards are better offensively and not as good defensively as that LSU team. I think Baylor will have a really tough time guarding our shooters. And Zoubek will need to be a man on the glass

We'll have to play some really sound team defense but teams that have done that have had success against Baylor.

The more and more I think about it, the more I like our matchup there. I think Baylor is a nightmare matchup for Nova though.

Aggies are like a less talented version of Baylor, but they are a very smart, tough team.

WiJoe
03-14-2010, 07:43 PM
Has any one seen the tip-off time listed for Friday's game?


Later tonight, possibly

Cisco
03-14-2010, 07:47 PM
I dont care about the teams we play, because none of the "matchups" we have are that bad. As long as the big three makes threes it'll be (: all smiles to the final four.
Its about how WE play not them. WE are the #1 seed.

ReformedAggie
03-14-2010, 07:49 PM
I dont care about the teams we play, because none of the "matchups" we have are that bad. As long as the big three makes threes it'll be (: all smiles to the final four.
Its about how WE play not them. WE are the #1 seed.

Totally agree. If the Plumlee's and Dre keep it coming, we should go
all. the. way. I'd rather prove we're the best by beating the best
than get to the top beating Mrs. Kovac's Third Graders or the team
they just beat, the Tar Hells :)

theAlaskanBear
03-14-2010, 07:50 PM
Villanova does not scare me one bit, because they lost their inside game (Cunningham, etc) last year. Scottie Reynolds will be a beast, but I think we handle Nova, considering the poor way they finished out the year.

Louisville will be tough, cause they are flying high after Syracuse, but Louisville is a very mortal team.

I have never seen Baylor play, so I cant comment, but if we run into either Texas team in Houston, that could be trouble.

I love this bracket. That said, lets get everyone fresh, healthy, and shooting well! And luck is ALWAYS important in the Tourney. I for one will be praying for many an upset in our bracket.

brevity
03-14-2010, 07:50 PM
Correction...


The west is easier? The winner of Texas-Wake is not easy. Potentially facing Wisconsin after that. Also West Virginia as the #2? I'll take the south. Of course it's not going to be easy, it's never easy.

You're thinking of the East. Texas, Wake Forest, Wisconsin, and West Virginia all play in the East Regional, headed by top seed Kentucky.

The West Regional, led by Syracuse, also features Kansas State, Pittsburgh, and Vanderbilt -- all teams I would seed lower in any other year (and for Pitt and Vandy, quite possibly this year as well). On paper, it looks the easiest.

I know that most fans are programmed to complain about something on Selection Sunday, but I think those in Duke's corner should count their blessings. The South Regional is not to be taken lightly, but Duke (somehow) manages to avoid seeing West Virginia and Ohio State in it.

Then, if we can get into the Final Four, we would avoid having to play Kansas or Syracuse until the championship game. Again, somehow, the Selection Committee saw fit to put the two strongest teams all year on the same side of the bracket -- and Duke on the other side. And, given these brackets, Kentucky's bid for the Final Four looks the least secure among the top seeds.

So, complain, but only if you are biologically incapable of doing anything else. Here are some topics:

1. We don't know our first round opponent. Stupid 64/65 game.
2. We have the prospect of avenging a 1986 loss (Louisville) or a 1993 loss (California) in the second round, and even though our championship runs in 1991 and 1992 were filled with such examples of karmic retribution*, you're still upset because you don't believe in karma.
3. We may have to face Texas A&M in a Houston arena full of Baylor fans who hate the Aggies, and maybe a regional final against Baylor in a Houston arena full of Texas A&M fans who hate the Bears.
4. If chalk holds, we may have to face Villanova for the second consecutive year, even though we look a lot stronger than we did last year, and the Wildcats do not look as impressive as they did Selection Sunday 2009. And oh yeah, you still don't believe in karma.

*I can elaborate on this further if you want, but basically our title runs those years came at the expense of several schools that had beaten us in earlier seasons. Look it up.

CDu
03-14-2010, 07:53 PM
Taking it round by round:

Rd 1. Play-in winner should be an easy win for Duke.

Yup.


Rd 2. Okay, Louisville is obviously capable of beating a lot of good teams. I think Cal is an easier matchup for us than UL. However, I think if we do face UL, our perimeter defense will carry the day and shut down a lot of their scoring.

Louisville is dangerous. Cal is dangerous too (Randle can play, and they spread the floor). We should beat either of these teams, but both could give us trouble on the wrong night.


Rd 3. Either Purdue or TXAM. I think we blow by Purdue with no Hummel, they're a good matchup for us. However, I think it will be TXAM we'll end up facing. The Aggies have a good record but have won a LOT of games against very mediocre opponents by small margins. I like our chances against whichever of the two we face.

I wouldn't rule out the upsets here. Purdue is not the same team without Hummel, and Siena could pull the upset. And TAMU is playing a Utah State team that matches up reasonably well with them. We could easily see a 12/13 second round matchup here.

The only danger here would be if TAMU gets through and takes advantage of playing a home game against us in the Sweet-16.


Rd 4. It'll be either Villanova or Baylor. I don't see Notre Dame getting this far. Duke and Nova are two different teams from last year...Duke is much better defensively and should kill Nova on the boards. If Nolan can contain Scottie Reynolds, we should beat them. Baylor will be a tough draw indeed - they remind me of a mid-high level ACC team, like a Florida State or a Virginia Tech. They'll give us a game, but they're certainly beatable.

Baylor would not be good for us. Not just because of style of play, but again because they would be playing a home game against us. I'd actually have to cheer for Villanova if that was the matchup we saw.


Bottom line: Duke will be challenged. But we don't have to play the likes of WVU or K-State. If we play like we're capable of, making the Final Four is not only a possibility but a likelihood.

If these were all true neutral site games, I'd agree with this analysis. But if we get through the first weekend, the biggest concern I have is that we'd potentially be playing two true road games in the second weekend. If we can avoid Baylor and TAMU, then I agree that our chances are pretty good.

SCMatt33
03-14-2010, 07:58 PM
Has any one seen the tip-off time listed for Friday's game?

I'd guess that we get the 7:00 tip. The other pod is the Temple/Wisconsin draw and I don't think CBS will think either of them will get as good of a primetime audience as Duke. They will put the Cal game at 9 so it can be seen out west. Just my guess.

As far as our draw goes, I'm not as afraid of Louisville as everyone else. They lost to every other good team they played (besides Syracuse) except for Notre Dame, who they beat at home in two overtime's w/o Harangody. Outside of those three games, they didn't beat a single tournament team. I'm guessing they just knew Syracuse and their zone better than everyone else.

I am afraid of the Texas teams in Texas, but it could be worse. I'm guessing that A&M will have a bigger fan base there than Baylor (they're closer and more popular in general), but do you think that their fans will root for or against each other? They split their regular season meetings (each winning at home) and Baylor might be confident over who they see as an overrated, unathletic, Duke team (not what I think, but what Baylor fans may think) and want to avoid a team who has beaten them before and will likely have a crowd advantage.

dukelifer
03-14-2010, 07:58 PM
Why is Louisville a bad matchup? This team was crushed by Marquette, just lost to Cincinnati. Sosa and Samuels are excellent players but they are not loaded up front. Other than Louisville has been tough in the past- it is not like they are on a roll of late. Where is the fear coming from?

sagegrouse
03-14-2010, 08:01 PM
Has any one seen the tip-off time listed for Friday's game?

This is CBS's vote. It has always been in the Tuesday papers (whatever they are), which means probably by 6PM ET on Monday.

sagegrouse

Kewlswim
03-14-2010, 08:03 PM
Hi,

Back in the day Cal beat us with a kid, namely Jason Kidd at the helm. They now have a really dangerous player named Jarome Randle at the helm. He is undersized, with a big chip on his shoulder and very capable. Furthermore, they have Mike Montgomery running the show. He is sort of the Coach K of the west (not quite, but he is very, very good). This is a dangerous Cal team if we meet them.

GO DUKE!

YourLandlord
03-14-2010, 08:04 PM
Why is Louisville a bad matchup? This team was crushed by Marquette, just lost to Cincinnati. Sosa and Samuels are excellent players but they are not loaded up front. Other than Louisville has been tough in the past- it is not like they are on a roll of late. Where is the fear coming from?
They beat Syracuse twice, and were super hot while doing so...they could pull that off again. Any team that is capable of that should be feared, especially in a second-round game.

YourLandlord
03-14-2010, 08:08 PM
Hi there

Dude, two things.

1) Update your blog, your last entry is gross.

2) From said blog:


So who will ascend to the NCAA's lame default city of Indianapolis in 2010? One year in advance, I'm calling it: Syracuse, Ohio State, Kansas, and Purdue.

Next year's champ is... the Syracuse Orange.

This is pretty incredible that you called this a year ago. Syracuse wasn't even in the top-25 preseason, OSU is on fire with the best player, Kansas is the best team in the land, and Purdue would be a legit contender minus the devastating injury, which you couldn't have predicted.

I'm blown away, actually.

Wildling
03-14-2010, 08:08 PM
Why is Louisville a bad matchup? This team was crushed by Marquette, just lost to Cincinnati. Sosa and Samuels are excellent players but they are not loaded up front. Other than Louisville has been tough in the past- it is not like they are on a roll of late. Where is the fear coming from?

They beat SU twice, they are well coached, and do well in the NCAA tourney.

Other than that, not much to worry about.

jkidd31
03-14-2010, 08:13 PM
Louisville is going to be a terrifying game.

Cincinnati beat them up the other night driving the ball to the hoop and pounding the offensive glass.

DukeGirl4ever
03-14-2010, 08:16 PM
I haven't followed Louisville, but didn't one of their guys get hurt when they beat 'Cuse at home?

That was the game that one of their bench players went off for 20+ points. Is that a factor?

BD80
03-14-2010, 08:16 PM
... if we can get into the Final Four, we would avoid having to play Kansas or Syracuse until the championship game. Again, somehow, the Selection Committee saw fit to put the two strongest teams all year on the same side of the bracket -- and Duke on the other side. And, given these brackets, Kentucky's bid for the Final Four looks the least secure among the top seeds. ...

I think this is why they elevated us to the overall #3, to put us in the South and create the possibility of a Duke / Ky Final Four match-up. That would bring in huge numbers. The likehood of Duke and Ky to advance past Kansas and Syracuse is relatively small, and the Saturday games need the ratings boost. Smart move from a revenue standpoint.

dukelifer
03-14-2010, 08:16 PM
They beat Syracuse twice, and were super hot while doing so...they could pull that off again. Any team that is capable of that should be feared, especially in a second-round game.

True but Cuse's D is so different than Duke's. They seem to play well against them because maybe they figured out that zone. You need to work inside out and Samuels is good doing that. Against tema that play more traditional man to man D- they are not quite the same team.

KyDevilinIL
03-14-2010, 08:17 PM
Louisville is a bunch of headcases, but they can play when they get it together. Aside from beating Syracuse twice, they lost close ones to some of the Big East's better teams. But they also took some nights off and lost some clunkers.

They will be super eager to play us, which means they could quite possibly look right past Cal.

We have not looked overpowering in Round 1 games lately. I really think we need to bust some tails, send a message and shake off the crud from Greensboro.

BigZ
03-14-2010, 08:17 PM
In these games you don't have to look at how consistent teams are just how good they can be when they play their best and that is why Louisville is a scary matchup. I think if Duke can get by that second round game and Texas A&M Duke goes to the Final Four.

KyDevilinIL
03-14-2010, 08:18 PM
That was the game that one of their bench players went off for 20+ points. Is that a factor?

Yes, dude who averages like four a game threw in 22 in the second half. Plus it was the last game at Freedom Hall, which means Syracuse was walking into a really tough situation.

sagegrouse
03-14-2010, 08:19 PM
"The NCAA is three four-team tournaments in a row. You win, and you get to play the next week." -- C. Laettner

We have four teams to worry about: Duke, whichever of Ark Pine Bluff or Winthrop emerges, Cal, and Louisville. I am looking forward to the Cal or Louisville matchups. I am not predicting anything, but I am hopeful of our chances.

The next week, three other teams will join Duke, if it survives.

Not much talk about Notre Dame, but it is playing as well as anyone now and played WVa really tough. Don't know a thing about Baylor, except that they have been tough. And, as I just realized, there could be a Big East matchup in the Sweet Sixteen between ND and Villanova. Since ND lost to Nova in Philadelphia in January, the teams have moved in opposite directions. Hard to believe that Villanova could lose in its bracket to Richmond or St. Mary's, but anything is possible.

On Duke's side of the bracket, who knows? I think any of these four teams can emerge. Purdue is clearly struggling, although it will not do as poorly as it did against Minnesota. I expect it will be Texas A&M, but won't be surprised if Siena or Utah State makes a splash.

sagegrouse

DukieInBrasil
03-14-2010, 08:20 PM
I found it ironic that Villanova was put in our bracket, the committee loves these intrigue type games. Also the Brey-as-protege match up could have intrigue. Jamal Boykin and his Cal team could be yet another "human interest story" in our bracket.
Beyond that, I think our bracket looks good for us. Except for our 1st round game, all of our opponents will be good, as it should be, because the remaining teams should (statistically speaking) be the best 32 teams in the country. Every team has a strengths to play to and weaknesses to exploit, as does our beloved Duke team. Our D was pretty solid in the ACCT and we had all sorts of opps to show our moxie and resolve by winning games that were all within 3 pts at some point in the final minute. We could have folded any one of those times, but we didn't. The counter argument that we should never have let those games get to that point carries a lot of weight in my book, and is certainly reason for concern. At any rate, if our D stays at this level AND our offense starts playing more efficient ball, we'll be going a long way. I'm not sure if we can get beyond the S16 shooting like we have recently. I agree with the post that said they'd bet on Duke in any single game in which K is on the sideline, but....
I saw a couple of things in the ACCT that are good omens in the NCAAs: Zoubek continues to rebound like a maniac and Andre and the MPs played well enough to be considered an asset. If those 2 trends continue, this team will be hard to stop.

BigZ
03-14-2010, 08:21 PM
I think Duke needs to just crush and cruise through the first round game so Scheyer isn't close to death by the second round. I think the Plumlees and Dawkins really need to play like they did during the NCAA Tournament.

jipops
03-14-2010, 08:33 PM
I look for Richmond to give Nova lots of problems in the 2nd round

Troublemaker
03-14-2010, 08:34 PM
Pomeroy actually ranks Cal as the 14th best team nationally (or basically equivalent to a 4-seed). Since Louisville is ranked 39th, I don't think I necessarily prefer to play Cal here. The Golden Bears are extremely experienced, starting 4 seniors that play major minutes, and they spread the floor with the 3rd ranked offense in the country. I think I may actually end up rooting for Louisville to win.

