DBR Podcast #111 - NCAA Tournament preview

[JasonEvans]

https://soundcloud.com/dbrpodcast/dbr-podcast-111-ncaa-tournament-preview

0:00 DBR sponsors, Byrd Campbell
0:35 Donald welcomes us to the pod and Sam blames Jason for flooding his emailbox
3:15 Jason describes the cool NCAA tournament draft he is doing with some DBR folks
4:30 We dissect the NCAA bracket, starting with Duke’s region, which Sam says is utterly predictable.
9:10 Jason gives us a preview of Duke’s first opponent, the Iona Gaels
17:10 Donald wants to talk about the Hurley brothers
21:55 Jason talks about teams who got a break in the bracket, and he focuses on Villanova rather than the hated Tarheels
26:30 We finally get to the West and we all hope Michigan takes out UNC
28:30 Sleeper picks to make the Sweet 16 – we really like Missouri and whoever is playing Cincy
33:25 Final Four picks… we largely like the same teams
36:00 Sam asks us how far Duke needs to go to make this a successful season
43:35 The DBR Bracket challenge -- Go to http://Tinyurl.com/DBRPodcast and you could win a chance to be a guest on the podcast!
44:35 Another shout out to Byrd Campbell
45:10 Time to look back at the ACC Tourney… and the depressing game against Carolina
46:40 We get distracted by the latest Grayson Allen controversy
51:30 Jason directs us back to talking about the Carolina game
55:35 Player of the week time… Jason goes crazy talking about how great Marvin Bagley is
1:00:25 Donald says goodbye… and look for the next podcast right after Duke plays Iona

[Dev11]

Go sign up for the DBR bracket challenge so you can be on a future podcast with us! It'll be NBA draft season, so you'll probably get some time to pontificate on the one-and-done issues with us, and probably to project certain current Duke players as professionals.

All the podcast links:

iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/dbr-podcast/id954964236?mt=2)
Google Play (https://goo.gl/app/playmusic?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Ikxgkr6wboxnehrbaoqd47vw4gq?t%3DDuke_Basketball_Re port)
Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/dbrpodcast)
Stitcher (http://app.stitcher.com/browse/feed/58077/details)

[Bluedevil114]

Another great podcast. It is amazing that Marvin Bagley is breaking so many Duke records in one season. He is in the conversation as not just the best freshman to wear a Duke uniform but as being the best big man to wear a Duke uniform. If he wins a title to go with those numbers I am not sure anyone can deny it. No he will not win as many tournament games as Christian or have the number of block shots as the Landlord but the 30-15 games and his unstoppable force makes you think he may be the best ever.

[SavDukeGrad]

Another great podcast! And I totally agree with you about Marvin Bagley. Thank you all for sharing your insight with us. Go Duke!

[COYS]

Excellent podcast as always, guys. Way to put Marvin's talent in perspective. I'm looking forward to enjoying six more games with him in Duke Blue.

[subzero02]

The Allen hip check on Brooks was without question intentional; it was also a borderline foul at best. Before turning to face the ball, Allen saw the line Brooks was using to run down the court. Grayson made sure that Brooks' line was impeded as the ewe in sea player attempted to run by him . Not flagrant but clearly intentional. You don't have to be looking at a player to know where he'll be a half second later.

[JasonEvans]

The Allen hip check on Brooks was without question intentional; it was also a borderline foul at best. Before turning to face the ball, Allen saw the line Brooks was using to run down the court. Grayson made sure that Brooks' line was impeded as the ewe in sea player attempted to run by him . Not flagrant but clearly intentional. You don't have to be looking at a player to know where he'll be a half second later.

Thanks, sub. I stand by my assertion - despite Donald and Sam thinking I am wrong -- that Grayson did it intentionally but it is not a big deal and did not deserve a flagrant foul call.

[Bluegrassdevil1]

JasonEvans is is absolutely correct about his assertion regarding the Allen tookus event. To perceive the moment as anything but intentional is simply a hollow argument.

On another note...

For the podcasts' season previews in the falls of 2017 and 2016, JasonEvans shouted to the heavens about how great Duke was going to be in those coming seasons. For '18-'19, I would ask that Evans focus on the concept of reverse jinxing, and proclaim the '18-'19 Duke team as awful, hopeless, and/or futile. Possibly reverse karma will kick in for TJones 2 and company.

[JasonEvans]

On another note...

For the podcasts' season previews in the falls of 2017 and 2016, [B]JasonEvans shouted to the heavens about how great Duke was going to be in those coming seasons. For '18-'19, I would ask that Evans focus on the concept of reverse jinxing, and proclaim the '18-'19 Duke team as awful, hopeless, and/or futile. Possibly reverse karma will kick in for TJones 2 and company.

Yeah... I am the very definition of "irrational exuberance" when it comes to Duke ;)

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I’ll listen to the podcast tonight as I drive from Raleigh to Atlantic Beach. No, I won’t go to the beach tomorrow. All business. No monkey business. Darn. LGD GTHc

[Furniture]

Thanks, sub. I stand by my assertion - despite Donald and Sam thinking I am wrong -- that Grayson did it intentionally but it is not a big deal and did not deserve a flagrant foul call.

