Myths and predictions proven wrong

[roywhite]

1. If the Big 3 of Scheyer, Singler, and Smith play 35-38 minutes a game, we'll run out of gas late in the season

2. Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek will never be meaningful contributors

3. Coach K's responsibilities with the USA Olympic team are detracting from his performance as Duke coach

Others?

[House G]

West Virginia should have been a #1 seed over Duke.

[the_grad_student]

We aren't "athletic" enough to take on Big East teams in the tournament and are only ranked high because of a weak ACC schedule.

Wow I'm was so tired of hearing this. HA!

[Newton_14]

1. If the Big 3 of Scheyer, Singler, and Smith play 35-38 minutes a game, we'll run out of gas late in the season

2. Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek will never be meaningful contributors

3. Coach K's responsibilities with the USA Olympic team are detracting from his performance as Duke coach

Others?

4. Coach K couldn't win another title

5. Duke relies on 3 pointers and will lose out in the tourney if they have a cold shooting night

6. Duke has no inside presence. Just a jumpshooting team...

7. Duke does not have a PG. Scheyer is ok but much too slow to play the point effectively...

8. "Alarmingly Un-Athletic"

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

1. If the Big 3 of Scheyer, Singler, and Smith play 35-38 minutes a game, we'll run out of gas late in the season

2. Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek will never be meaningful contributors

3. Coach K's responsibilities with the USA Olympic team are detracting from his performance as Duke coach

Others?
How about.....
Coach K can't develop big men.

There's no one there to coach bigs.

Duke can't recruit big men.

[juise]

9. Duke gets all the calls (clipping on Howard, 15 yards please... holding/handchecks all night)

[MChambers]

The delay game will kill us.

[patentgeek]

The game has passed Coach K by, and Duke will never catch up to Roy and UNC, who are recruiting circles around Duke.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

The Duke program is on the decline, best days are in the past.

[davekay1971]

(all season) Duke's just not a Final Four team

Tournament Specific:
Duke's going to lose to Louisville/Cal

Duke's going to lose to Purdue

Duke's going to lose to Baylor

(generic pre-tournament) Duke's going to flame out in the second weekend

Duke's going to lose to West Virginia

Baylor has no chance against Duke :)

[freedevil]

10. Doug Gottlieb has anything of value to say about college basketball.

[roywhite]

This team won't survive the loss of Gerald Henderson and Elliot Williams

[DukeDevilDeb]

How can a 5'11" man coach big men? No way, no way, no way....

[Well, I think he found a way! :D] GO BIGS!

[roywhite]

We only play well at home; we're not good on the road

[DukieInKansas]

We only play well at home; we're not good on the road

It's apparently the uniforms. The team didn't lose this year in the white uniforms. :D

[roywhite]

Even though they lost a lot from their title team, the Tarheels have such good talent and coaching that they'll contend for the ACC championship.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Even though they lost a lot from their title team, the Tarheels have such good talent and coaching that they'll contend for the ACC championship.

Were they also ranked pre season at #1?

[Kdogg]

Were they also ranked pre season at #1?

No. There were in the top five though.

[miramar]

In order to return to the Final Four, Duke will need to recruit John Wall.

[BleedsP287]

Not enough talent in the paint and not enough depth in the back court to go very deep in the tournament this year. I love me some Z.

[BD80]

Anything ol' roy said to recruits interested in Duke

[DevilHorns]

Picture this. You're a sports journalist, which doesn't mean a whole lot these days in the credibility dept, but for some reason you've landed the dream job, to write for ESPN. You want to write an eye-catching piece and piss of a fanbase that you frankly love to piss off. Hmm, an idea. Pick 10 teams that can win it all. Easy, the top 10 ranked teams. But add a twist, gut one of those teams from the list. Easy, Duke. You hate them. Don't have to think it through... just do it. It'll be a sexy thing to do.


