All Matchups are NOT Created Equal...

[RockyMtDevil]

I can't help but feel a little like a sore loser, but I thought through all the Sweet 16 teams and the match-ups and believe we got the short end of the stick this year. Based on who is left, I see us with 6 sure wins, 3 probable wins and 3 could go either way. this is all with the understanding that both KU and OSU are not a part of the equation, being # 1 seeds...

Think about it, even by playing zero second half defense, we win easily last night against Marquette, BYU, Richmond, VCU, Wisc and FSU. But, the worst team we could have possibly met up with last night was who we got.

Given our performance last night, I see Probable wins against Kentucky, San Diego St, and Florida and then complete toss-up games with only UNC, Butler and Uconn.

I guess I'm just trying to make myself feel better now that UNC and other lesser teams are advancing further in March. As K said, the tourny is a cruel thing sometimes...

[uh_no]

I can't help but feel a little like a sore loser, but I thought through all the Sweet 16 teams and the match-ups and believe we got the short end of the stick this year. Based on who is left, I see us with 6 sure wins, 3 probable wins and 3 could go either way. this is all with the understanding that both KU and OSU are not a part of the equation, being # 1 seeds...

Think about it, even by playing zero second half defense, we win easily last night against Marquette, BYU, Richmond, VCU, Wisc and FSU. But, the worst team we could have possibly met up with last night was who we got.

Given our performance last night, I see Probable wins against Kentucky, San Diego St, and Florida and then complete toss-up games with only UNC, Butler and Uconn.

I guess I'm just trying to make myself feel better now that UNC and other lesser teams are advancing further in March. As K said, the tourny is a cruel thing sometimes...

Our road was by far the hardest. PLaying michigan followed by arizona and then uconn? The tournament is fickle like that. THe bottom line, though, is that you have to beat them in the end. It might cost us a final 4 or whatever, but the tournament doesn't exist to determine the best 4 teams, just the best 1 team (and in fact, in a single elimination tournament, it is impossible to determine anyone other than the best team)...so if that happened from arizona, what would have happened against an OSU? We'll never know obviously, but arizona could feasibly win it all, and we could feasibly be the second best team in the country....you have to win in the tournament regardless of road, and we didn't do that

[kong123]

and of course, you have to remember that last year you were a bit more fortunate.

[uh_no]

and of course, you have to remember that last year you were a bit more fortunate.

PErhaps.....(given we faced baylor in texas and butler in indianapolis)...but we still did what no other team did....we didn't lose....we beat wv (in a beatdown) who had just taken out UK.....we took out butler who hadn't lost for most of the season until then...syracuse couldn't beat them, KSU couldn't beat them, MSU couldn't beat them, but we did....

[Rich]

and of course, you have to remember that last year you were a bit more fortunate.

Duke played a 4 seed (Purdue), a 3 seed (Baylor) in Texas, a 3 seed (West Virginia) , and the national championship game against Butler in Indianapolis. Two of those were essentially road games. What are you talking about "more fortunate"?

[jamos14]

I guess he thought we played a 15 seed, 7 seed, then an 11 seed. Oh wait....

[Spret42]

This is the kind of thread that goes nowhere. Last year Duke got some fortunate breaks (Purdue loses Hummell, and what has to be described as a slightly down year for the overall talent level of college ball) as well as creating breaks for themselves (never once failing to play a game their own way) in winning that title. This year other teams are getting breaks. Such is life. It is a tournament.

MD fans do this all the time with their championship year pointing out how they faced the highest possible seed in every game except the final and playing programs like Kentucky, UConn, Kansas and Indiana. So what. That year wasn't a great year for the talent level in college basketball either and down years for teams like Kentucky and UConn.

Winning this thing takes almost as much luck as it does ability.

[JayBean]

and of course, you have to remember that last year you were a bit more fortunate.

I still think that last year we were the best team in the sense that A) we brought it almost every night and B) we were a pretty experienced group.

A lot of people said we should have faced UK and would have lost, but UK couldn't figure out how to stop a team that was run by a point guard that could ONLY GO LEFT. If they couldn't figure out how to handle WV, then we probably could have outsmarted them as well.

[uh_no]

Winning this thing takes almost as much luck as it does ability.

THREAD CLOSED!

that sums it up. You win a lot of titles by being really good lots of years. You put yourself in the position to win the title enough times and you're bound to win it a few times. This year, it didn't work out for us. Last year it did. If we put last year's team in this year's bracket, would we have beaten arizona? If we put this year's team in last year's spot, would they have won? There's no way to know. We were good both years and got a bit luckier last year than this year.

[Spret42]

I still think that last year we were the best team in the sense that A) we brought it almost every night and B) we were a pretty experienced group.



Exactly. And there wasn't a team in the tournament last year that was, as Greg Anthony has talked about, the type of team that made Duke face its greatest fear. What if last years club was unlucky enough to be playing in the 2004 tournament and instead of a gutty but pretty mildly talented WVU team in the semi's they had faced the UConn team with Okafor, Gordon and the rest of those big athletes? That UConn team beat a Duke team with three guys still in the NBA.

Duke has nothing to be ashamed of about last years title and shouldn't complain about how others may be getting fortunate this year.

[cbnaylor]

I think this will fit well here. I have a Unc fan who continues to remind me that Duke lost and Unc is going to the elite eight. I got a text from him stating "Elite 8 baby" I respond in such a way that you guys would be proud. I said being in the tourney this year must be really exciting for you....im happy for you.

[ncexnyc]

This thread is nothing more than sour grapes. The team didn't bring their A game last night and the Wildcats did. Case closed, time to move on.

[Scorp4me]

This thread is nothing more than sour grapes. The team didn't bring their A game last night and the Wildcats did. Case closed, time to move on.

I thought we brought our A game...maybe A-. Problem was the Wildcats were sleeping with the teacher:cool:

[_Gary]

I thought we brought our A game...maybe A-. Problem was the Wildcats were sleeping with the teacher:cool:

LOL, I love it! So well stated. :cool:

[ncexnyc]

LOL, I love it! So well stated. :cool:
Sorry, but making excuses after a loss is really lame. This board prides itself as being better than the other boards along with their fans. Show some class, tip your hat to the better team and be gracious in defeat.

[_Gary]

Sorry, but making excuses after a loss is really lame. This board prides itself as being better than the other boards along with their fans. Show some class, tip your hat to the better team and be gracious in defeat.

Oh, come on. I've said all day long that AZ played lights out and deserved to win. There's no sour grapes coming from me, so your rebuke is missing it's target. But it was a funny comeback and in the scope of how we've all felt AZ played the game of the century from their end, it was an appropriately funny remark. No disrespect to AZ was intended by it.