Great pod!!!

My only disappointment was the above. How could Sam and Donald think that it was not intentional? Because of that the pod loses a little credibility.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

I’ll listen to the podcast tonight as I drive from Raleigh to Atlantic Beach. No, I won’t go to the beach tomorrow. All business. No monkey business. Darn. LGD GTHc
I think Grayson’s spidey sense told him someone was trailing the play and yeah, he jutted his hip out intentionally to impede his progress. And yeah, let’s win banner #6, hang is jersey in the rafters and be done with his antics! I could live with that!

LGD GTHc 9F!

[UrinalCake]

As to Sam’s question about how far we’d have to go for the season to be considered a success - I’d say Final Four. I think losing in the Sweet 16 or before would be considered a disappointment, and making the Elite 8 would be about “right.” There’s a difference between the season being a success and the season being “not a disappointment” and that second weekend of the tourney is sort of the boundary IMO.

The preseason #1 ranking really heightened our expectations for this team and I wish it had never happened. We should have been ranked 4 or 5. Instead we as fans were put in a position where it was virtually impossible for us to be satisfied, every loss was considered an embarrassment and if we didn’t win it all then the season would be considered a failure. And none of that is fair. If we instead saw ourselves as a top-10 team that we knew would experience bumps along the way, then our season thus far would be right about what we expected.

[jv001]

As to Sam’s question about how far we’d have to go for the season to be considered a success - I’d say Final Four. I think losing in the Sweet 16 or before would be considered a disappointment, and making the Elite 8 would be about “right.” There’s a difference between the season being a success and the season being “not a disappointment” and that second weekend of the tourney is sort of the boundary IMO.

The preseason #1 ranking really heightened our expectations for this team and I wish it had never happened. We should have been ranked 4 or 5. Instead we as fans were put in a position where it was virtually impossible for us to be satisfied, every loss was considered an embarrassment and if we didn’t win it all then the season would be considered a failure. And none of that is fair. If we instead saw ourselves as a top-10 team that we knew would experience bumps along the way, then our season thus far would be right about what we expected.

I'm with you on expectations of this season and even last years team. As long as we're getting the best of the OADs we're going to have to temper our expectations. There's not enough practice time to get 3,4 or 5 freshmen up to speed on the college game. I don't know if we will ever have a team of one year players that can learn Duke's man2man defense. I'm hoping this squad is near sophomore experience now. Playing the zone has certainly helped and in the back of my mind, I'm wondering if we will play any man2man in the tournament. It looks like college basketball recruiting is getting ready to change and with it more 3 or 4 year players. GoDuke!

[Dev11]

Great pod!!!

My only disappointment was the above. How could Sam and Donald think that it was not intentional? Because of that the pod loses a little credibility.

Maybe in the way that the inbounder after a made basket will run in front of the point guard for a momentary moving screen, it was intentional, but I don't see Grayson trying to hurt the UNC player, particularly since they're the last two guys down the court on a fast break that will likely be resolved we'll before they arrive. As I think I said on the show, if the refs had just called a common foul during the play, I would be fine with it. You don't need intent to commit a foul.

[jtholland]

Great pod!!!

My only disappointment was the above. How could Sam and Donald think that it was not intentional? Because of that the pod loses a little credibility.

Totaly agree, listened to the podcast this morning, and that was a big flaw. Eyes in his butt? Anyone who has played basketball knows how easy it is to guess where a player will be a second later. Allen foul was totally intentional, totally a distraction, and really diminishes him in my eyes. Why can't he simply stop doing this stuff? Even pickup players don't act this way without getting punched.

[blazindw]

Maybe in the way that the inbounder after a made basket will run in front of the point guard for a momentary moving screen, it was intentional, but I don't see Grayson trying to hurt the UNC player, particularly since they're the last two guys down the court on a fast break that will likely be resolved we'll before they arrive. As I think I said on the show, if the refs had just called a common foul during the play, I would be fine with it. You don't need intent to commit a foul.

I agree with that. Could it have been called a foul? Sure. I wouldn't have agreed with that either, but would have understood. But an intentional flagrant foul? It was not that, and you won't be able to convince me of such. And consider who mostly is saying it's intentional: fans who already have their opinion of Grayson Allen the player based on his past. Most of the pundits out there who went so far as to say Grayson should have been suspended for the rest of the season after last year's tripping incident (hello, Seth Greenberg) said that this "incident" was no incident, that it wasn't intentional and probably shouldn't have even been a foul. "Nothing to see here," they said. I've played basketball for 30 years now, and been the victim of some dirty plays. A hip/butt check where the man's eyes are facing forward the whole time isn't one of them.

[Snork]

I stand by my assertion . . . that Grayson did it intentionally but it is not a big deal and did not deserve a flagrant foul call.

Perhaps I'm drinking the Duke blue Kool-Aid, but I believe Grayson's momentum was carrying him backward, and his attempting to shift his weight forward to get down the court caused his butt to continue backward. It only looks bad in super slow-motion. Am I crazy for putting so much stock in Newton's laws?

I do agree it was silly to call a flagrant, and more importantly I agree with all of those celebrating yet another great podcast!