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=4858570

"And the one left out:

Duke. Why the Blue Devils can't win it: We've seen this movie before. Duke blazes impressively out of the gates, is confronted by its limitations (size, depth or athleticism) in the latter third of the regular season, then hits the wall in March. The Devils haven't won more than two games in an NCAA tournament since 2004, despite having No. 1 seeds twice and No. 2 seeds twice as well.

This is yet another good Duke team, with yet another set of apparent flaws. The big men (the young Plumlee brothers, Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek) are still nothing special. The leading men, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, are still overworked. (Scheyer hasn't played fewer than 36 minutes in a game since December, and Singler has gone the full 40 in each of Duke's last two games.)

The Minutes will believe Duke might have a chance to win it all when it sees the Blue Devils actually advance past the Sweet 16 for the first time since Chris Duhon was in uniform."

[diveonthefloor]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5059461

Just when I thought Pat Forde never had a kind thought about Duke in his collection, check this one out. Does Pat qualify as a fair-weather columnist?

[bl33dblu3]

No. There were in the top five though.

and co-number ones in ACC :D

[4decadedukie]

Thanks to all posters - I love this thread!

[InSpades]

Duke and Butler are unlikely to pass any kind of eye test. Defense and rebounding aren't pretty but man are they effective.

Meanwhile teams like Syracuse, Kansas and Kentucky who passed the "eye test" with flying colors flamed out.

[billyj]

Picture this. You're a sports journalist, which doesn't mean a whole lot these days in the credibility dept, but for some reason you've landed the dream job, to write for ESPN. You want to write an eye-catching piece and piss of a fanbase that you frankly love to piss off. Hmm, an idea. Pick 10 teams that can win it all. Easy, the top 10 ranked teams. But add a twist, gut one of those teams from the list. Easy, Duke. You hate them. Don't have to think it through... just do it. It'll be a sexy thing to do.


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=4858570


Best article ever! haha

I think Pat Forde is a Duke closet fan. He public diss duke at work and then at night he goes back to his Coach K shrine and pray for salvation. :D

[papa whiskey]

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=5059461

Just when I thought Pat Forde never had a kind thought about Duke in his collection, check this one out. Does Pat qualify as a fair-weather columnist?

I love how Katz referred to some coaches not adjusting to their personnel. Who could he possibly be talking about?

[JohnGalt]

"And the one left out:

Duke. Why the Blue Devils can't win it: We've seen this movie before. Duke blazes impressively out of the gates, is confronted by its limitations (size, depth or athleticism) in the latter third of the regular season, then hits the wall in March. The Devils haven't won more than two games in an NCAA tournament since 2004, despite having No. 1 seeds twice and No. 2 seeds twice as well.

This is yet another good Duke team, with yet another set of apparent flaws. The big men (the young Plumlee brothers, Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek) are still nothing special. The leading men, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, are still overworked. (Scheyer hasn't played fewer than 36 minutes in a game since December, and Singler has gone the full 40 in each of Duke's last two games.)

The Minutes will believe Duke might have a chance to win it all when it sees the Blue Devils actually advance past the Sweet 16 for the first time since Chris Duhon was in uniform."

I find these quotes very telling. There is no mentioning of Nolan who's emergence came to be not only one of the most powerful/emotional stories this year in sports, but also one of the most important contributory factors for Duke's winning it all. Here's to Nolan for his extraordinary fortitude and fantastic play throughout the course of the season!

[oldnavy]

I love how Katz referred to some coaches not adjusting to their personnel. Who could he possibly be talking about?

I had the exact same thought as soon as he said it! I was just waiting to hear him say Ol Roy's name.

[MChambers]

Duke can't win a national title unless it loses to UNC during the season.

[airowe]

1. If the Big 3 of Scheyer, Singler, and Smith play 35-38 minutes a game, we'll run out of gas late in the season

2. Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek will never be meaningful contributors

3. Coach K's responsibilities with the USA Olympic team are detracting from his performance as Duke coach

Others?