The most important thing for me about the 8/9 line was to avoid getting Texas. I did NOT want Duke to face the task of knocking out the talented Longhorns in back-to-back years in the exact same round. The upset potential would've been through the roof there. From that perspective, I can't really complain about getting Cal/Louisville as the 8/9 since to me, almost any scenario (within reason) was preferable to being bracketed with Texas.

But, first things first, gotta beat Winthrop or APB.

Sgt. Dingleberry
03-14-2010, 08:36 PM
I will be on my hands and knees once again, like I was today and once upon a time against Belmont, praying and repenting.

I'm already a mess.

LOL...I hear ya...You have to love the tourney!!!

A-Tex Devil
03-14-2010, 08:47 PM
I'd guess that we get the 7:00 tip. The other pod is the Temple/Wisconsin draw and I don't think CBS will think either of them will get as good of a primetime audience as Duke. They will put the Cal game at 9 so it can be seen out west. Just my guess.

As far as our draw goes, I'm not as afraid of Louisville as everyone else. They lost to every other good team they played (besides Syracuse) except for Notre Dame, who they beat at home in two overtime's w/o Harangody. Outside of those three games, they didn't beat a single tournament team. I'm guessing they just knew Syracuse and their zone better than everyone else.

I am afraid of the Texas teams in Texas, but it could be worse. I'm guessing that A&M will have a bigger fan base there than Baylor (they're closer and more popular in general), but do you think that their fans will root for or against each other? They split their regular season meetings (each winning at home) and Baylor might be confident over who they see as an overrated, unathletic, Duke team (not what I think, but what Baylor fans may think) and want to avoid a team who has beaten them before and will likely have a crowd advantage.

There is not any real animosity between Baylor and A&M, especially in Basketball. I would think that Baylor fans will definitely be rooting for the Aggies against Duke.

BlueintheFace
03-14-2010, 08:55 PM
Baylor fans will be rooting like hell for the Aggies. Houston will be a buzzing cauldron for the devils if they get there.

roywhite
03-14-2010, 09:00 PM
For the South region, listening to the predictions:

Jay Bilas---Villanova over Duke
Digger---Villanova over Duke
Hubert Davis---Duke over Baylor
Vitale---Villanova over Duke

SCMatt33
03-14-2010, 09:00 PM
There is not any real animosity between Baylor and A&M, especially in Basketball. I would think that Baylor fans will definitely be rooting for the Aggies against Duke.

Thanks for letting me know. Don't know much about Baylor's fans/rivals.

SCMatt33
03-14-2010, 09:01 PM
For the South region, listening to the predictions:

Jay Bilas---Villanova over Duke
Digger---Villanova over Duke
Hubert Davis---Duke over Baylor
Vitale---Villanova over Duke

Gottlieb had Duke over RICHMOND. The only one to pick someone lower than 3 in the elite 8. He then had Duke over UK before losing the title game to KU.

burnspbesq
03-14-2010, 09:03 PM
No reason to even think about Purdue. Without Hummel, they aren't getting out of the first weekend.

Duke79UNLV77
03-14-2010, 09:05 PM
Gottlieb had Duke over RICHMOND. The only one to pick someone lower than 3 in the elite 8. He then had Duke over UK before losing the title game to KU.

Odd, in that not many alarmingly unathletic teams make it to the championship game.

60's Devil
03-14-2010, 09:09 PM
For the South region, listening to the predictions:

Jay Bilas---Villanova over Duke
Digger---Villanova over Duke
Hubert Davis---Duke over Baylor
Vitale---Villanova over Duke

They all say Villanova is too athletic for us. Flashback to LSU a few years ago. Athleticism is a buzz word but they are telling the truth. It is a little harder for us to recruit "athleticism" than, say, a Calipari. Nonetheless, I'll take us and what we stand for anyday.

BigZ
03-14-2010, 09:11 PM
No reason to even think about Purdue. Without Hummel, they aren't getting out of the first weekend.

Ya I have them losing to Siena.

sagegrouse
03-14-2010, 09:16 PM
For the South region, listening to the predictions:

Jay Bilas---Villanova over Duke
Digger---Villanova over Duke
Hubert Davis---Duke over Baylor
Vitale---Villanova over Duke

Here is Villanova's record the past four weeks:



02/15/10 vs. Connecticut * L, 84-75
02/21/10 at Pittsburgh * L, 70-65
02/24/10 vs. USF * W, 74-49
02/27/10 at Syracuse * L, 95-77
03/02/10 at Cincinnati * W, 77-73
03/06/10 vs. West Virginia * L, 68-66 (OT)



Now exactly why does anyone think Villanova, losers of four out of six, is going to make it out of the first weekend?

sagegrouse

roywhite
03-14-2010, 09:17 PM
They all say Villanova is too athletic for us. Flashback to LSU a few years ago. Athleticism is a buzz word but they are telling the truth. It is a little harder for us to recruit "athleticism" than, say, a Calipari. Nonetheless, I'll take us and what we stand for anyday.

Here's Villanova's last 7 games:

2/15 vs UConn L 89-75
2/21 @ Pitt L 70-65
2/24 vs USF W 74-49
2/27 @ Syra. L 95-77
3/2 @ Cinci. W 77-73
3/6 vs WV L 68-66
3/11 vs Marq. L 80-76

What would the reaction from the talking heads be if Duke went into the tournament on a 2-5 run?

One game at a time, and all that...but I don't see a reason to fear Villanova.

Edit: even Sagegrouse has noticed the trend. :--)

DukeGirl4ever
03-14-2010, 09:28 PM
Here's Villanova's last 7 games:

2/15 vs UConn L 89-75
2/21 @ Pitt L 70-65
2/24 vs USF W 74-49
2/27 @ Syra. L 95-77
3/2 @ Cinci. W 77-73
3/6 vs WV L 68-66
3/11 vs Marq. L 80-76

What would the reaction from the talking heads be if Duke went into the tournament on a 2-5 run?

One game at a time, and all that...but I don't see a reason to fear Villanova.

Edit: even Sagegrouse has noticed the trend. :--)

Can someone please tell me how they got a 2 seed? I think Dickie V is a nut job (but I love him), but that being said, I agree that you need to take the last 10 games in to consideration. It's all about peaking, and Nova hit its peak early on.

78Devil
03-14-2010, 09:40 PM
Okay Blue Devil fans, who's coming to H-Town assuming they get here?

brevity
03-14-2010, 09:40 PM
This is pretty incredible that you called this a year ago. Syracuse wasn't even in the top-25 preseason, OSU is on fire with the best player, Kansas is the best team in the land, and Purdue would be a legit contender minus the devastating injury, which you couldn't have predicted.

I'm blown away, actually.

It's better to be lucky than good. Bear in mind that I expected all or most of Jonny Flynn, Eric "Thug Life" Devendorf, and Paul Harris to stick around -- none of them did. I knew they had a strong supporting cast, but I wouldn't have projected their season to go like this.

My backup Final Four picks (at the time) were West Virginia and California, so again, mixed results.


Update your blog, your last entry is gross.

I agree; talking about UNC and Wisconsin (and Toby Flenderson) is gross. The blog started (http://nhmehta.blogspot.com/2005/04/im-declaring.html) after UNC won it all in 2005, perhaps as a response to that. Seemed fitting that another title in 2009 would kill it off (http://nhmehta.blogspot.com/2009/04/condition-unlike-any-other.html). Bookends.

YourLandlord
03-14-2010, 09:47 PM
I agree; talking about UNC and Wisconsin (and Toby Flenderson) is gross. The blog started (http://nhmehta.blogspot.com/2005/04/im-declaring.html) after UNC won it all in 2005, perhaps as a response to that. Seemed fitting that another title in 2009 would kill it off (http://nhmehta.blogspot.com/2009/04/condition-unlike-any-other.html). Bookends.
At least you got a good last couple of comments on your very last post.

CDu
03-14-2010, 09:48 PM
Pomeroy actually ranks Cal as the 14th best team nationally (or basically equivalent to a 4-seed). Since Louisville is ranked 39th, I don't think I necessarily prefer to play Cal here. The Golden Bears are extremely experienced, starting 4 seniors that play major minutes, and they spread the floor with the 3rd ranked offense in the country. I think I may actually end up rooting for Louisville to win.

The thing about Cal is (1) they aren't used to playing against teams that play defense like Duke will play defense. That said, they do play a spread (4-out, 1-in) offense, which has been a bugaboo for us.

But the opposite side of the ball is a big edge for us. Like the rest of the Pac-10, Cal doesn't play any defense. So while they would score, so would we. And we would KILL them on the glass. If they aren't hitting their perimeter shots or getting layups, they aren't going to score.

I'm also not terrified (cautious, but not terrified) about Louisville. Basically, other than beating Syracuse (and they always beat Syracuse because they know how to beat that zone), they haven't done anything. And again, we'd kill them on the glass.

Either of these teams could beat us on the wrong night, but there's a reason why we're a 1 seed and they are 8/9 seeds.

SCMatt33
03-14-2010, 09:51 PM
Did anyone else notice that the committee took full advantage of the rule allowing teams from the same conference before the Elite 8 if they get more than 7 with Nova and ND. I figured that they would have tried to avoid that unless the Big East had nine. Must have had big problems to force that.

jipops
03-14-2010, 09:54 PM
Gottlieb had Duke over RICHMOND. The only one to pick someone lower than 3 in the elite 8. He then had Duke over UK before losing the title game to KU.

I have serious doubts that Gottlieb actually believes in these picks. But who cares.

arydolphin
03-14-2010, 09:54 PM
Okay Blue Devil fans, who's coming to H-Town assuming they get here?

My in-laws live in Houston, so I bought tickets to the regional a few months ago when they went to sale, figuring that my wife and I could see her parents and see some basketball on the same weekend. With me and her both being Duke alums, we were VERY excited to see Duke placed in that region. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself, gotta survive this weekend first!

fisheyes
03-14-2010, 09:58 PM
The ESPN Bracket just posted game times. I thought they waited until Monday. It has Duke as TBA but the other Jacksonville games are all posted leaving us with the 7pm time slot....sweet.

roywhite
03-14-2010, 10:05 PM
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/scoreboard/mayhem/20100319?tag=pageRow;pageContainer

Game time info from CBS
Duke game scheduled for 7:25 PM EDT Friday

Spam Filter
03-14-2010, 10:17 PM
People say we have an easy draw, but by Pomroy ratings we do not.

The Louisville/Cal draw in the 2nd round is BRUTAL. According to Pomroy Cal is the 14th best team in the country, which would make them a real 4 seed.
And the sweet 16 game against TAM in Houston is going to be a road game for sure and you know how much we've struggled in hostile environments.


The rest of the draw doesn't look so bad since the bottom of that bracket is actually pretty bad, Nova is not as good as they were last year, plus we have the whole payback angle against them. But that would not matter to us unless we get to the regional finals.

SCMatt33
03-14-2010, 10:22 PM
For Tex-Devil or anyone else who knows the Houston area well. Reliant Stadium is obviously huge. Will Longhorn fans show up to this to root against A&M (if it comes to that)?

CDu
03-14-2010, 10:24 PM
People say we have an easy draw, but by Pomroy ratings we do not.

The Louisville/Cal draw in the 2nd round is BRUTAL. According to Pomroy Cal is the 14th best team in the country, which would make them a real 4 seed.
And the sweet 16 game against TAM in Houston is going to be a road game for sure and you know how much we've struggled in hostile environments.


The rest of the draw doesn't look so bad since the bottom of that bracket is actually pretty bad, Nova is not as good as they were last year, plus we have the whole payback angle against them. But that would not matter to us unless we get to the regional finals.

It all depends on who's system you use to rate the teams. Sagarin has Cal as #29 and Louisville as #37. Based on that, it's not a bad pairing for us.

Note also that Cal plays zero defense (even according to Pomeroy) and isn't used to facing teams that play good defense. And they are medicore on the boards, which is a strength of ours.

The rest of the draw really depends upon whom we'd face. If we can avoid a true road game, we'd probably be okay.

It's not an awful draw. There are certainly matchups I'd prefer at the 8/9 (Gonzaga, UNI, UNLV, and the potential road games against Baylor and TAMU). But I can't complain too much.

DurhamMatt
03-14-2010, 10:27 PM
This bracket and the 3rd overall #1 seed is more than we could have asked for and just what we need to make it back to the final four. They are saying, here you go Duke go and prove it. Louisville doesn't scare me and I'm sure we get Cal anyways. Billas seriously hates Duke, just come out and say it already.

CDu
03-14-2010, 10:27 PM
Fraschilla (sp?) just discussed an interesting point. Apparently Villanova is starting to go away from the 4-out, 1-in approach and playing a big guy more. If they do that and both Duke and Villanova get to the Elite-8, I think that's a point in our favor. Playing bigger plays right into our hands strategically.

Spam Filter
03-14-2010, 10:28 PM
It all depends on who's system you use to rate the teams. Sagarin has Cal as #29 and Louisville as #37. Based on that, it's not a bad pairing for us.

Note also that Cal plays zero defense (even according to Pomeroy) and isn't used to facing teams that play good defense. And they are medicore on the boards, which is a strength of ours.

The rest of the draw really depends upon whom we'd face. If we can avoid a true road game, we'd probably be okay.

It's not an awful draw. There are certainly matchups I'd prefer at the 8/9 (Gonzaga, UNI, UNLV, and the potential road games against Baylor and TAMU). But I can't complain too much.

The Sagarin Predictor rating, which according to him is the best rating to predict future performance, has Cal 16th.

CDu
03-14-2010, 10:33 PM
The Sagarin Predictor rating, which according to him is the best rating to predict future performance, has Cal 16th.

Interesting. Yet despite this, everyone seems to be picking Louisville.

Cal has very good guard play, but they just play no defense. They could certainly beat us, but it would take one of their best days. They haven't beaten anybody this year. Really. They're 1-6 against the Top-50.

rotogod00
03-14-2010, 10:38 PM
Louisville's a tough 2nd round matchup, but I think Duke's front line will be the difference. We have a substantially deeper frontline than UL

Also, Louisville's a pressing team and with two veteran ballhandlers in Scheyer and Smith, I like our chances against their pressure.

