2010-11 Season Thoughts

[Chris Randolph]

I figured it would be fun(meaning we don't bash) to have a topic that everyone could share some of their thoughts (personal or about the team) from this past season. Hopefully this is a thread we keep going for awhile

My initial thoughts I had late late last night were how excited I was for this season after Kyle and Nolan said they were coming back. All the hype for those 2, Kyrie and the high chance of repeating had me soooo pumped. Once Kyrie went down and we learned it was for a long time, I pouted. I felt robbed of a possible "once every 20 years" type of season. But as the season went along I really began to appreciate our whole team. They showed tremendous will, work ethic and togetherness. My favorite moment was definitely the ACCT game against UNC. What joy I experienced watching our guys play to their potential!

Ok those are my thoughts for now.....

[hq2]

Put it in balance. 30 wins, sweet 16, ACC tourney champs, beat Carolina twice. And, after all, we just won the N.C. last year (let's not get greedy folks!). I don't know if not having Kyrie all season made that much of a difference at the end; the way they played in the 2nd half last night, I don't think it would have mattered (after all, he was out there, healthy, and playing well, and we still got wiped.)

Relative to the high expectations of December, the ending was obviously a letdown,
but we'll get over it. In time, the good things will be remembered longer. It was still a pretty good year.

[Saratoga2]

The goal is always to win the National Championship. That is a lofty goal and one that is only achieveable with a special team. I definitely had high expectations at the beginning of the season, with returning two all everything players along with the best young point guard to come along for this season, plus a deep and reasonably experienced team. That also included Seth Curry who was a very solid scorer to bolster the team's offense.

The realization though that is very difficult to win the championship and even for the best team it is a stretch. We fell short of course, but it was a very good season and the players and coaches did an excellent job. Nolan showed excellent growth and Kyle continued to play with great effort. Kyrie was all he was cracked up to be before and after recovery from the injury.

We move on from here and consider next season. We will be losing most of the scoring talent from this excellent team and a good deal of the defensive prowess. There is a high probability that Kyrie will go to the NBA and a lower but considerable probability that Mason will also leave.

To replace that we will get another big, a top line shooting guard who is reportedly 6'5", a small forward at 6'6" and a small but quick true point guard. Freshmen will need time to develop into consistent Div I players while our existing group should make more progress. I look for Andre to become a stalwart now he will be looked upon to contribute much more. Also Seth will need to take on additional responsibilities.

I would really love to see our team continue to sign kids with althletic ability and in the 6'5" to 6'9" range. We continue to struggle with teams that have those sorts of kids, so we need to have something to counter them with going forward. I miss having a Lance Thomas type who can give us the energy and defense to slow down some of the opponents quick wings.

[GCobbethC]

All in all, I am happy with how the season panned out. Of course, as with all of us, it hurt to watch that second half last night and come to the realization that more than likely, my days of watching Singler, Smith and, more than likely, Irving play are over. I too had lofty aspirations for this team. I think next years team will have their work cut out for them, especially if Irving leaves, and the one position that I wish for year end and year out is a true big man. Can you imagine if we had a Boozer or Williams or Brand in the post this year? No knock against the Plumlees, but IMO they aren't the true low post center of which I am speaking.
Chin up for next year and remember this year fondly, my fellow Dukies. Only 8 more months til tip-off.