4. Size Doesn't Matter ;)

5. Duke players can't grow beards.

6. Coach K's rigid system holds players down.

7. Duke only wins titles if they've been beaten by pUNC.

8. The black jerseys are not bad luck.

[Atlanta Duke]

Picture this. You're a sports journalist, which doesn't mean a whole lot these days in the credibility dept, but for some reason you've landed the dream job, to write for ESPN. You want to write an eye-catching piece and piss of a fanbase that you frankly love to piss off. Hmm, an idea. Pick 10 teams that can win it all. Easy, the top 10 ranked teams. But add a twist, gut one of those teams from the list. Easy, Duke. You hate them. Don't have to think it through... just do it. It'll be a sexy thing to do.


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=4858570

"And the one left out:

Duke. Why the Blue Devils can't win it: We've seen this movie before. Duke blazes impressively out of the gates, is confronted by its limitations (size, depth or athleticism) in the latter third of the regular season, then hits the wall in March. The Devils haven't won more than two games in an NCAA tournament since 2004, despite having No. 1 seeds twice and No. 2 seeds twice as well.

This is yet another good Duke team, with yet another set of apparent flaws. The big men (the young Plumlee brothers, Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek) are still nothing special. The leading men, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, are still overworked. (Scheyer hasn't played fewer than 36 minutes in a game since December, and Singler has gone the full 40 in each of Duke's last two games.)

The Minutes will believe Duke might have a chance to win it all when it sees the Blue Devils actually advance past the Sweet 16 for the first time since Chris Duhon was in uniform."

In response to Forde's article, on January 26 I made what now ranks as the most idiotic statement I have ever posted on a sports message board.

It's a cheap shot non-story that is intended to do little more than drive page hits (or in the case of sports talk radio ratings) like so much of the tripe on sports web sites these days - Forde writing on Duke not winning the national championship this year is about as insightful as observing OJ is not going to make bail and find the real killer this year

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/forums/showthread.php?p=355951#post355951

Guess it is time for me to go help out OJ:)

[Welcome2DaSlopes]

The biggest myth,or words spoken by the haters...."Duke Sucks"....smh

[cruxer]

(all season) Duke's just not a Final Four team

Tournament Specific:
Duke's going to lose to Louisville/Cal

Duke's going to lose to Purdue

Duke's going to lose to Baylor

(generic pre-tournament) Duke's going to flame out in the second weekend

Duke's going to lose to West Virginia

Baylor has no chance against Duke :)

Additionally most of the commentators that stated this also would hasten to add that Duke had "the easiest draw in the last 25 years!" D*ed if you do, D*ed if you don't. Guess it's better to DO then, huh? :D

[JohnGalt]

Duke can't win a national title unless it loses to UNC during the season.

THAT is a good one...

[hurleyfor3]

Duke can't win a national title unless it loses to UNC during the season.

Oh wow, I forgot about this one!

Also: Winning the ACC Tournament somehow hurts you during the NCAAs.

[Matches]

Guess it is time for me to go help out OJ:)

Take him a mirror. Search will be over in ten seconds flat. ;)

As for myths - you can't win the NCAA title without having surefire NBA lottery picks on the roster.

[roywhite]

Brian Zoubek can't play big minutes vs good opponents; he's too foul-prone and lacks stamina.



4/5/2010 vs Butler
31 minutes 8 points 10 rebounds 2 blocks
key plays in last minute

[UrinalCake]

Players don't develop any more after their junior year.

Signing Lance Thomas is the missing piece to a National Championship.

Oh wait, this was turned out to be true!

[ReformedAggie]

Prez Obama's brackets.

[Steve68]

The real shame about a lot of these comments is that they were made not only by the media, but by many members of this board. The amount of angst after each loss (or even after some unspectacular wins) was alarming. This year in particular should prove to all of us that we need to enjoy the ride for the entire season instead of going into a panic after each game during the season.