Never thought those Clemson games would've come in so handy..

we didn't look so good against tech's pressure today

SCMatt33
03-14-2010, 10:44 PM
we didn't look so good against tech's pressure today

Assuming our planning for the play-in winner doesn't take too much time, we'll have a week to prepare instead of overnight.

Troublemaker
03-14-2010, 10:49 PM
These are the point spreads for the South Region opening games. Obviously, Duke won't have a spread until after Tuesday's play-in game is done.

Cal is a 1-pt favorite over Louisville.



NCAA Basketball - Tue 3/16

Tue 3/16 567 Ark Pine Bluff +5 -104
04:30 PM 568 Winthrop -5 -106

NCAA Basketball - Thu 3/18

Thu 3/18 709 Robert Morris +19.5 -108
12:00 AM 710 Villanova -19.5 -102

Thu 3/18 711 Saint Marys CA -1 +104
12:00 AM 712 Richmond +1 -115

Thu 3/18 717 Sam Houston +12 -102
12:00 AM 718 Baylor -12 -108

Thu 3/18 719 Old Dominion +2 +100
12:00 AM 720 Notre Dame -2 -110


NCAA Basketball - Fri 3/19

Fri 3/19 837 Louisville +1 -102
12:00 AM 838 California -1 -108

Fri 3/19 851 Utah State +2.5 -108
12:00 AM 852 Texas A&M -2.5 -102

Fri 3/19 853 Siena +3.5 -102
12:00 AM 854 Purdue -3.5 -108

jkidd31
03-14-2010, 10:52 PM
we didn't look so good against tech's pressure today
I don't really think it was the press...to me it seemed like they were waiting too long in the shot clock.

rotogod00
03-14-2010, 10:56 PM
I don't really think it was the press...to me it seemed like they were waiting too long in the shot clock.

absolutely, but part of that is that it took 10 secs to get the ball across halfcourt

Troublemaker
03-14-2010, 11:02 PM
The thing about Cal is (1) they aren't used to playing against teams that play defense like Duke will play defense. That said, they do play a spread (4-out, 1-in) offense, which has been a bugaboo for us.

But the opposite side of the ball is a big edge for us. Like the rest of the Pac-10, Cal doesn't play any defense. So while they would score, so would we. And we would KILL them on the glass. If they aren't hitting their perimeter shots or getting layups, they aren't going to score.

I'm also not terrified (cautious, but not terrified) about Louisville. Basically, other than beating Syracuse (and they always beat Syracuse because they know how to beat that zone), they haven't done anything. And again, we'd kill them on the glass.

Either of these teams could beat us on the wrong night, but there's a reason why we're a 1 seed and they are 8/9 seeds.

I agree with you, Cdu. I've been re-considering Louisville and I think my initial wariness of them as an opponent is mostly gone. Much of it had to do with intangible factors -- Pitino being a very good coach, Louisville being a 1 seed last season, etc. But when you boil the analysis down to how this year's Louisville team matches up with this year's Duke team, it's not a bad matchup. We can handle the press. We can get offensive rebounds. Z can control Samuels, I think. Jon can shut down their wings, either Smith or Delk. And finally, Nolan would need some help from his backline to handle Sosa but I think LT and Z will be there for him to draw charges and challenge shots in the lane.

They're the 39th ranked Pomeroy team. I'm not going to fear them.

House G
03-14-2010, 11:03 PM
Okay Blue Devil fans, who's coming to H-Town assuming they get here?
I am within driving distance of Houston--I will definitely be there. Any idea what kind of alumni base there is in Houston?

devildeac
03-14-2010, 11:09 PM
I am within driving distance of Houston--I will definitely be there. Any idea what kind of alumni base there is in Houston?

Paging ricks68...

Jim3k
03-14-2010, 11:10 PM
I am within driving distance of Houston--I will definitely be there. Any idea what kind of alumni base there is in Houston?

Check in with the Duke Club of Houston. Kenney Dennard, Pres.

Duke alumni page; also Iron Dukes for pre-game, if any. I'm confident we'll get there, so have a good time.

Kedsy
03-14-2010, 11:12 PM
Louisville is going to be a terrifying game.

This was my first thought when I saw the bracket, but the computers like Cal a lot more than Louisville. There's a decent chance we won't see the Cardinals.

NSDukeFan
03-14-2010, 11:19 PM
I was certainly surprised (pleasantly) to not have West Virginia or Ohio State as the #2 seed. But, that is far down the road. I am not sure who I would rather face, Louisville or Cal. Randle looks like he would be a handful to contain. We would certainly have to be prepared for Louisville's pressure. I think either one could be a tough game and hopefully the team continues to defend well and rebound and it would be a bonus if our shooting came around. I think we could probably beat Cal or Louisville with a sub-par shooting game, if we take care of the ball and defend how we can. It certainly is an exciting time of year.
If we advance past this first tournament, it could be a bit daunting playing Texas teams in Houston, but that is hopefully to think about next week.

78Devil
03-14-2010, 11:20 PM
Decent Duke alumni base in Houston.

And while there are a huge number of A&M fans in Houston, there are even more UT fans. And I'm not sure they will ever root for A&M against anyone (its a pale comparison to Duke/UNC, but you get the idea). So maybe it won't be so bad if we get here.

Go Duke!

jipops
03-14-2010, 11:38 PM
Anybody else think it sucks to be playing the winner of the play-in game? That means a very short amount of time alloted to scout the next opponent as opposed to the other #1 seeds - or even know who you're even playing. I know 16 taking down a 1 has never happened (yet) but anybody remember Belmont?

Skydog
03-14-2010, 11:40 PM
... I for one will be praying for many an upset in our bracket.

Personally, I will be thrilled if there are NO upsets in our bracket!

theAlaskanBear
03-14-2010, 11:40 PM
Anybody else think it sucks to be playing the winner of the play-in game? That means a very short amount of time alloted to scout the next opponent as opposed to the other #1 seeds - or even know who you're even playing. I know 16 taking down a 1 has never happened (yet) but anybody remember Belmont?

They are number 16 for a reason dude. If you are scared of a 16 seed, you are frightened of your own shadow!!!

NSDukeFan
03-14-2010, 11:41 PM
Anybody else think it sucks to be playing the winner of the play-in game? That means a very short amount of time alloted to scout the next opponent as opposed to the other #1 seeds - or even know who you're even playing. I know 16 taking down a 1 has never happened (yet) but anybody remember Belmont?

Nope, I am perfectly fine playing the winner of the play-in and am not at all worried about the shorter amount of time for scouting. We can look at Cal/Louisville in that time and I would be fine with it.

proelitedota
03-14-2010, 11:42 PM
Anybody else think it sucks to be playing the winner of the play-in game? That means a very short amount of time alloted to scout the next opponent as opposed to the other #1 seeds - or even know who you're even playing. I know 16 taking down a 1 has never happened (yet) but anybody remember Belmont?
We'll be scouting 2 opponents, and we're the 2nd seed against Belmont's 15th.

Bluedog
03-14-2010, 11:43 PM
Anybody else think it sucks to be playing the winner of the play-in game?

No. While it's true that there's less time to evaluate, the teams are definitely the two worst in the field. Arkansas-Pine Bluff lost their first 11 games of the season. Winthrop suffered a nearly 40-point loss to Clemson, lost to App State by 19, NC St by 16, and Eastern KY by 20....It doesn't suck.

Kewlswim
03-14-2010, 11:48 PM
Check in with the Duke Club of Houston. Kenney Dennard, Pres.

Duke alumni page; also Iron Dukes for pre-game, if any. I'm confident we'll get there, so have a good time.

Hi Jim,

You don't think we have to respect Cal, a lot, if they get by Louisville?

GO DUKE!

jipops
03-14-2010, 11:48 PM
They are number 16 for a reason dude. If you are scared of a 16 seed, you are frightened of your own shadow!!!

What is this that keeps following me!!!??

BattierD12
03-14-2010, 11:49 PM
Just read the chat wrap on ESPN's front page. Couple of things I picked up:

The knowledge of some of ESPN's writers is truly staggering. After repeatedly discussing how Duke in know way deserved the #1 seed, said writer goes on to say that he doesn't even know how Duke got the play-in game, which he believes is given to the overall #1 seed. Way to keep up with the rules of the sport you're covering.

Many people were asking if Duke should fear Louisville. Lunardi repeatedly stated that he believes Cal will take down Louisville first, and even if the 'ville were to advance, there is little chance in his mind of an upset. That said, he does pick Baylor to win the South, which is something I worry about with the games being played in Texas. Finally, he believes Richmond will be a tough game for Villanova.

I really don't understand all the Doug Gottlieb hate I see from time to time. Sure he puts down Duke here and there, but throughout the season, he has always commended us and believes that we have a legit shot (going as far as saying that championship game will be Duke vs. KU). It's fun watching Doug and Jay Williams go back and forth (especially Doug's jokes about Battier taking charges), and I don't see any ill-being towards each other.

Kewlswim
03-14-2010, 11:52 PM
They are number 16 for a reason dude. If you are scared of a 16 seed, you are frightened of your own shadow!!!

Hi,

I have respect for every opponent, including the #16 if I am the #1 seed. So, no, fear is not the issue, but respect is and not looking too far ahead.

GO DUKE!

jipops
03-14-2010, 11:59 PM
Hi,

I have respect for every opponent, including the #16 if I am the #1 seed. So, no, fear is not the issue, but respect is and not looking too far ahead.

GO DUKE!

With K's expertise and intelligence, we don't have an issue of looking too far ahead. But I can see how a team would make the mistake of respecting their opponent less than they should right before tip-off. Belmont may well have been the case of that. Yeah, I know they were a 15th seed - 15/16 - big whoop - it is still a massive underdog that is going to sneak up on someone eventually (as 15th seeds already have in the past).

-bdbd
03-15-2010, 12:03 AM
For the South region, listening to the predictions:

Jay Bilas---Villanova over Duke
Digger---Villanova over Duke
Hubert Davis---Duke over Baylor
Vitale---Villanova over Duke

Yes, and the majority had KA over KY in the championship -- so those are clearly your tourney favorites, which is fine by me (keeping the spotlight off of Duke). But nice that almost all have Duke making the regional finals at least.


There is not any real animosity between Baylor and A&M, especially in Basketball. I would think that Baylor fans will definitely be rooting for the Aggies against Duke.
I am really worried about a strong TX crowd rattling us in an "away" game if this happens. SO ROOT FOR PURDUE (or whoever) OVER A&M. (If we do meet them, maybe the guys can pay them back for the defeat A&M hung on the Duke WBB team.) I'd prefer to meet Purdue obviously as they may be overseeded b/c of Hummel's injury. I think Nova-Baylor in the Sweet-16 could be a great game, albeit an "away" game for Nova. Don't forget that Brey's crew in South Bend is really hot now, and think they can beat Baylor in New Orelans (2nd round) - go Irish! If I were a neutral observer I really think I'd pick Duke here, but not in a cakewalk.

"The NCAA is three four-team tournaments in a row. You win, and you get to play the next week." -- C. Laettner

We have four teams to worry about: Duke, whichever of Ark Pine Bluff or Winthrop emerges, Cal, and Louisville. I am looking forward to the Cal or Louisville matchups. I am not predicting anything, but I am hopeful of our chances.

The next week, three other teams will join Duke, if it survives.

On Duke's side of the bracket, who knows? I think any of these four teams can emerge. Purdue is clearly struggling, although it will not do as poorly as it did against Minnesota. I expect it will be Texas A&M, but won't be surprised if Siena or Utah State makes a splash.
sagegrouse

That is actually an ongoing K philosophy -- breaking it down into managable chunks. I sure hope that we get a huge contingent down to JAX to root 'em on in the first two rounds! But I really agree in not getting ahead of ourselves!!

A&M, again, is the team I least want to play in Houston in the 3rd round. I will be rooting against them strongly in the first two rounds.


This is CBS's vote. It has always been in the Tuesday papers (whatever they are), which means probably by 6PM ET on Monday.

sagegrouse
Yes, we'll know by Monday night. Keep an eye on ESPN.com or CBSsportsline.com I expect an Fri. evening slot for greatest TV audience given Duke's attractiveness to the network.


is a matchup like LSU was in 2006.

dukemsu

Sorry, I understand the idea, but sorta disagree. LSU was very, very physical and "athletic." But most importantly, Duke only had two weapons that year - and LSU was able to be very physical inside with Sheldon, and roughed up JJ, while the refs allowed an extremely physical game. That seems like an unlikely combination this time, especially with Duke having a third clear scoring weapon and a much deeper bench (and physical interior game ourselves).


I dont care about the teams we play, because none of the "matchups" we have are that bad. As long as the big three makes threes it'll be (: all smiles to the final four.
Its about how WE play not them. WE are the #1 seed.
Hear, hear! Focus, boys, focus!! And EXPECT to win out.


Villanova does not scare me one bit, because they lost their inside game (Cunningham, etc) last year. Scottie Reynolds will be a beast, but I think we handle Nova, considering the poor way they finished out the year.

Louisville will be tough, cause they are flying high after Syracuse, but Louisville is a very mortal team.

I have never seen Baylor play, so I cant comment, but if we run into either Texas team in Houston, that could be trouble.

I love this bracket. That said, lets get everyone fresh, healthy, and shooting well! And luck is ALWAYS important in the Tourney. I for one will be praying for many an upset in our bracket.


Look at Nova down the stretch and they've lost to every opponent with a strong interior game. I put Duke in that category - we'd kill them on the boards. Nova is NOT one of the tougher 2-seeds (would you rather have gotten WV or OSU??!), and since they'd match up in Houston vs Baylor, theoretically, then I see it as 50-50 at best that Nova makes it to the regional finals. I worry more about Baylor, in front of that crowd.

In the end, Duke probably got the third-toughest region, after the Midwest and maybe West. So, overall, hard to complain. Just win this weekend, twice, and move on baby!!!

-bdbd
03-15-2010, 12:16 AM
BTW, saw a stat on ESPN this weekend that should hearten some of you fretting over a 2nd round match-up vs Louisville: Over the last about 5 years the #1 seeds have made it to the Sweet-16 EVERY time. That's 20 for 20!! No guarantee, but I think puts our very good chances in perspective.

I would rather face a solid and well-coached (and higher-seeded) Cal team, simply b/c we match up better with them, I think. They are solid and will compete, but less likely to throw the big-time upset. The Cardinals remind me of Kerlina this year -- lots of talent that has trouble focusing every game out, but when motivated to focus -- reference "Syracuse, Orange" -- they have the talent to win.

Isn't this a GREAT time of year or what???!!

:D:):cool::rolleyes:

Kewlswim
03-15-2010, 12:22 AM
BTW, saw a stat on ESPN this weekend that should hearten some of you fretting over a 2nd round match-up vs Louisville: Over the last about 5 years the #1 seeds have made it to the Sweet-16 EVERY time. That's 20 for 20!! No guarantee, but I think puts our very good chances in perspective.

I would rather face a solid and well-coached (and higher-seeded) Cal team, simply b/c we match up better with them, I think. They are solid and will compete, but less likely to throw the big-time upset. The Cardinals remind me of Kerlina this year -- lots of talent that has trouble focusing every game out, but when motivated to focus -- reference "Syracuse, Orange" -- they have the talent to win.

Isn't this a GREAT time of year or what???!!

:D:):cool::rolleyes:

Hi,

Thank you for that. I am fretting a lot this tournament because I really dislike in many ways the teams we would face (Louisville/Cal) in the second round. I dislike those teams, for different reasons, immensely.

GO DUKE!

YourLandlord
03-15-2010, 12:26 AM
Yes, we'll know by Monday night. Keep an eye on ESPN.com or CBSsportsline.com I expect an Fri. evening slot for greatest TV audience given Duke's attractiveness to the network.



The times are already out. Friday at 7:30 for us.

proelitedota
03-15-2010, 12:30 AM
I don't know why, but I am already more nervous now than anytime during the season.

ChicagoCrazy84
03-15-2010, 12:41 AM
I hate how every ESPN expert is still so in love with Villanova. Arrgh!! They're a good team, but they have lost 5 of their last 7 and will potentially have some tough matchups before the supposed Elite 8 matchup.

Before that potential matchup, we will have to deal with Cal or Louisville. I've pretty much came to the conclusion that every matchup between a 1 and 8-9 seed is "scary" because 8-9 seeds are always capable of playing really well, but are also very capable of not showing up which is pretty much why they are 8 or 9 seeds. I guarantee you all 1 seeds are having the same discussion about their potential matchups with their respective 8-9 seeds. I guarantee Kentucky fans are freaked out about maybe having to play Texas. Cousins vs. Pittman, Wall vs. Bradley. How about Syracuse/Gonzaga? A banged up Onuaku vs. Sacre, Wes Johnson and Elias Harris? KU may get a pass, but possibly playing a 28 win NIU team? Everyone gets those jitters and we are no different. I personally will be cheering for Cal to win that game. I think we would matchup great with them. They have great guard play, but hey, so do we. They really have no big men except for a relative non-factor Markuhri Sanders-Frison who is undersized himself at 6-7. We'll get to the Elite 8 IMO and once you get there, you never know what will happen.

snowdenscold
03-15-2010, 01:28 AM
BTW, saw a stat on ESPN this weekend that should hearten some of you fretting over a 2nd round match-up vs Louisville: Over the last about 5 years the #1 seeds have made it to the Sweet-16 EVERY time. That's 20 for 20!! No guarantee, but I think puts our very good chances in perspective.


If memory serves, it's only the past 5 years because in 2004 1-seed Kentucky ran into UAB in the round of 32, where one of the UAB players threw a ridiculous over-his-head pass to his brother. Need to go youtube now...

Edit: brings a smile to my heart: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyKsOwfeXRo

SCMatt33
03-15-2010, 01:38 AM
I hate how every ESPN expert is still so in love with Villanova. Arrgh!! They're a good team, but they have lost 5 of their last 7 and will potentially have some tough matchups before the supposed Elite 8 matchup.

I think this is a big reflection on how ESPN runs thing. All of their analysts spend the entire day figuring out who is in and who will get what seed. During the day some of the guys seemed noticeably tired during interviews. Then, once the brackets are released, the analysts are asked to make predictions almost immediately. Most of these guys like to do research on games and probably don't like making picks off the top of their heads. When you look at Duke-Nova, most of them immediately think of last year, then think about how Nova has been at least as good this year for most of the year. They think of Duke being a little better, but having many of the same problems. Result, they all pick nova.

I'm surprised that none of them pick either of the Texas teams, as they will have a huge home advantage, but I don't think most of the studio analysts really know too much about the middle of the pack big 12 teams. I guarantee that if it did come down to Duke-Nova, some of them would change their minds.

I also looked up the box score from last years game and noticed several things in our favor. Last year, Duke got out-rebounded by 15, 49-34. Dante Cunningham got 11 boards in that game, with Anderson and Clark getting 7 and 5. They only have two starters back from that game, Reynolds and Redding and Redding has struggled this season after being suspended for the first semester. Their offense was not super efficient in that game, as they shot only 42%. They mainly killed us in the paint (outscoring us 44-18) and on the boards. A lot of those points came on drives and to be honest, our guards had no backup on D last year. It was hard to have any aggression in the middle as we were undersized and couldn't afford foul trouble. That is no longer the case.

Nova is the one who is undersized now. They have had problems rebounding recently and though they have a +5 margin on the year, that is skewed by several early games against terrible teams in which Nova won the boards by 18-25 rebounds. Taylor King is the team's second leading rebounder. That should tell you what you need to know. Towards the end of the year, they have started falling into the trap that Duke did last year. At times the team will just watch Reynolds try and score much like Duke did with Gerald. I highly doubt that we will see Nova in the elite 8 if we make it, but I'd probably rather play them than Baylor.

BD80
03-15-2010, 06:22 AM
A problem in scouting 16 seeds is that there isn't always a lot of film on them. We will get to see our opponent play Tuesday night. Monday and Tuesday, we can just work on things for the entire tournament - and maybe some of Pitino's shenanigans.

Looks like Cuse bluffed the commitee, announcing that Arinze Onuaku would practice Monday, and then admitting after the brackets were released that he probably wouldn't play this weekend. I am still happy not to be in their half of the bracket.

The talking head are generally picking Nova over Duke, and refer to last year. Yes, Nova returned its top 4 guards, but lost its entire starting frontcourt! Its center and 2 forwards. They now have a frontcourt of 2 freshmen and a junior (Pena) that didn't play much last year but has stepped up well this year. Oh yeah, and transfer TK who was recently disciplined for his attitude.

We lost Gerald, starting FRESHMAN EWill, and McClure and Paulus. But we have added Mason and Andre, we have Nolan and Z playing FAR better than last year, and Miles is now a contributor (he didn't play against 'Nova last year). We may have trouble with their guards, but we are far more dominant on the boards than last year - when Lance and Kyle were our front court and Z was our inconsistent substitute.

I don't think 'Nova is as good (or as well poised for ambush) as last year. I think we are better than last year. I think we match up better with Nova this year. I think we are getting better at this point (Andre and the MPs stepping up), whereas Nova seems to be slumping. On the whole, I am VERY pleased to have Nova rather than WVU or OSU or KSU. Richmond or Baylor/ND may take care of Nova for us.

Purdue as our #4 was a total gift.

Jackson
03-15-2010, 07:40 AM
What I really want to know is who are the 25 people on a DUKE board that pick someone other than US to win the region? How many times can Jay Bilas vote anyway?? Just kidding Jay!

flyingdutchdevil
03-15-2010, 08:40 AM
What I think is really interesting is that, according to Chad Ford, there are no potential lottery picks in the South bracket for this year (ie Mason Plumlee dominating next year and being a lottery pick for 2011 doesn't count).

Wonder how many times that has happened. There are obviously NBA players and first rounders, but I take it as a good sign that there aren't any lottery picks in our bracket.

davekay1971
03-15-2010, 08:55 AM
Which potential game is giving Duke fans the most nervousness? For me, it's probably the 2nd round game. Both Cal and L-ville are capable, if they're playing well, of giving us a tough time. I think Duke should beat either team, but early foul trouble on 2 of our big 3, like we had against Miami, a horrible shooting night, etc, could make it an uncomfortably close game.

Texas A&M is a good team, but Purdue without Hummel should be manageable.

If we make it to the regional finals, both 'Nova and Baylor are tough. Getting out of the region is doable, but is going to take us playing well against tough competition. Our bracket could be much, much worse, but it ain't "cupcake city"...baby.

airowe
03-15-2010, 09:46 AM
Wow. There are a lot of shell-shocked Duke fans on here. I guess I'm feeling a bit more confident than most of you on here but I have a feeling it has a lot to do with Duke's performance over the last 5 years than anything.

I'm not as worried about Louisville as most of you seem to be. At first, like Troublemaker, I was a little concerned, but looking at their entire body of work and realizing that the only good team they beat was Syracuse. Sometimes, teams just have another team's number.

Cal could give us fits, but their strength is also ours and our backcourt is much better than theirs. We also tower over them as someone else noted.

If we can get past the second round (I'm confident, but not taking anything for granted.) I like our chances against the rest of our bracket until we get to the Regional Finals against Baylor/Nova. Baylor concerns me more than Nova, but mainly because of their home court advantage.

I like our bracket and I have confidence this team's experience, cohesiveness, backcourt, offensive rebounding, and perimeter defense can push them into the Final Four, where anything could happen. I might losr my bracket challenge picking Duke to Indy, but I like my odds.

Billy Dat
03-15-2010, 09:56 AM
Bulletin Board Material from CNNSI.com's Luke Winn. He says some nice things, but they feel like back handed compliments and the line about a potential Duke/Kentucky FF game is what got me riled up.
http://tourney.si.com/2010/03/15/bracket-musings-selection-sunday-edition/

• It’s not a travesty that Duke got a No. 1 seed. It won the ACC. It won the ACC tournament. It was the No. 1 overall team in the kenpom.com efficiency rankings (which I care about, but the committee doesn’t). The Blue Devils are a good team with a great statistical profile. What didn’t make sense was giving them the third overall seed and the least-competitive region. The South is like the NIT compared to the Midwest: Villanova is lucky to be a No. 2, Purdue is hardly playing like a No. 4 seed, and Notre Dame is overseeded (by two or three spots) at a No. 6.

• Because of the way-too-weak field in the South, I’m tentatively putting Duke in Indianapolis. This is the most statistically robust Blue Devils team since the 2004 club that went to the Final Four in San Antonio and lost to eventual champ Connecticut. They rank No. 1 overall in efficiency, and it’s going to take a legitimately elite team to knock them off this time around. (Such as Kentucky, in the Final Four. That could be a slaughter.)

• Was there really not anyone in the committee room who looked at the South Region and thought it was absurd? Because that’s what I think every time I look at it.

IBleedBlue
03-15-2010, 10:00 AM
The only two teams that worry me in our region are - Baylor and TAMU. Both are long, athletic and have played and tested well with the likes of Kansas , K-State and Texas. Plus, they get the home court advantage once the tournament reaches Houston. Unfortunately, we haven't done well in true road games this season (Georgetown;Wisconsin etc). Other than those two, none of the other teams scare us.
And, No, I didn't vote yet.

blueprofessor
03-15-2010, 10:08 AM
According to Jason Whitlock, the network put pressure on the NCAA selection committee to give Duke the easiest path to the Final Four.
Yep. Treating Duke like the overall number 1 seed.:(

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/13/1813273_ncaa-caves-to-tv-pressure-by-going.html

Best regards, Devil fans! Blueprofessor:)

Hermy-own
03-15-2010, 10:27 AM
I'm not going to respond to BlueProfessor's post.

Is anyone worried about our play during the ACC tournament? I was very happy with how Dawkins and the Plumlees played - all of them made solid contributions, and Dawkins even began scoring. I hope the Plumlees can start doing that too. On the other hand, all of our games were really close, much closer than they perhaps should have been. Why was that?

I can think of two possible reasons:
Our shooting was off. Jon & Nolan each took 13 shots to score 16 points. Kyle took 15 shots to score 20 points. And Jon & Kyle's scoring numbers were greatly boosted by getting fouled while dribbling, and then nailing the free throws. Our big 3 are great, but I wish they could get their points more efficiently.

The contributions from Lance and Zoub went down a little bit. Lance and Zoub are still better than the Plumlees at defense, but not always by much. Lance does very well on 3's and smaller 4's, but sometimes I think that people can shoot over him. Zoub is usually very effective in altering shots with his height.

On the offense, what happened to feeding Zoubs in the post? Shouldn't we give him the opportunity to score 4-5 true post-up buckets a game? He has shown the ability, I just don't think he was quite as aggressive in the ACCT as he was during his good streak of games starting with Maryland.

Hopefully Duke can fix these small problems before we play a really hard NCAAT game (2nd round). It's possible that the Plumlees can start scoring more and offset a loss of scoring from Zoub, but they don't have the same back to the basket game that he does.

60's Devil
03-15-2010, 10:28 AM
The Kansas City Star says that Duke, a perennial tournament choker was given a cakewalk to the Final Four because of tv ratings. Can't they just be satisfied by being the odds-on favorite? If Andree and the Plumlees keep on improving, we could be very dangerous!

blueprofessor
03-15-2010, 10:36 AM
Whitlock goes on to write:"Coach K and his band of Boys Next Door are the Great White Hopes of Hoops. Three of Duke’s five starters are white. Their top two scorers are white."
A lot more...
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/13...-by-going.html

Best regards--Blueprofessor:)

78Devil
03-15-2010, 10:37 AM
Way back in early February, my son said "The team I really don't want us to meet in the NCAAs is Texas A & M". Well, guess what might happen.

Let's hope he is as correct about this as he was yesterday when he told me that he thought he had been pretty good doing chores around the house when he was younger!

NashvilleDevil
03-15-2010, 10:38 AM
I'm not going to respond to BlueProfessor's post.

Is anyone worried about our play during the ACC tournament? I was very happy with how Dawkins and the Plumlees played - all of them made solid contributions, and Dawkins even began scoring. I hope the Plumlees can start doing that too. On the other hand, all of our games were really close, much closer than they perhaps should have been. Why was that?

I can think of two possible reasons:
Our shooting was off. Jon & Nolan each took 13 shots to score 16 points. Kyle took 15 shots to score 20 points. And Jon & Kyle's scoring numbers were greatly boosted by getting fouled while dribbling, and then nailing the free throws. Our big 3 are great, but I wish they could get their points more efficiently.

The contributions from Lance and Zoub went down a little bit. Lance and Zoub are still better than the Plumlees at defense, but not always by much. Lance does very well on 3's and smaller 4's, but sometimes I think that people can shoot over him. Zoub is usually very effective in altering shots with his height.