[DukieInKansas]

The real shame about a lot of these comments is that they were made not only by the media, but by many members of this board. The amount of angst after each loss (or even after some unspectacular wins) was alarming. This year in particular should prove to all of us that we need to enjoy the ride for the entire season instead of going into a panic after each game during the season.

Amen!

[JohnGalt]

The real shame about a lot of these comments is that they were made not only by the media, but by many members of this board. The amount of angst after each loss (or even after some unspectacular wins) was alarming. This year in particular should prove to all of us that we need to enjoy the ride for the entire season instead of going into a panic after each game during the season.

I disagree. This board is a forum for discussion on the ups, downs, ins, and outs of Duke basketball. In nearly every instance, each poster's gripe or critique has a reasonable argument founded in at least a semblance of fact. It's our job as fans to "panic" when something doesn't look right and, in turn, blog about it. Fortunately for us, DBR provides a platform for polite, reasonable discussion. Personally I'm thankful for the diversity of viewpoints and insights - whether positive or negative - that are found day in and day out on this board.

[Jderf]

The real shame about a lot of these comments is that they were made not only by the media, but by many members of this board. The amount of angst after each loss (or even after some unspectacular wins) was alarming. This year in particular should prove to all of us that we need to enjoy the ride for the entire season instead of going into a panic after each game during the season.

Personally, I love watching people freaking out after every loss as if no championship team ever got edged out in a game or as if every championship team is perfect at the start of the season and never improves or learns as the year goes along.

Also, some people post some really insightful stuff after losses... occasionally. Seriously, I swear. It happens. At least, I'm pretty sure I saw it one time, although it was a foggy day and I don't think I was wearing my reading glasses and it was before I got the crack on my computer screen fixed. But I know I saw it.

[hurleyfor3]

The real shame about a lot of these comments is that they were made not only by the media, but by many members of this board. The amount of angst after each loss (or even after some unspectacular wins) was alarming. This year in particular should prove to all of us that we need to enjoy the ride for the entire season instead of going into a panic after each game during the season.

The '91 team lost seven games, and several of them were ugly. I think that team didn't have an impressive nonconference road win, either. So this year made me wonder what it would have been like had DBR existed in 1991.

I'll admit to increasing weariness over repeated losses in the Sweet 16 to lower-seeded teams. Although they were probably a result of earlier teams' weaknesses simply getting exposed at the same point in the postseason, I was certainly worried they were a symptom of some general failure of Duke basketball or Coach K. Anyway, I was much more worried about Purdue than about WVU, for example.

[Kedsy]

Baylor has no chance against Duke :)

I think you meant Butler in your last line.


1. If the Big 3 of Scheyer, Singler, and Smith play 35-38 minutes a game, we'll run out of gas late in the season

2. Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek will never be meaningful contributors

3. Coach K's responsibilities with the USA Olympic team are detracting from his performance as Duke coach

Others?

This is a great thread. And it wasn't just the outside world that was spouting this nonsense. How many posters here were moaning about minutes and bench development? How many were shouting that the MPs should be starting and Lance and Z sitting? How many times did we have to read Duke fans saying this team had a Sweet 16 "ceiling"?

[Steve68]

I disagree. This board is a forum for discussion on the ups, downs, ins, and outs of Duke basketball. In nearly every instance, each poster's gripe or critique has a reasonable argument founded in at least a semblance of fact. It's our job as fans to "panic" when something doesn't look right and, in turn, blog about it. Fortunately for us, DBR provides a platform for polite, reasonable discussion. Personally I'm thankful for the diversity of viewpoints and insights - whether positive or negative - that are found day in and day out on this board.

Discussion is one thing - panic is another. Making statements in December about how we won't be able to make a deep run in March because of the results of a game or two is not critique founded on reasonable argument. Of course people have the right to say pretty much whatever they want to say on this board. My only point was that obsessing with weaknesses and/or mistakes early in the season takes away from the enjoyment of the overall season. Discussion is great - I love it. Panic and angst - not so much.