On the offense, what happened to feeding Zoubs in the post? Shouldn't we give him the opportunity to score 4-5 true post-up buckets a game? He has shown the ability, I just don't think he was quite as aggressive in the ACCT as he was during his good streak of games starting with Maryland.

Hopefully Duke can fix these small problems before we play a really hard NCAAT game (2nd round). It's possible that the Plumlees can start scoring more and offset a loss of scoring from Zoub, but they don't have the same back to the basket game that he does.

Besides the bad shooting I also think Duke playing 3 teams that they played during the regular season caused some of the problems. I was never worried during the UVA or Miami games even when Miami made their run at the end. I was worried during the Ga.Tech game just because it was the 3rd time Duke had played them and Duke was having a tough time getting into their offense the last 5 minutes.

I'm hoping for a comfortable win on Friday night so the team will be well rested if they have to face Louisville and their press.

sagegrouse
03-15-2010, 10:57 AM
1. The South Regional games at the Toyota Center in Houston are not, are not, ARE NOT away games for Duke, even if we face Texas A&M or Baylor. Baylor is in Waco and has not played a single game at the Toyota Center. Texas A&M is in College Station and played one game at the Toyota Center this season, losing to New Mexico. "Away game" means the opponent's home court, where they have not only the fans but also a familiar floor and rims.

Texas A&M has a pretty widespread following in Houston, but I don't believe Baylor does. Moreover, basketball in Texas ain't the same as football. I would hope that Duke gets some fan support and not only from Duke alums.

2. Do the ESPN wizards that picked Villanova to advance to the Final Four actually realize (as Roy White and I have previously posted) that the Wildcats have lost five of their last seven games. Some were against top competition (WVa and Syracuse) and some weren't -- the loss to Marquette in the quarters of the Big East, for example. And BTW, I like K-coached teams in rematches.

3. Playing Cal would be a hoot, depending to be sure on the outcome. Ex-Devil Jamal Boykin has become a star for the Bears, making 2nd team All Pac10 (although there were ten players on the first team).

sagegrouse

ice-9
03-15-2010, 11:07 AM
Cal could give us fits, but their strength is also ours and our backcourt is much better than theirs. We also tower over them as someone else noted.

Our challenge vs. Cal would be to contain speedy 5-10 guard Randle. If he's able to consistently penetrate and drive against us, he could get our guards into foul trouble. Which would be bad.

ice-9
03-15-2010, 11:13 AM
Besides the bad shooting I also think Duke playing 3 teams that they played during the regular season caused some of the problems. I was never worried during the UVA or Miami games even when Miami made their run at the end. I was worried during the Ga.Tech game just because it was the 3rd time Duke had played them and Duke was having a tough time getting into their offense the last 5 minutes.

I'm hoping for a comfortable win on Friday night so the team will be well rested if they have to face Louisville and their press.


I thought there were two big differences in the GT game:

- GT played great, long, athletic defense. They rotated well; harassed us just enough to avoid the call but certainly enough to cause problems; blocked lots of interior shots; and prevented our offense from getting going. Thankfully I think the defense they displayed is probably about as tough as we'll see here on out.

- GT finally learned to dump the ball to Favours and Lawal. No more Shumpert et. al. tossing ill advised long jumpers early in the shot clock. The jump shots they did take in the game were mostly good ones.

If they played the way they did against us AND cut down on the turnovers AND do better at the free throw line, they could be a very, very dangerous team in the NCAA.

ice-9
03-15-2010, 11:17 AM
1. The South Regional games at the Toyota Center in Houston are not, are not, ARE NOT away games for Duke, even if we face Texas A&M or Baylor. Baylor is in Waco and has not played a single game at the Toyota Center. Texas A&M is in College Station and played one game at the Toyota Center this season, losing to New Mexico. "Away game" means the opponent's home court, where they have not only the fans but also a familiar floor and rims.

Sorry for the multiple posts in one thread!

While I agree they're not exactly road games, they're certainly not neutral ones either. Baylor and TAMU players travel shorter distances to get there. The food, culture, weather, and general environment will mostly be the same (though of course Houston is more urban). Lots of friends, family and fans will travel with them and give them vocal support.

It's like us in Greensboro versus, say, Boston College. Not exactly a home game for us, but better than neutral.

BlueintheFace
03-15-2010, 11:23 AM
Way back in early February, my son said "The team I really don't want us to meet in the NCAAs is Texas A & M". Well, guess what might happen.

Let's hope he is as correct about this as he was yesterday when he told me that he thought he had been pretty good doing chores around the house when he was younger!

Your son is VERY smart. That A&M matchup looks even worse in Houston Texas with a bee hive full of rabid Aggie fans. Duke-A&M in Houston looks like the scariest potential matchup on the way to the Final Four.

flyingdutchdevil
03-15-2010, 11:29 AM
Whitlock goes on to write:"Coach K and his band of Boys Next Door are the Great White Hopes of Hoops. Three of Duke’s five starters are white. Their top two scorers are white."
A lot more...
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/13...-by-going.html

Best regards--Blueprofessor:)

I may be the only one, but I tend to agree with a lot of Whitlock's points. I don't think he writes well, which is part of the reason that this article was received so poorly. Basically, his points are the following:

a) The NCAA is all about money. Check - and I'd find it difficult for someone to disagree with this.

b) Duke is and has historically (at least recently) been "whiter" than most elite programs. Check.

c) There is a lot of interest in Duke, both positive and negative, compared to most programs, including elite programs. Check.

d) There is a hypothesis that a lot of this interest may stem from Duke being "whiter." While I can see why many would have a problem with this, I would tend to agree. "White" isn't the only reason, it's historically prestige, Olympic coach, top-10 academic school, etc. But the race issue is certainly an issue, IMO.

Thus, in the eyes of many (especially the NCAA), interest = money. It is in their best interest to make the teams that garner the most interest to have the easiest schedule. Is this Duke's fault? Absolutely not! Will people blame Duke? Unfortunately yes. Whitlock doesn't put blame on Duke in the article (read the end - he really seems to like Duke). He is merely stating that money rules all, including the road to the Final Four.

A-Tex Devil
03-15-2010, 11:38 AM
1. The South Regional games at the Toyota Center in Houston are not, are not, ARE NOT away games for Duke, even if we face Texas A&M or Baylor. Baylor is in Waco and has not played a single game at the Toyota Center. Texas A&M is in College Station and played one game at the Toyota Center this season, losing to New Mexico. "Away game" means the opponent's home court, where they have not only the fans but also a familiar floor and rims.

Texas A&M has a pretty widespread following in Houston, but I don't believe Baylor does. Moreover, basketball in Texas ain't the same as football. I would hope that Duke gets some fan support and not only from Duke alums.

2. Do the ESPN wizards that picked Villanova to advance to the Final Four actually realize (as Roy White and I have previously posted) that the Wildcats have lost five of their last seven games. Some were against top competition (WVa and Syracuse) and some weren't -- the loss to Marquette in the quarters of the Big East, for example. And BTW, I like K-coached teams in rematches.

3. Playing Cal would be a hoot, depending to be sure on the outcome. Ex-Devil Jamal Boykin has become a star for the Bears, making 2nd team All Pac10 (although there were ten players on the first team).

sagegrouse

Houston games are at Reliant.

Anyway, I agree in part. The venues won't be necessarily familiar to Baylor or A&M. But having lived in Houston for most of my life, I can tell you that there are a TON of Baylor (which is a pretty damn big private school) and A&M alums in Houston. I can also tell you that they both will follow their basketball programs with heavy support -- especially since their football programs stink these days.

They will be hostile crowds, make no mistake. That being said, you are right, the biggest piece of homecourt is familiarity with the look and feel -- the way the arena looks when you are pulling up in the corner or from top of the arc, etc. That will be new to everyone.

I hope we get there!

blueprofessor
03-15-2010, 11:44 AM
Analysis of each team's probability from one round to the next until Final Four.
The author has Kentucky's chance of reaching the FF at 20%.
He uses spreadsheets for every team.
Duke is looking good.Not so for Kansas.

http://vegaswatch.net/

Best regards--Blueprofessor:)

Spret42
03-15-2010, 11:51 AM
In a lot of ways Whitlock is right. And it is important that we note Whitlock doesn't put this at the feet of Duke.

No one with a brain can disregard that the NCAA is about money.
To totally disregard that there may be more to setting up this tournament than a pure S curve of the best teams is to be a bit naive. The tournament is about television ratings and ensuring that it will be profitable for the networks and their stockholders. The contract is up this year and they have to sell this tournament. Duke moves the needle when it comes to television. Duke gets ratings.

We are talking about huge amounts of money and investment here. CBS paid $6,000,000,000. Just look at those zeroes and tell me there isn't more to it than a pure competition.

Atlanta Duke
03-15-2010, 11:57 AM
John Calipari told Dan Patrick West Virginia should have received the #1 seed over Duke

Calipari said West Virginia should have been a No. 1 seed over Duke. "When they won that tournament, they should have been a one seed," Calipari said. Calipari has been very impressed with WVU coach Bob Huggins.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/blog/101861/index.html?eref=sihp

No context for what it is about Coach Huggins that most impresses Coach Calipari (graduation rates?)

And here is a shocker - not certain if this already has been posted - the Wall Street Journal has a bracket up where Duke beats Kansas for the national championship

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/wsj_NCAAProjections0315.pdf

Cormac
03-15-2010, 11:57 AM
Colin Cowherd (notorious Duke hater but has always loved K) picked Duke to win it all on his show today. Says depth is overrated and that having a big three is a huge advantage not a disadvantage. Take it for what it's worth.

superdave
03-15-2010, 12:39 PM
I just went through Baylor's schedule. Lost to Kansas, K state (twice) and A&M. But they beat Texas 3x. None of the losses were blowouts - all 6-7 points. They did not play K St and Kansas twice during the conference regular season.

So it looks like they TCB when they are the stronger team but dont have the juice to pull off an upset.

Here's Big 12 conference stats:
http://www.big12sports.com/ViewContent.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=10410&CONTENT_ID=100222

Baylor seems to rebound well and shoot a high percentage. But they turn the ball over a lot and have a 1.0 assist-turnover ratio on the year.

northernduke
03-15-2010, 01:21 PM
In a lot of ways Whitlock is right. And it is important that we note Whitlock doesn't put this at the feet of Duke.

No one with a brain can disregard that the NCAA is about money.
To totally disregard that there may be more to setting up this tournament than a pure S curve of the best teams is to be a bit naive. The tournament is about television ratings and ensuring that it will be profitable for the networks and their stockholders. The contract is up this year and they have to sell this tournament. Duke moves the needle when it comes to television. Duke gets ratings.

We are talking about huge amounts of money and investment here. CBS paid $6,000,000,000. Just look at those zeroes and tell me there isn't more to it than a pure competition.

Case in point is Syracuse vs. Vermont in the first round. I have a hard time believing that the S curve coincidentally laid Vermont into the ring with SU. It makes for pre-tournament buzz, especially when there is very little buzz around the typical 1 vs. 16 game.

northernduke
03-15-2010, 01:23 PM
John Calipari told Dan Patrick West Virginia should have received the #1 seed over Duke

Calipari said West Virginia should have been a No. 1 seed over Duke. "When they won that tournament, they should have been a one seed," Calipari said. Calipari has been very impressed with WVU coach Bob Huggins.




I think this is expectation management / positioning. I highly doubt that Calipari does not believe his team will win, but it certainly helps his case whether he wins or loses if people believe the East contained two "number 1" seeds.

J_C_Steel
03-15-2010, 01:38 PM
I want to know the 10 posters who voted for 'Nova. Has anyone watched them play recently? Sheesh.

airowe
03-15-2010, 01:50 PM
I want to know the 10 posters who voted for 'Nova. Has anyone watched them play recently? Sheesh.

At least one is a carolina fan. Hey, kong123!

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=735

Terps1993
03-15-2010, 02:10 PM
As a grad of your number 2 rival I think Duke has the most competitive team since 01-02. The biggest reason is size and size off the bench. Everyone knows the big three can light it up but the ability to defend and rebound under the basket is a difference maker. Unless you play Duke on a regular basis you can't believe how fast the game can get away from you. Good lick to the ACC and a sucessful tourney. Peace:)

ncexnyc
03-15-2010, 02:16 PM
I've seen media people say we were handed a First Class ticket to the Final Four, yet I've seen people on this thread voice major concern over possible match-ups. I've seen people talk about various teams passing the eye test, while others want to dwell on the computer rankings.

I say forget about all of the above. This is the NCAAT. It's a one and done tourney where anything can and will happen. Either a key player gets into foul trouble, someone gets sick or injured, or someone has a career game. It's happened in the past and it will happen this year. All we can hope for is that the Basketball Gods continue to look our way, as to be honest, things certainly have been falling our way these past few weeks.

Support our team, the kids have been great and win, lose, or draw they'll give it 100%.

Classof06
03-15-2010, 02:22 PM
As a grad of your number 2 rival I think Duke has the most competitive team since 01-02. The biggest reason is size and size off the bench. Everyone knows the big three can light it up but the ability to defend and rebound under the basket is a difference maker. Unless you play Duke on a regular basis you can't believe how fast the game can get away from you. Good lick to the ACC and a sucessful tourney. Peace:)

I think Duke fans will be pleasantly surprised to see how useful it is to have frontcourt depth. Duke hasn't had this kind of depth in the frontcourt since 2003-04. For the first time in a long time, Duke has enough bodies up front to withstand foul trouble and can win when it's not shooting 3s well. We will need both these attributes at some point.

Saratoga2
03-15-2010, 02:25 PM
I would think if each player would attempt to improve a facet of their game or a circumstance that has been weak of late, this team would step up their game another notch. I thought of 6 areas to suggest for the players and coaches to do just that.


1. A rested Jon Scheyer (Coach K can see to that)

2. Duke avoidance of using the press on defense ( Counterproductive)

3. Thomas to avoid picking up silly fouls (why not?)

4. Thomas and Zoubek to go up strongly on chippies (More inside scoring)

5. Miles Plumlee to concentrate on catching the ball before making any move
( Not quite like Casey Sanders but this would improve his game)

6. Mason Plumlee not to chase the ball on defense (Don't put the pressure on Zoubek to make up for your misses on defense)

bluebear
03-15-2010, 02:27 PM
I think Duke fans will be pleasantly surprised to see how useful it is to have frontcourt depth. Duke hasn't had this kind of depth in the frontcourt since 2003-04.

I wish we had had just a bit more frontcourt depth in 2003-2004..

weezie
03-15-2010, 02:29 PM
As a grad of your number 2 rival I think Duke has the most competitive team since 01-02. The biggest reason is size and size off the bench. Everyone knows the big three can light it up but the ability to defend and rebound under the basket is a difference maker. Unless you play Duke on a regular basis you can't believe how fast the game can get away from you. Good lick to the ACC and a sucessful tourney. Peace:)

Wow! Welcome to DBR...you sound like a very reasonable person.
I'm pleased to have you here.

superdave
03-15-2010, 02:44 PM
I would think if each player would attempt to improve a facet of their game or a circumstance that has been weak of late, this team would step up their game another notch. I thought of 6 areas to suggest for the players and coaches to do just that.


1. A rested Jon Scheyer (Coach K can see to that)

2. Duke avoidance of using the press on defense ( Counterproductive)

3. Thomas to avoid picking up silly fouls (why not?)

4. Thomas and Zoubek to go up strongly on chippies (More inside scoring)

5. Miles Plumlee to concentrate on catching the ball before making any move
( Not quite like Casey Sanders but this would improve his game)

6. Mason Plumlee not to chase the ball on defense (Don't put the pressure on Zoubek to make up for your misses on defense)

Anyone know what Coach K is likely to do in practice this week? I'd think today is a day off and they may do a lot more walk-through of plays and sets than real running.

Also, it seems like it could be allergy season because of all the precipitation and now warmer weather. That could be nipping at a few guys.

I actually like throwing our full court press out for 3-4 possessions at a time. It seems to get other teams out of their rhythm. Same with the zone occasionally.

Classof06
03-15-2010, 02:47 PM
I wish we had had just a bit more frontcourt depth in 2003-2004..

Michael Thompson, anyone?

superdave
03-15-2010, 02:50 PM
Michael Thompson, anyone?

Either him or an 8th year of eligibility out of Matt Christensen.

Cavlaw
03-15-2010, 02:58 PM
As a grad of your number 2 rival...

I've never before encountered a State grad who is a Maryland fan. Welcome, and thanks for the kind words re the team.

DukeCrow
03-15-2010, 03:07 PM
Colin Cowherd (notorious Duke hater but has always loved K) picked Duke to win it all on his show today. Says depth is overrated and that having a big three is a huge advantage not a disadvantage. Take it for what it's worth.

As you said, he pointed out that Duke's having 3 scorers is a big advantage and that it makes them a legitimate contender to win it all. But I didn't take his comments to mean that he was picking Duke to win it all -- just that he thought they could.

OldPhiKap
03-15-2010, 03:07 PM
Anyone know what Coach K is likely to do in practice this week? I'd think today is a day off and they may do a lot more walk-through of plays and sets than real running.

Also, it seems like it could be allergy season because of all the precipitation and now warmer weather. That could be nipping at a few guys.

I actually like throwing our full court press out for 3-4 possessions at a time. It seems to get other teams out of their rhythm. Same with the zone occasionally.

Hopefully, a little work on breaking the press.

roywhite
03-15-2010, 03:12 PM
Hopefully, a little work on breaking the press.

Amen. Gotta give GaTech some credit for running a good press (and having the athletes to do it), but we've got to do a better job, hopefully to take it to the basket, but certainly to get it across midcourt in time and without turnovers.

Have to think Pitino will smile when he watches a game tape and sees how effective GaTech's press was late in the second half. :(

Reddevil
03-15-2010, 03:30 PM
1) Duke is ranked 3rd in the polls as they should be, and are ACC champions. If people want to make a case for WV - go after 'Cuse not Duke.

2) The Pac-10 is a joke this year - don't worry about Cal. The boys and K will be fine against the press - don't worry about the 'ville.

3) Both Duke and 'Nova are very different teams than last year's editions. Relish the opportunity there!

4) A&M and/or Baylor in Houston will be tough, but this team has been through a tough schedule. Sure they took their lumps on the road, but that is what being "seasoned" is all about.

5) I love the rotation of Lance and Z, then the Plumlees, back to L & Z, then more Plumlees. This is a transformation that solidified late in the season, and really will cause problems for opponents which brings up the last point...

6) No matter how nervous we get as Duke fans, do not underestimate the horror on the other end - all that bravado is a defense mechanism.

GO DUKE!!!

diesel
03-15-2010, 03:49 PM
We could face a variety of felines in the NCAA Tournament. I think there are at least 3 Wildcats, as well as 2 Tigers, Bobcats, Cougars, Panthers, Golden Lions and Bearcats.

I have no doubt the Blue Devils can turn them all in to plain old cats! As one of the faithful, I have been working on my own on the goal of taming felines. As evidence, I attach a picture of a suitably attired cat from a recent visit to Ethiopia.

AlaskanAssassin
03-15-2010, 03:51 PM
Not sure if this has been posted, but here is ones opinion as to why Duke got an 'easier' road.

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/13/1813273/ncaa-caves-to-tv-pressure-by-going.html

OldPhiKap
03-15-2010, 04:03 PM
Have to think Pitino will smile when he watches a game tape and sees how effective GaTech's press was late in the second half. :(

That was my first thought, too. It was unusual (I thought) to see us struggle with the press and with initiating the offense before the shot clock became a real problem. Not typical of this team or of veteran guards.

Time to get the little things down.

noyac
03-15-2010, 04:07 PM
I have read all of the posts in this thread and I am sure all of your concerns are genuine and most of the are legitimate. I have to admit it is fun to theorize on who we are gonna play and what favorable/bad matchups we would have with whom and that is part of what makes the NCAA tournament great. The simple fact is that nothing is guaranteed to anyone and we have to focus on each game as if it is our last because it could be.

Since this is the south discussion thread I will address something that I have read on here time and time again and some that I have heard in the media

1.) Villanova has stunk lately so we will beat them and they are too atheletic for us---If they stunk that bad then they won't make it to play us and if they do make it then they must be playing better, the fact is our bigs are better than theirs and who is gonna guard Singler? Taylor King or Antonio Pena?

2.) Texas A+M is so atheletic and it will be like a home game for them---I have not watched many minutes of A+M bball but from looking at their record they have struggled on the road (this is a road game for everyone) and against the better teams. IMO the conference tournaments tell alot about a team because it is similar to the NCAA's one and done and teams with nothing to lose. and A+M beat Nebraska by 6 and got trounced by Kansas

3.) Baylor is our toughes matchup (so atheletic) I am so scared of them---they have beat no one to speak of, they have two wins against opponents who were ranked at the end of the season (Xavier and A+M they split), they have one big that scores more than 10 a game and that is it, this will give our bigs a chance to help on their big 2 (but they still have to guard our big 3!)

4.) Louisville is great they beat 'Cuse twice---I just took a look at their schedule and results and if they didn't beat 'Cuse twice I don't think they would have made the tournament. I hate to say it but Uconn is not a quality win and besides the 'Cuse wins all they have is a win over ND and an early exit from the Big East Championship

5.) Cal has a great guard that is listed at 5'10" and they are fast---if he is listed at 5'10" then he is probably closer to 5'9" or smaller and we have 7'1", 6'10", 6'10", and 6'8" that play underneath that will certainly make him tentative to drive not to mention their tallest player with experience is 6'8" (Boykin) so I think we would do ok against them, also they have no wins against a team that was ranked at the end of the season

I know that this the NCAA and anything can happen so instead of being on the defensive and focusing on these teams strenghts let's be on the offensive and look at their weak points.

Bob Green
03-15-2010, 04:15 PM
According to Jason Whitlock, the network put pressure on the NCAA selection committee to give Duke the easiest path to the Final Four.

I know this comment will not be appreciated in this forum, however, I found Whitlock's article to be entertaining. Once you put away your Duke Blue perspective, it is easy to realize his actual target is the NCAA's pending decision to expand the tournament to 96 teams. He uses Duke as a vehicle to make his point. Why? Because he has the same priority as the NCAA - great ratings. The NCAA desires better tv ratings to justify another big dollars contract and Jason Whitlock desires more page hits for the Kansas City Star. It is all about the all mighty dollar for both the NCAA and Whitlock.

And while we are selectively quoting lines from the article, this one is nice:


I’m not complaining. I’m not anti-Duke at all. I would love to have a son play for Coach K. It would mean that my son excelled athletically and academically. Plus, I respect Coach K.

KyDevilinIL
03-15-2010, 04:19 PM
I'm scared of everyone in our bracket at this point. It's the annual post-draw dread setting in, combined with what wasn't an inspiring ACCT from an execution standpoint.

I'm also not looking at Nova or A&M or Purdue or Baylor or any potential second weekend team. I know it's fun to speculate and project, but I just can't bring myself to think about anything other than A) taking care of business early and with authority in the first round, and B) preparing for what will not be an easy or fun second round game by any stretch of the imagination. Those who are assuming a victory against Cal or Louisville are either vastly underselling those two teams or grossly overrating our level of play lately.

The media is excoriating us and the committee for our draw. Fine. Whatever. They can say what they will, but this is going to be a difficult path for Duke. A Final Four is not a likelihood.

blueprofessor
03-15-2010, 04:47 PM
Duke has advantageous odds of advancing in certain rounds and so do the other #1 seeds.
See: http://vegaswatch.net/

There is little that is easy about our region.

As far as Whitlock's article, the accusation and the reasons for his accusation were the relevant points in his article and have been posted by several. There is dicta in his article as well.

I am curious as to the source of the "pressure" ; Whitlock did not reveal it.
Rather, he implied that the NCAA acted separately and reflexively to keep Duke in the tourney as long as possible by assigning weaker top seeds to Duke's region.

While I do not doubt that Duke's presence helps ratings,absent a smoking gun I do not believe the fact that Duke brings better ratings ,in itself, proves any conspiracy by the NCAA selection committee to give Duke an easier path to the FF.

Best regards--Blueprofessor:)

Bob Green
03-15-2010, 04:54 PM
I am curious as to the source of the "pressure" ; Whitlock did not reveal it.

I seriously doubt Whitlock believes what he wrote. His actual objective was to bad mouth the NCAA for "ruining" the tournament by expanding it to 96 teams. Whitlock didn't reveal the source because one doesn't exist. Is this irresponsible journalism? Perhaps, but he is a sportswriter discussing a game.

blueprofessor
03-15-2010, 05:09 PM
I seriously doubt Whitlock believes what he wrote. His actual objective was to bad mouth the NCAA for "ruining" the tournament by expanding it to 96 teams. Whitlock didn't reveal the source because one doesn't exist. Is this irresponsible journalism? Perhaps, but he is a sportswriter discussing a game.

Everyone, even sportswriters, should be held to a higher standard.

Essentially, Whitlock accused the committee of fixing the assignment of teams, purportedly to assist Duke. He offered no proof probably,as you asserted,because none existed.

I do not believe the committee acted to give Duke an easier path because of tv ratings.

Best--Blueprofessor:)

TexHawk
03-15-2010, 05:13 PM
Whitlock is a columnist for a Kansas City paper, who has no love for Kansas, unless he does. He is just pandering to his base, trying to sell papers/web traffic, and 99% of his pieces are as follows, regardless of sport:

1a. KU is awesome (this brings in the KU fans, probably about 40% of the area)
1b. KU is not good enough (this brings in the KU fans PLUS the other 60%, KSU and Mizzou fans, who love reading anything negative about KU)
2a. K-State is awesome (this caters to the KSU fans)
2b. K-State will never approach KU's success (now he's got the KSU AND KU contigent)
3a. Mizzou is awesome (Mizzou fans PLUS KU/KSU, who need a good laugh every now and then)
3b. Mizzou will never be able to compete (ditto)
4. Something about the Big12 not being a viable conference
5. The BCS
6. Something controversial that he probably doesn't believe, hopefully around race

Wander
03-15-2010, 06:06 PM
I really do understand the complaints about the South region being easier than we deserve, but really, all the criticism only comes down to one thing: the Sweet 16 matchup. Texas A&M and Purdue are ripe for early upsets, and neither scares me if my bracket prediction of Utah State ends up being wrong.

But after that, the complaints become less defensible. Baylor is in my opinion the best 3 seed straight up; you could argue for Georgetown, but once you take location into account, I think Baylor has to have the best deal. I'd trade them for Georgetown, New Mexico, or Pitt in a second. I also think we have the second toughest 8/9 game, but not for the reason most people here think - Cal is really being underrated.

slower
03-15-2010, 07:14 PM
Bad News: Digger just picked Louisville to beat us in Round 2.

Good News: He's an idiot.

superdave
03-15-2010, 07:18 PM
Our top 2 scorers are not white. Nolan is black. (or I need to adjust my tv)

weezie
03-15-2010, 07:33 PM
So, wait a minute, did we get a cakewalk or are we going to get blown out by Robert Morris because we aren't athletic enough?

Did we get a #1 seed because
people love watching guys who have nice manners on tv or is it because everyone wants to see ky hand us our heads?

Do we get all the calls in order to protect our lineage or are we about to be punished for getting all the calls?

I'm SO confused:confused:

airowe
03-15-2010, 07:36 PM
Our top 2 scorers are not white. Nolan is black. (or I need to adjust my tv)

I believe Kyle is now outscoring Nolan on the year.

mehmattski
03-15-2010, 08:22 PM
The real conspiracy is the media/bloggers hellbent on pre-marginalizing any success Duke might have in March.

It's sort of like how you could smell the "Yankees buy the World Series" articles as soon as they clinched a playoff spot. They're all preparing a ready excuse for when Duke wins the national title. Of course, they got handed an easy schedule!

Welcome2DaSlopes
03-15-2010, 08:35 PM
With the way kyle is playing right now, I can't see us not making the final four, although four games is alot when speaking of the tourny.

towerview road
03-15-2010, 08:40 PM
I don't know if anyone saw today's Wall Street Journal. In the back of the B Section they had a full bracket for the NCAA Tourney filled out with their projected winners. They developed/used a mathematical model, using complex analysis of different data points including things like rebounding, the ability to draw fouls, defense efficiency, etc. to predict winners.

They have Kansas beating BYU and Duke beating Wisconsin for the Final Four. . . .

AND

They have Duke beating Kansas for the national title!

Here's their full bracket filled out: http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/wsj_NCAAProjections0315.pdf

dw0827
03-15-2010, 08:44 PM
I know this comment will not be appreciated in this forum, however, I found Whitlock's article to be entertaining. Once you put away your Duke Blue perspective, it is easy to realize his actual target is the NCAA's pending decision to expand the tournament to 96 teams. He uses Duke as a vehicle to make his point. Why? Because he has the same priority as the NCAA - great ratings. The NCAA desires better tv ratings to justify another big dollars contract and Jason Whitlock desires more page hits for the Kansas City Star. It is all about the all mighty dollar for both the NCAA and Whitlock.

And while we are selectively quoting lines from the article, this one is nice:

Bob, I agree with you in some respects. I live a few minutes outside of KC and read Whitlock daily. He believes himself to be a social commentator of great merit and insight . . .and invariably goes out of his way to be controversial. In this case, he could have made his case against the NCAA in a calm rational manner. Unfortunately, as is often the case with Whitlock, he plays the race card . . . since he has nothing particularly relevant to say. It gets him noticed. Gee, white players . . . never heard that before. Gee, NCAA is after money and ratings . . . never heard that before.

So he actually has nothing to say . . . nothing to add to the conversation . . . so he plays the race card. Intellectually vapid.

Very tiresome.

uh_no
03-15-2010, 08:46 PM
i'm thinking byu isn't gonna be in the final 4.....

MarkD83
03-15-2010, 08:56 PM
They got the memo from the Big East commissioner to not pick any Big East teams in the Final Four. When the Big East flames out they can cite this analysis and claim they were not predicted to be good anyway.

moonpie23
03-15-2010, 09:15 PM
Bob, He believes himself to be a social commentator of great merit and insight .



......... .Unfortunately, as is often the case with Whitlock, he plays the race card

thank you.....i don't think i've EVER seen, heard or read anything by whitlock that did NOT play the race card......

ever....

dynastydefender
03-15-2010, 09:27 PM
Congrats on the #1 seed Duke. You all had a great season. As much as I wanted to avert my eyes when Duke played this year I couldn't help but be impressed with the level of discipline and fundamentals that Coach K. instills. I am anxiously waiting for the UK/Duke Match up in the Final four. The winner of that game will definitely stick it to Kansas, in my opinion, in the championship game. Dang it...as much as I want to say I hate Duke I just can't do it. Good luck in the tourney!

Respectfully,
Your resident UK nutjob!

chrisheery
03-15-2010, 09:42 PM
Wow. You are either amazingly genuine and cool, or the most incredible master of sarcasm in the world.

Either way, nice.

ACCBBallFan
03-15-2010, 10:26 PM
NCAA Tourney is about defense. A little reality check is in order. Duke is the number 3 rated defensive team in NCAA.

Calif is # 81 and Louisv is #77. Regardless of how well they play vs. each other, whichever advances will get torched by Duke's three S's, while not being to able to score much themselves.

And if Andre and Mason play with the same confidence as they did in finals ..

A good chunk of that region has some hapless defensive teams living on reputation:

99+ - Notre Dame
82 - St Mary's
81 - Calif
77 - Louisv
62 - Nova
59 - Siena
54 - Utah St
51 - Baylor
37 - Richmond
22 - A&M
16 - ODU
06 - Purdue (but Hummel injured)
03 - Duke

Contrast that with the defensive ratings of teams in UK bracket, at least the top half of it

Def
Kentucky 9
E. Tenn St 88

Texas 26
Wake Forest 25

Temple 4
Cornell 99

Wisconsin 7
Wofford 56

Marquette 48
Washington 39

New Mexico 87
Montana 99

Clemson 10
Missouri 12

West Virginia 23
Morgan St 99

BD80
03-15-2010, 10:29 PM
I love how the pundits are saying that Duke's path is so easy and by comparison points to Kansas' MidWest region:


The region’s home to the No. 1 overall seed (Kansas), perhaps the nation’s hottest team (Ohio State), a team that thrashed Duke (Georgetown), the co-ACC champ (Maryland) and the only two schools that have beaten the Jayhawks this season (Tennessee and Oklahoma State).

Sounds like a killer, right? Except that of the five, only Maryland (#4) is in Kansas' side of the bracket. They would at best play ONE of the other four.

I agree that the regional final of GTown or OSU would be tougher than Duke's final of Nova/Baylor/ND, but our path of LVille and Texas AM is tougher than UNLV/MD.

CDu
03-15-2010, 10:32 PM
Calif is # 81 and Louisv is #77. Regardless of how well they play vs. each other, whichever advances will get torched by Duke's three S's, while not being to able to score much themselves.

I agree that we should be able to score on either of those teams, because neither defends well. But note that Cal is the #3 offense in the country in terms of efficiency. So they may actually be able to score against us. Now, whether they can keep us from scoring (particularly on second-chance points) is another matter altogether.

Newton_14
03-15-2010, 10:49 PM
I love how the pundits are saying that Duke's path is so easy and by comparison points to Kansas' MidWest region:



Sounds like a killer, right? Except that of the five, only Maryland (#4) is in Kansas' side of the bracket. They would at best play ONE of the other four.

I agree that the regional final of GTown or OSU would be tougher than Duke's final of Nova/Baylor/ND, but our path of LVille and Texas AM is tougher than UNLV/MD.

I actually think Ohio St is wildly overrated. I would pick any of the other 2 seeds and all of the 3 seeds to beat Ohio St straight up on a neutral court. They may prove me wrong but I can't see them making the final 8.

Kfanarmy
03-15-2010, 11:20 PM
....

I agree that the regional final of GTown or OSU would be tougher than Duke's final of Nova/Baylor/ND, but our path of LVille and Texas AM is tougher than UNLV/MD.

I think MD may be tougher than LVille or A&M, at least anywhere but Texas.

Kfanarmy
03-15-2010, 11:24 PM
I actually think Ohio St is wildly overrated. I would pick any of the other 2 seeds and all of the 3 seeds to beat Ohio St straight up on a neutral court. They may prove me wrong but I can't see them making the final 8. I thought this to until watching them in their tournament. When they get hot, everyone on that team can really shoot. I think they hit 12 shots in a row in the 2nd half of their championship game to blow it wide open.

jipops
03-15-2010, 11:29 PM
Bob, I agree with you in some respects. I live a few minutes outside of KC and read Whitlock daily. He believes himself to be a social commentator of great merit and insight . . .and invariably goes out of his way to be controversial. In this case, he could have made his case against the NCAA in a calm rational manner. Unfortunately, as is often the case with Whitlock, he plays the race card . . . since he has nothing particularly relevant to say. It gets him noticed. Gee, white players . . . never heard that before. Gee, NCAA is after money and ratings . . . never heard that before.

So he actually has nothing to say . . . nothing to add to the conversation . . . so he plays the race card. Intellectually vapid.

Very tiresome.

Whitlock even conflicts his own points. This is the same guy who claimed in an article about 2 years ago that Coach K makes a point to teach all of his players to be whiners. Now in this most recent article he claims he respects him, would have his own son play for him, and is not one of the Duke-haters. So what's it going to be Whitlock? You are incapable of being an actual journalist thereby resorting to throwing flames off your soapbox, yet you still can't take a position.

Ironically, "writers" such as these seem to seek to ruin sports.

sagegrouse
03-16-2010, 12:18 AM
Whitlock even conflicts his own points. This is the same guy who claimed in an article about 2 years ago that Coach K makes a point to teach all of his players to be whiners. Now in this most recent article he claims he respects him, would have his own son play for him, and is not one of the Duke-haters. So what's it going to be Whitlock? You are incapable of being an actual journalist thereby resorting to throwing flames off your soapbox, yet you still can't take a position.

Ironically, "writers" such as these seem to seek to ruin sports.

What is kind of amazing is that Whitlock's schtick has been going on for years. It seemed that he was auditioning to be a columnist for one of the Big City tabloids in the Northeast. He hasn't gotten hired yet, probably because of the financial problems in the newspaper business but maybe becasue, hard as it is to believe, they have some journalistic standards.

You would think he would calm down his act and try to get a TV gig. ESPN and others are OK with a little controversy but certainly won't hire a madman who's baying at the moon every night, even when it's totally dark.


sagegrouse

moonpie23
03-16-2010, 12:22 AM
You would think he would calm down his act and try to get a TV gig....

sagegrouse

Stephen A already has that job...



ps....heyyyy......where has Stephen A been lately? did i finally get him kicked off the air??

anyone seen his lately??

Welcome2DaSlopes
03-16-2010, 12:39 AM
Stephen A already has that job...



ps....heyyyy......where has Stephen A been lately? did i finally get him kicked off the air??

anyone seen his lately??

He no longer works for ESPN, so you wouldn't really see him on tv, unless he reporting about AI or something sports related in Philly

DurhamMatt
03-16-2010, 01:44 AM
After combing through the mothership columns along with dbr and several other online college bball sites I am seeing mixed results when it comes to the media's perception on duke's chances in this years tourney. Some say a "cakewalk to the final four" while others talk of Baylor being the favorite in the south. I , for one am excited about final 4 expectations as this hasn't been the case in what seems like forever. I feel like our expectations have been growing by the day. If you told me 6 weeks ago we would be in this situation I would have been sceptical. There is more pressure this year than ever to live up to our seed and I believe Kyle Singler will lead the way to Indy

moonpie23
03-16-2010, 01:46 AM
He no longer works for ESPN, so you wouldn't really see him on tv, unless he reporting about AI or something sports related in Philly

omg.....maybe my e-mail campaign had something to do with that....

i hope so...

OldSchool
03-16-2010, 02:14 AM
I like our chances against everyone except Syracuse because of their unusually effective version of the zone defense.

I no longer fear the full-court press as I did at the beginning of the season, because so many teams have tried to throw it at us during the season and we have learned how to handle it. I'm still disappointed we don't attack the full-court press all the way to the rim, but we now do a fairly competent job of successfully getting the ball across the time line and setting up our offense.

Even with Syracuse, give K a week to drill our guys in ways to work the ball in and around that zone, and I like our chances better.

devildownunder
03-16-2010, 02:25 AM
The real conspiracy is the media/bloggers hellbent on pre-marginalizing any success Duke might have in March.

It's sort of like how you could smell the "Yankees buy the World Series" articles as soon as they clinched a playoff spot. They're all preparing a ready excuse for when Duke wins the national title. Of course, they got handed an easy schedule!

The flipside, of course, if that if we lose it just proves that we didn't deserve our seeding and were "overrated."

Haters will never give credit. We shouldn't expect any other behavior.

devildownunder
03-16-2010, 02:35 AM
I think the main reason so many people are saying Duke got an easy road this year -- well, apart from the fact that some people just say that every year -- is because Duke is the only "name brand" near the top in its region.

We have to remember that average national sports commentator starts paying attention to college bball right around the second week of March. These guys truly do not have an depth of knowledge, so they come in, look for names they recognize and make picks and assertions based solely on that.

Duke Mom
03-16-2010, 02:49 AM
Bob, I agree with you in some respects. I live a few minutes outside of KC and read Whitlock daily. He believes himself to be a social commentator of great merit and insight . . .and invariably goes out of his way to be controversial. In this case, he could have made his case against the NCAA in a calm rational manner. Unfortunately, as is often the case with Whitlock, he plays the race card . . . since he has nothing particularly relevant to say. It gets him noticed. Gee, white players . . . never heard that before. Gee, NCAA is after money and ratings . . . never heard that before.

So he actually has nothing to say . . . nothing to add to the conversation . . . so he plays the race card. Intellectually vapid.

Very tiresome.


Does a discussion that includes race always qualify as "playing the race card?" To be fair, I have heard Whitlock as both an advocate for and a critic of the black community. He criticized black "leaders," like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, for victimizing the Duke LaCrosse players and for going way over board on the Don Imus situation. He has written and spoken against using race as an excuse for anything.

Seems to me Whitlock is just trying to stir up his own readership - Kansas fans! Maybe he's trying to increase his own viewership, like he claims the network is doing. Most basketball fans are color blind and just want to see great basketball. Except for us Duke fans...we only want to see BLUE!

Mr Blue Devil
03-16-2010, 07:59 AM
Does any one know about open practices that fans can attend or anything in Jacksonville? I don't even know if these exist for the tourney but seeing as Duke is in my backyard, I'd like to go if such a thing exists!!!!

dw0827
03-16-2010, 08:04 AM
Does a discussion that includes race always qualify as "playing the race card?" To be fair, I have heard Whitlock as both an advocate for and a critic of the black community. He criticized black "leaders," like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, for victimizing the Duke LaCrosse players and for going way over board on the Don Imus situation. He has written and spoken against using race as an excuse for anything.

Seems to me Whitlock is just trying to stir up his own readership - Kansas fans! Maybe he's trying to increase his own viewership, like he claims the network is doing. Most basketball fans are color blind and just want to see great basketball. Except for us Duke fans...we only want to see BLUE!

Playing the race card is bring up race when, in fact, race really has nothing to do with the issue at hand. But how to get noticed when you've got nothing to say that hasn't been said a hundred times? Be controversial. Play the card.

Whitlock doesn't get a free pass just because he was critical of Sharpton, the black community, et al when the entire country was having the same conversation. Whoopee. What originality.

Duvall
03-16-2010, 08:12 AM
Does a discussion that includes race always qualify as "playing the race card?"

I think we've all spent enough time on the Internet to realize that for many people the answer is clearly yes.

MB in MD
03-16-2010, 08:25 AM
I don't know if anyone saw today's Wall Street Journal. In the back of the B Section they had a full bracket for the NCAA Tourney filled out with their projected winners. They developed/used a mathematical model, using complex analysis of different data points including things like rebounding, the ability to draw fouls, defense efficiency, etc. to predict winners.

They have Kansas beating BYU and Duke beating Wisconsin for the Final Four. . . .

AND

They have Duke beating Kansas for the national title!

Here's their full bracket filled out: http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/wsj_NCAAProjections0315.pdf

I'd love to believe it. On the other hand, we all know where mathematical models of WSJ types have taken us over the last couple of years.

slower
03-16-2010, 08:27 AM
I no longer fear the full-court press as I did at the beginning of the season, because so many teams have tried to throw it at us during the season and we have learned how to handle it.

Seriously? Did you watch the ACC Championship game?

NYDukie
03-16-2010, 08:34 AM
I think the main reason so many people are saying Duke got an easy road this year -- well, apart from the fact that some people just say that every year -- is because Duke is the only "name brand" near the top in its region.

We have to remember that average national sports commentator starts paying attention to college bball right around the second week of March. These guys truly do not have an depth of knowledge, so they come in, look for names they recognize and make picks and assertions based solely on that.

Have to agree. For example, what makes Baylor "lesser" than G-Town in the eyes of the experts? I think G-Town is very good but the love affair with them the past two weeks is a bit nauseating. I know they are a Big East team but this is also a is a jekyl and hyde team who one minute looks great against Duke and then next looks horrible verse South Florida. And this just didn't happen only one time this season and has been their "thing" the past 2 to 3 years. As easily as G-Town could go deep in the tourney, don't be suprised to see them bumped over the weekend. Baylor is a very good athletic, attacking team. I don't know much about them but I know that they have very good, quick guards and a fly swatter of a big man in the middle. Just because a team isn't on ESPN 10 times a year, doesn't make them "unqualified". Purdue has always been on the steps of national prominence but never over the hump. Nova is the closest thing to another national program but even they are sometimes in the discussion and sometimes out of it.

Another one thing that bothers me is the "experts" being critical of Duke is in the areas of depth and letting teams hang around. Cuse is even more thin but yet they do not get nearly as criticized as much as Duke, same for OSU and G-Town as they both only go 6-7 deep and your here barely a "boo" compared to the "shouts" of Duke's lack of depth. Even Baylor and Kansas go no more than 8 deep. I know developing a bench is important but I think it has been over played a bit on Duke. And how many times did we see Kentucky squeak one out? At least 6 times this season but yet Duke scratches and claws its way through. OSU and G-Town had it share of close ones too. Just goes to show you how much the "experts" like to use Duke as the lightning rod for conversation and critique.

Duke Mom
03-16-2010, 08:49 AM
Playing the race card is bring up race when, in fact, race really has nothing to do with the issue at hand. But how to get noticed when you've got nothing to say that hasn't been said a hundred times? Be controversial. Play the card.

Whitlock doesn't get a free pass just because he was critical of Sharpton, the black community, et al when the entire country was having the same conversation. Whoopee. What originality.


Whitlock believes race has everything to do with it. "It" being his assessment of Duke's "easy bracket" and his opinion, albeit looney, that the network pressured the NCAA selection committee to give Duke an "easy" bracket so the team would last longer in the tournament, maximizing network viewership/$ simply because Duke is a novelty with more white players than other top seeds.

So...if you disagree with someone's opinion who uses race to support their opinion, they are using "the race card?" It is, after all, only your opinion, that "race has nothing to do with" it.

theAlaskanBear
03-16-2010, 09:36 AM
Man, Duke got hammered on the ESPN talk shows yesterday. It's completely irrational, and the only way Duke is going to change minds is to beat a team like Kentucky in the Final Four.

Anyway, Duke has some SERIOUS credentials that are ignored. The perception is, the ACC must be weak, because Carolina sucks!

So I am using this thread to establish Dukes credentials.

First of all, Duke is 29-5. They won the ACC regular season and the ACC championship! Their losses are AWAY @ Wisc @ GT @Maryland @ G Tech and @ NC State. NC State is by far the worst loss, and thats a conference foe.

Now, on to the rankings:
According to Sagarin, Duke is the second best team, behind Kansas by a big margin. The ACC is the third best conference. However, Duke's predictor number (best way to predict future success) is virtually identical to Kansas at 95.00 to 95.08. These two teams are ahead of others by significant margins.

According to Pomeroy, Duke is #1, just barely edging out Kansas in efficiency stats. However, Pomeroy has the ACC as the #1 conference, based on team averages.

Duke is 9-4 against top 50, but if you break it down to top 25, they fall to 1-3. This can be attributed to playing those top 25 teams on away courts (Wis, GT, MD). We didn't get the benefit like the Big East teams of playing top-25 teams at home, where we would have waxed them. Take WV. Of their seven top-25 wins. Over half (4) were won at home. One was Mississippi, a team thats not in the Tourney now.

Anyways, in addition to the ratings, I think Duke is well equipped due to personnel and style as well. We cannot underestimate the benefits of having three big time scorers. That allows one person to have an off day and still put up the points. Our defense is one of the best. Additionally, this Duke team is flexible and can play different styles, and they should match up with any zone they face well in the tournament.

If there is one weakness to this Duke team, it is their ability to guard princeton style offenses.

Anything I missed?

sagegrouse
03-16-2010, 09:43 AM
Anything I missed?

You mean, aside from the two existing threads on this topic? "South Region" and "#1 Seed."

sagegrouse

CrazieDUMB
03-16-2010, 09:48 AM
Anything I missed?

Yeah, people love hating on Duke. It's been said on other threads, but let's be honest here. Most of the talking heads don't really care about college BB until now. What happens is, they get a sheet of talking points in the morning of what each show is going to talk about (be it PTI, Around the Horn, whatever). They spend 20 minutes going over the field, writing down one-two sentences about each school. They also know they get better ratings if they hate on Duke, whether it's deserved or not.

Does it matter that the most scientific evaluation of performance (Sagarin, KenPom, etc), not to mention the testimony of people who follow the game the closest (who gave us a #3 national ranking), are on our side? Not really.

Half the country still doesn't believe in evolution. Never forget that most people will go with a popular opinion because it's easy, and doesn't require any real research, insight, or objectivity. Such is the world we live in.

So what? If it's possible that we're underrated, doesn't that work in our favor? Let the rest of our region think they can walk through us, see what happens.

OldPhiKap
03-16-2010, 09:53 AM
I am happy for folks to take this team lightly.

Skitzle
03-16-2010, 09:56 AM
The ACC doesnt have a single team in the NCAA tournament with a winning record against the top 25.

I think thats where its reputation as weak conference may come from.

Duke didnt beat a single ranked team outside the ACC, and got worked in the two games that they did have against ranked teams outside the ACC. Are they a better team now? Yes. Were the games away? Yes. Is it a legitimate reason to think they might get upset early? Yes.

Duke has the toughest 2nd round game of any #1 seed, but the consesus weakest 2 and an ailing 4 seed. So people say the South is weak.

All that considered. Here's what hurts the most.
If Duke doesn't make the Final Four, people will say I told you Duke was weak. If Duke makes the Final Four and loses people will say I knew the south wasweak.

Looks like the championship game is really the only option :)

Devil in the Blue Dress
03-16-2010, 10:06 AM
I attended a shoot around or open practice when Duke played in the NCAA in Greensboro last March. The newspapers in the area carried the information about date and times.

noyac
03-16-2010, 10:08 AM
...they get a sheet of talking points in the morning of what each show is going to talk about (be it PTI, Around the Horn, whatever). They spend 20 minutes going over the field, writing down one-two sentences about each school...

I have often wondered why when I listen to Mike and Mike do I then hear the same opinions all day long on ESPN Radio and then on Around the Horn and PTI. It gets so repetative that I eventually get so annoyed I just stop listening and watcing these shows which are supposed to have original ideas/opinions.

If I had to say one show that has somewhat original ideas it would have to be Around the Horn. I don't know if that is because they are forced to disagree or not.

Mr Blue Devil
03-16-2010, 10:10 AM
I attended a shoot around or open practice when Duke played in the NCAA in Greensboro last March. The newspapers in the area carried the information about date and times.

Great, thanks! I will check there.

dw0827
03-16-2010, 10:11 AM
Whitlock believes race has everything to do with it. "It" being his assessment of Duke's "easy bracket" and his opinion, albeit looney, that the network pressured the NCAA selection committee to give Duke an "easy" bracket so the team would last longer in the tournament, maximizing network viewership/$ simply because Duke is a novelty with more white players than other top seeds.

So...if you disagree with someone's opinion who uses race to support their opinion, they are using "the race card?" It is, after all, only your opinion, that "race has nothing to do with" it.

Don't want to hijack the thread so this will end it for me but, yes, IN MY OPINION, race has nothing to do with it and, IN MY OPINION, Whitlock plays the race card because, IN MY OPINION, he has nothing else to say that will get him the attention he craves and, yes, IN MY OPINION, anybody who suggests that the reason Duke got a #1 seed and an allegedly "easy" path to the Final Four is because Duke has a comparatively white team is an idiot who is playing the race card for the sake of attention. IN MY OPINION.

theAlaskanBear
03-16-2010, 10:24 AM
Looking at the content on the South regional thread, this definitely belongs there as opposed to its own thread. Same discussion.

airowe
03-16-2010, 10:25 AM
They also know they get better ratings if they hate on Duke, whether it's deserved or not.


This is really the only pertinent issue here. ESPN is a business that relies on ratings for their shows. The biggest thing driving the ratings is polarizing issues. Duke is very polarizing. End of story.

J_C_Steel
03-16-2010, 10:27 AM
Duke didnt beat a single ranked team outside the ACC, and got worked in the two games that they did have against ranked teams outside the ACC.

I'm pretty sure that Gonzaga was ranked in the top 25 when Duke "worked" the Bulldogs. Doesn't that count?

Skitzle
03-16-2010, 10:38 AM
I'm pretty sure that Gonzaga was ranked in the top 25 when Duke "worked" the Bulldogs. Doesn't that count?

Not in my book, teams that beat UNC when it was ranked don't get credit for beating a VASTLY overrated team.

It's and extreme example as comparing the quality of Gonzaga and UNC is unfair (one ended the season just out the top 25 rankings), but it gets my point across.

sagegrouse
03-16-2010, 10:41 AM
I'm pretty sure that Gonzaga was ranked in the top 25 when Duke "worked" the Bulldogs. Doesn't that count?

And still is.

Moreover, guys, Wake has a winning record aginst the Top 25. It beat Gonzaga, Richmond (#24 in the AP poll today), and Maryland and lost to Duke and Purdue. Isn't that 3-2?

Moreover, even lowly :) UNC is 2-2 against the top 25 out of conference: beating Ohio St. and Mich St. and losing to syracuse and Kentucky (by two points). UNC is 2-5 overall because of its losses to UMd and Duke.

sagegrouse

J_C_Steel
03-16-2010, 10:43 AM
Duke's in that "very good but not great" bucket that Coach K has explained.

That means Duke can beat ANY team, and also lose to a whole lot of just "good" teams.

My view is that if 2 out of the Big Three are truly "on," then Duke is very tough to beat. Here's hoping that happens for six straight games.

Skitzle
03-16-2010, 10:44 AM
And still is.

Moreover, guys, Wake has a winning record aginst the Top 25. It beat Gonzaga, Richmond (#24 in the AP poll today), and Maryland and lost to Duke and Purdue. Isn't that 3-2?

Moreover, even lowly :) UNC is 2-2 against the top 25 out of conference: beating Ohio St. and Mich St. and losing to syracuse and Kentucky (by two points). UNC is 2-5 overall because of its losses to UMd and Duke.

sagegrouse

Then the sagarin ratings are wrong?

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/bkc0910.htm


Edit: I get it. Its record against the top 25 if both teams are in the top 25 at the time of the game. I assumed Dukes 1-3 record was Maryland-(Wisconsin, Gtown, Maryland) but Maryland wasnt ranked at the time of the first game. So that win is against Gonzaga.

Onlyduke
03-16-2010, 10:44 AM
My guess is that they make these stupid comments to get ratings. If they said, "boy, what a GREAT job the selection committee did this year", they'd have to move onto another topic.

-bdbd
03-16-2010, 10:45 AM
This is really the only pertinent issue here. ESPN is a business that relies on ratings for their shows. The biggest thing driving the ratings is polarizing issues. Duke is very polarizing. End of story.
Yep, Airowe is spot-on. These shows and their talking heads care much less about "scientific accuracy" and the truth - especially on such a subjective topic anayway - than they do about keeping the conversation going, eliciting reactions and, ultimately, generating ratings. That means generating controversey/excitement whether real or contrived. That's just the nature of the business -- Rush Limbaugh has made a whole career out of "creating" anger/outrage/interest over topics that are frequently, actually, dull and fairly routine.


I'm pretty sure that Gonzaga was ranked in the top 25 when Duke "worked" the Bulldogs. Doesn't that count?

I think UCONN was too. (And "extraordinarily athletic" as well! ;-) ) BTW, I am confused by the stat quoted in the first poster of this thread: Duke is supposedly 1-3 vs top-25 teams, and those include away games vs. Wisc, MD and GT. BUT DUKE BEAT BOTH MD ONCE AND GT ONCE (TO SAY NOTHING OF THOSE EARLY-SEASON UCONN & ZAGS GAMES). What gives???



:confused:

Skitzle
03-16-2010, 10:49 AM
Duke is supposedly 1-3 vs top-25 teams, and those include away games vs. Wisc, MD and GT. BUT DUKE BEAT BOTH MD ONCE AND GT ONCE (TO SAY NOTHING OF THOSE EARLY-SEASON UCONN & ZAGS GAMES). What gives???



:confused:

Me too. I based that idea on the sagarin ratings. Which are either incorrect or oddly calculated.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/bkc0910.htm

airowe
03-16-2010, 10:51 AM
I think UCONN was too. BTW, I am confused by the stat quoted in the first postr of this thread: Duke is supposedly 1-3 vs top-25 teams, and those include away games vs. Wisc, MD and GT. BUT DUKE BEAT BOTH MD ONCE AND GT ONCE (TO SAY NOTHING OF THOSE EARLY-SEASON UCONN & ZAGS GAMES). What gives???



:confused:

I believe that would still make us 1-3, correct? Georgia Tech is not in the Top 25. Georgetown is.

Mr Blue Devil
03-16-2010, 11:11 AM
According to Dukeblueplanet, Duke will be practicing Thursday from 4:25-5:05.

Admission and parking is free.

noyac
03-16-2010, 11:15 AM
I think your record against the top 25 should be broken down into two categories. The first is the opponents ranking at the time of the game and the second is their ranking at the end of the season.

Our record would be

5-3 against teams ranked at the time of the game(W=Uconn, Gonzaga, Clemson 2x's, G'Tech, L=G'Town, G'Tech, Maryland)
2-3 against teams ranked at the end of the season(W=Maryland, Gonzaga, L= G'Town, Maryland, Wisconsin)

These two records are drastically different and should not be viewed as the same.

crimsondevil
03-16-2010, 11:18 AM
Umm, okay, hopefully Airowe has straightened out the Gtown vs. GaTech thing.
When analysts refer to "record against top 25" at tourney time, that generally means RPI, not the polls. When Sagarin does it, he's probably referring to his own ratings.

Incidentally, this shows how arbitrary using a stat that like can be - if the Sagarin version, for example, were record vs. top 30, then we pick up #26 FSU and #28 Clemson, upping Duke's record to 4-3.